Five seconds. That’s all it took for the record for the fastest lap ever in Formula One history to be broken three times in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.
And then it was broken thrice more.
First, Sebastian Vettel took his Ferrari across in 1:19.497, followed by teammate Kimi Raikkonen in 1:19.459. And right on their tail followed Lewis Hamilton, who then took provisional pole in 1:19.390 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, breaking Juan Pablo Montoya’s 14-year-old record.
Montoya had recorded an average speed of 262.242km per hour in his Williams in qualifying for the 2004 Italian Grand Prix.
On Saturday, in their final runs in Q3, Hamilton first improved to 1:19.294, before Vettel clocked 1:19.280 and Raikkonen 1:19.199 – an average speed of 263km per hour.
This is Ferrari’s first front-row lockout at its home race since Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello did so in 2000.
Raikkonen also becomes the second oldest pole sitter in Formula One history at 38 years and 320 days, behind Nigel Mansell, who took pole at the 1994 Australian Grand Prix at the age of 41.
Starting grid for Italian Grand Prix (top 10):
1. Raikkonen
2. Vettel
3. Hamilton
4. Bottas
5. Verstappen
6. Grosjean
7. Sainz
8. Ocon
9. Gasly
10. Stroll
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