CARLOS SAINZ JR. SET THE TIFOSI`S ON FIRE

Carlos Sainz Jr. with Pole position crowned a brilliant start to the weekend in Monza, setting the fastest qualifying time for the Italian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard beat Max Verstappen by only 13 thousandths of a second, who will start next to him on the first row of tomorrow's race, scheduled for 15:00 central european time.

Charles Leclerc was 67 thousandths of a second behind, which was enough for the third fastest time, and next to him, George Russell will start on the second row, but Mercedes AMG driver was already nearly 4 tenths behind.

We saw very interesting and close qualifications. Ferrari and Red Bull appeared to be in a similar performance range, but Max Verstappen seemed to have something more after setting the fastest times in Q1 and Q2.

However, Carlos Sainz Jr., carried by the home fans, took out more than the maximum of the Ferrari car and recorded an unattainable time, which brought him his 4th pole position in Formula 1.

George Russell managed to set a faster lap than Sergio Perez for fourth position, so the Mexican shares up a starting row with Alex Albon in P6. The top 10 ranking was completed by Oscar Piastri, Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and the powerless Fernando Alonso with Aston Martin.

In the Q1 session, it was mandatory to fight on the white Pirelli tires. The hardest compound is the worst for setting the fastest times, but ecology is a must-follow trend in Formula 1, so the drivers had to adapt.

Several drivers, including Verstappen, Alonso, Ocon, Stroll and Guanyu, had their fastest times deleted due to going off track limits.

Esteban Ocon ran into the gravel at high speed, but kept control of Alpin's car and continued to drive to his garage.

Max Verstappen had the best time, one hundredth faster than Alex Albon. The Williams car was excellent, but primarily competitive on white tires.

From the further fight dropped: Zhou Guanyu, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll.

In the Q2 session on track everyone had to be on the yellow Pirelli tyres. These tires warmed up faster and provided better grip, so drivers could set faster laps.

After the first fast laps, Carlos Sainz Jr. was the fastest, but in the second attempts, Charles Leclerc beat his time by 14 thousandths, but even faster, by four thousands, was Max Verstappen.

Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargent did not make to the final qualifying segment.

In Q3 the fight took place on the red, softest and fastest, Pirelli tires. In the first fast lap, Max Verstappen made a mistake, catching some gravel on the exit of the Roja corner, so Sainz Jr. had the fastest lap, ahead of Charles Leclerc.

The last fast laps, the fans welcomed them on their feet, frantically cheering for Ferrari drivers, who were in the first two positions.

All the top drivers improved, but Sainz Jr. was the fastest. The Tifosi had reasons to rejoice, which would have been even greater if Charles Leclerc defended the second position from Max Verstappen!