Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen on Italian GP pole with fastest ever F1 lap

The roar of approval from the swathes of fans strung as a scarlet ribbon on the edge of Monza’s sweeping thrill-ride heralded a result these tifosi have long waited to celebrate. Ferrari had pole position for the Italian Grand Prix after an eight-year absence from the top spot and the new fastest ever lap in F1. Yet it came in the hands of Kimi Räikkönen, rather than the team’s championship contender Sebastian Vettel, who was second.

For the fans, that it is the red cars locking out the front row for the 60th time will be enough but Vettel appeared anything but happy at losing out to his teammate.

Lewis Hamilton, in third, believed he had extracted as much as he could from his Mercedes and his teammate Valtteri Bottas was in fourth. Both drivers face a tough afternoon on Sunday, over a 10th back from the Ferraris.

Vettel topped the first two sessions but, on the initial hot runs in Q3, went out in front of Räikkönen and could manage only third behind the Finn and a 10th off Hamilton, who was quickest. On the final runs Räikkönen, who was on track again behind Vettel and would have been picking up a slipstream from the German, executed perfectly, setting the best final sector of the day, to take pole with a time of 1min 19.119sec.

It was the fastest lap in F1 history, previously held by Juan Pablo Montoya and Räikkönen averaged 163.78mph for his 18th pole position.

Vettel had begun to celebrate after crossing the line only be told the Finn had pipped him by 0.161sec. “We’ll speak after,” was his cold response. Vettel trails Hamilton by 17 points in the world championship but Räikkönen, 68 points back from his teammate, is not realistically a contender.

Three-quarters of a lap at Monza is taken at full-throttle and gaining a tow can enhance times. Given the circumstances it would have been no surprise if Ferrari had employed Räikkönen to punch a hole through the air or given Vettel one shot at chasing his teammate.

The German was blunt as to why this was the case. “We have an order that changes every weekend and this weekend it was Kimi’s to go second,” he said. When asked what he wanted to talk to the team about he would not expound but it is reasonable to assume he may have requested the two switched. “Clearly I was not happy,” he said “But I don’t tell you why.”

With Vettel on such good form, it is conceivable that Ferrari opted to give Räikkönen the advantage of the tow as the best way of ensuring a one-two, tactically locking Hamilton out of the front row but denying the German pole.

Vettel admitted his lap was “not good enough” but Räikkönen suggested the question of track position had been discussed. “Obviously, there were a lot of games,” he said. “Who is going first, getting tows and this and that. But in the end, there was a train of cars and that’s enough.”

The pole does confirm that the pace advantage Ferrari displayed in Spa has unsurprisingly translated to Monza and is likely to be manifest again on Sunday.

Hamilton knew Mercedes would be under the cosh here and admitted he could do no more.

“I am working harder than ever,” he said. “The close competition is great. It’s pushing our team and their team to the limits. That’s what sport is about.”

However, he was wary of expecting a major step forward. “They have had the same pace, the gap has generally been the same over the sessions,” he said. “Maybe in the long runs we will be better tomorrow, we shall see.”

Ferrari will require Räikkönen to deny Hamilton the maximum points and may yet expect him to cede a position to his teammate, so close is the title fight – perhaps another topic of discussion in the motorhome. Vettel hedged the question of team orders but their employment on Sunday is a strong possibility.

“Is Kimi allowed to win?” he asked. “Well, he is starting from pole and I guess he is allowed to win, it’s a long race. He wants to win, I want to win, hopefully one of us will win.”

Max Verstappen in the Red Bull was fifth, in front of the Haas of Romain Grosjean. Carlos Sainz Jr in the Renault was seventh, with Esteban Ocon in eighth for Force India and Pierre Gasly in ninth for Toro Rosso.

Williams finally had reason for some optimism with Lance Stroll making it into Q3, the first time the team has done so this season and he finished in 10th. His teammate Sergey Sirotkin was in 12th.