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The 2023 F1 Italian GP qualifying saw Carlos Sainz secure pole position for the race on Sunday. The Ferrari driver beat both Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc to secure pole position in a session where the gap between the top three was less than a 10th.
The session was not as impressive for the perennial frontrunners in Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso as the Mercedes driver could only muster P8 while the Spaniard will be in P10.
In a session that saw Red Bull losing out on pole position in qualifying, who would be feeling positive about their prospects on Sunday, and who would be a bit disappointed? Let's take a look.
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2023 F1 Italian GP Qualifying
Winner
Carlos Sainz
The most important thing here is to understand the gravity of what Carlos Sainz has achieved at the 2023 F1 Italian GP. He has beaten two of the best qualifiers on the grid in equally competitive cars within a gap of less than a tenth.
In the last few races and at many moments this season, it has appeared that Charles Leclerc is clearly the quicker driver. On average, if we compare the two, this is the case as well.
On his day though, Sainz is starting to turn things around and the fact that he did that at the 2023 F1 Italian GP in front of the Tifossi will surely feel great.
Loser
Logan Sargeant
This was the weekend to shine for Logan Sargeant. The car looked good and it had the pace to do the damage in qualifying as well. Just look at what Albon was able to accomplish in the same car once again.
Sargeant needs to get his act together because this level of disparity in performance does not bode well for any driver.
Winner
Alex Albon
Alex Albon is one of the drivers who was associated with as many as five teams heading into the second half of the season.
Looking at the level at which he's performing, this is only going to help him in the long run. The Williams driver has another top 10 starting position and should be lauded for the way he's been performing.
Loser
Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll has started to become the dead weight at Aston Martin. Sure he suffered in FP2 as the reliability issue cost him big time. He essentially did not have any running on Friday and was relying completely on FP3 to get used to the conditions.
By the looks of it, he failed big time. You cannot be this much slower than your teammate and an Aston Martin cannot be getting eliminated in P20. A poor weekend overall for the Canadian.
Winner
Ferrari
After the bashing it received in Zandvoort, Ferrari needed this result. Sure the team has tended to do better in qualifying than in races but the track for the 2023 F1 Italian GP should help the team stay competitive in the fight for the podium.
This was also a stark reminder of how impressive the Ferrari power unit is as the drivers were able to qualify almost half a second quicker than the Mercedes-powered cars.
Loser
Aston Martin
The 2023 F1 Italian GP qualifying was a strange experience for Aston Martin because while Fernando Alonso's team radios during FP3 were encouraging, the laptimes never were.
The team has also been there or thereabout in terms of pace this weekend and more or less has fallen in the P5-P8 bracket.
A P10 qualifying is probably a result of a sub-optimal session for Fernando Alonso but the team will be keeping a close eye on what it can do to achieve a better result in the 2023 F1 Italian GP.
