Italian GP: Qualifying Results and Analysis

Lewis Hamilton has taken pole position in the 2012 Italian Grand Prix. He was followed up by his teammate Jenson Button in a complete front row lockout for the Mclaren team. The laptimes of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton clearly indicate that Mclaren is the team to beat for tomorrow’s race.

Ferrari had a mixed day with Felipe Massa qualifying in P3, while a problem with Fernando’s car on his last run meant that he ended up P10. Sad news for the Tifosi, considering that Ferrari have gone for a high downforce setup. This means that Alonso will struggle getting past cars ahead of him as the Ferrari is significantly slower in the straight-line as compared to cars ahead of Fernando. Alonso will need to get a very good start of the line and will need to makeup most of the places on lap 1.

The Scuderia Ferrari team have confirmed that there was problem with Alonso’s rear anti-rollbar.

Force India’s Paul Di Resta qualified on fourth place on the grid but will start from ninth place due to five place grid penalty for unscheduled gearbox change. Nico Hulkenberg had problems with his Force India on his first lap and so didn’t even make into Q2 and will start dead last from P24.

Mercedes team were back upto form as Michael Schumacher put his Mercedes W03 fifth on the grid while Nico Rosberg starts P7. Both of them will start one place higher than original grid position due to Di Resta’s Penalty.

Yesterday, on the long runs Mercedes was the quickest car so if Schumacher can take lead down into turn 1 there could be a chance of that 92nd victory.

Sebastian Vettel did a fantastic job to qualify P6, considering the horsepower generated by Renault engines. He was the lead runner of all Renault-powered cars and will start P5 due to Di Resta’s penalty.

Mark Webber will start from P11 after missing out on Q3. A tough day ahead for both Red-bull drivers as the cars ahead are significantly quicker than them and that means a long day in the office for the Red-Bull boys.

Kimi Raikkonen starts qualified P8 while his teammate Jerome D Ambrosio will lineup P16 on the grid. Like Red-Bull, the Lotus is also struggling for top speed on the straights.

But, Raikkonen will be a man to watch out for in the race as his long run pace was comparable with Schumacher’s pace and so can challenge for podium provided he gets a good start.

Kamui Kobayashi qualified P9 in his Sauber-Ferrari. The Saubers don’t seem to be as strong as they were in Spa so, it will be interesting to see whether they can move forward in the race tomorrow. Sergio Perez qualified thirteenth on the grid but will start 12th due to Maldanado’s penalty.

Note: Pastor Maldanado qualified P12 but will start P22 due to a ten place grid penalty. Paul Di Resta qualified fourth but will start from P9 due to five place grid penalty.

Stay tuned for the analysis after the race.