F1 Italian GP Live commentary and updates - FP1 & Qualifying | Live text

By: James Newbold, Haydn Cobb, Stephen Lickorish

Summary

Summary

Bottas fastest in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix and starts F1's second sprint race from pole - but isn't credited with 18th career pole as per F1 rules reserving that honour for the sprint winner
Alfa Romeo-bound Bottas will get grid penalty for Sunday's grand prix after taking new PU components
Hamilton pipped to second, with title rival Verstappen due to start third
McLaren team-mates Norris and Ricciardo complete top five, with Gasly beating the Ferraris and Perez to P6
Vettel misses Q3 cut by 0.031s along with Stroll, Alonso, Ocon, Russell. Hamilton and Vettel come close to contact in the pits
Tsunoda track limits deletion hands Russell Q2 berth, as Latifi, Schumacher, Kubica and Mazepin also drop out at first hurdle

Leaderboard

1. Bottas, Mercedes
2. Hamilton, Mercedes
3. Verstappen, Red Bull
4. Norris, McLaren
5. Ricciardo, McLaren
6. Gasly, AlphaTauri
7. Sainz, Ferrari
8. Leclerc, Ferrari
9. Perez, Red Bull
10. Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo

Status: Stopped

20:30 That's day one of the Italian GP action done and given how much each session sets up the next in the sprint format it feels like, er, a marathon weekend. After a breather tonight be sure to return for FP2 which starts at 11am BST on Saturday. Ciao!

20:25 Need a recap on the Friday night qualifying action from Monza? Look no further: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/italian-gp-bottas-beats-hamilton-in-friday-qualifying/6664378/

20:21

20:18 Gasly, once again, demonstrated how quick he is in the AlphaTauri with sixth place, beating the Ferraris, while Perez is only P9. That's not where Red Bull would have wanted him.

20:16 Looking outside of the top three, McLaren's predicted pace at Monza certainly proved true with Norris in fourth fractionally ahead of team-mate Ricciardo, who looks to have found the groove with his car since the summer break.

20:11 Bottas on his sprint pole: "That qualifying lap was nice. It feels so good to get a lap like that together. I feel good, relaxed, with everything sorted for the future. I am pleased with everything in the team today."

20:09 After a chat about a certain 2008 F1 finale with Felipe Massa, Hamilton recaps his P2: "These sprint races definitely can help so we have to capitalise on that here."

20:07 Verstappen on his P3: "We recovered well in qualifying to be so close. For us it will be more difficult around here but we have a good opportunity to score good points."

20:04 So, on the week his Mercedes departure is confirmed, Bottas takes top spot on the grid for the sprint race but he has a grid penalty so will start the Sunday race from the back whatever happens.

20:02 Verstappen holds on to third place but the margins are incredibly close. He's 0.015s off Hamilton and 0.023s ahead of Norris. The barest of margins.

20:01 ...and Bottas goes fastest with a 1m19.555s which gives him the sprint race pole! Hamilton is edged back to second place for an all-Mercedes front row.

20:00 Bottas is on it on this final lap going fastest in sector 1...

19:59 Perez heads this Q3 train ahead of Verstappen and Gasly. Final lap time coming up.

19:58 The Q3 pit exit standoff isn't so chaotic compared to the second session, with all 10 drivers heading out of the pits with reasonable gaps between each other. See, it can be done.

19:56 In fact, Norris also deserves credit as well, as he is only 0.065s off provisional pole. The top three split by less than a tenth of a second. Tasty.

19:55 Verstappen grabbed a useful tow but that's still a really strong lap by the Red Bull driver to go just 0.017s off Hamilton.

19:53 Bottas dipped two wheels on the gravel during his lap and lost a chunk of time meaning he is only fifth and behind both McLarens after that first run. Behind them Gasly is sixth ahead of both Ferraris with Perez only P9.

19:52 The first timed laps of Q3 see Hamilton grab provisional pole with a 1m19.949s with Verstappen slotting into second.

19:50 Nine out of 10 Q3 drivers are out on track already, leaving Giovinazzi to pick his moment to join the action.

19:49 During Q2 it was confirmed Bottas has taken a new power unit so he will start the Italian GP from the back of the grid. Here's the full story: https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/bottas-set-for-back-of-grid-start-at-monza-after-f1-engine-change/6664341/

19:48 Time for Q3!

19:46

Quick nod to Giovinazzi, who is effectively racing for his F1 future, making it into Q3 once again. Making it count at the right time.

19:44 The pitlane incident towards the end of Q2 will be investigated after qualifying. No drivers are specifically named, but you can probably include the majority of Q2 runners in that incident.

19:42 Out in Q2: P11 Vettel, P12 Stroll, P13 Alonso, P14 Ocon, P15 Russell.

19:41 Focusing on the actual laps being set, Sainz leaps up to P8 to make it into Q3, pushing Stroll into the drop zone.

19:40 That was messy and dangerous. In the scramble to leave the pits, an Aston Martin mechanic waving Stroll out almost gets collected by a near-miss between Hamilton and Vettel and seconds later the same thing happens with an Alpine mechanic.

19:38

"Unbelievable what they are doing here!" Verstappen says over his radio. As expected, everyone comes out together and starts backing each other up.

19:36 Time for a standoff for the final Q2 runs, who blinks first?

19:35 Five minutes to go in Q2 and Perez is on the edge in P10 ahead of Ocon, Vettel, Sainz, Russell and Alonso.

19:34 Elsewhere, Leclerc is still struggling with his engine issue, reporting over his Ferrari team radio it isn't consistently being a problem now.

19:32 That puts the Mercedes duo comfortably ahead of the rest. Norris slots into third place over four-tenths of a second back. Verstappen is shuffled back to P6 and Perez is only P10.

19:30 Not for long, as Hamilton puts in a 1m19.936s to go top, beating team-mate Bottas by one-tenth of a second.

19:29 Verstappen, with the aid of a two from team-mate Perez, goes top early with a 1m20.032s.

19:28 Anyway, back to Q2 and all 15 drivers in this session are on the track. Lap times coming up.

19:27 Ah, we did speak too soon - the Q1 incident involving Mazepin and Kubica will be investigated after the session. But the pitlane near-miss between Mazepin and Leclerc won't be investigated.

19:26 This time both Red Bull drivers are not hanging about as Perez leads out Verstappen.

19:25 But on we go with Q2 which is underway!

19:25 There were some messy traffic incidents throughout Q1 but somehow there were no major flashpoints or any impending stewards investigations - yet!

19:23