Raikkonen sets new track record to take Monza pole

Kimi Raikkonen will start the Italian Grand Prix from pole position as Ferrari locked out the front row at Monza in front of the team’s home fans.

The Finn set a new track record of 1:19.119 in the final seconds of Q3 to post the fastest ever Formula 1 lap and edge out teammate Sebastian Vettel, while Mercedes’s Lewis Hamilton – who was also inside the old track record – will start third alongside Valtteri Bottas.

Max Verstappen will be on the third row with Haas’s Romain Grosjean, while Carlos Sainz showed strong pace in the Renault to qualify seventh.

Sergio Perez was the big casualty in Q1, staying in the Force India garage towards the end of the session seemingly believing he’d done enough, only to miss out by 0.001s.

Force India’s mistake allowed Williams to get both of their cars into Q2, and Lance Stroll had enough pace to progress to the top 10 for the first time this season, having started this race on the front row last year, while Sergey Sirotkin narrowly missed out.

Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen were pushing hard to progress to the final part of qualifying, but the pair tripped over each other in the final moments of the session, ensuring neither made it through to Q3, while Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg failed to set times in the middle part of qualifying due to their grid penalties.

Ferrari and Mercedes were the only teams to get both of their cars into Q3, with Force India, Toro Rosso, Williams, Renault, Haas and Red Bull each putting one driver in the top 10.

Provisional qualifying result:

1 Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)

2. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

4. Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)

5. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

6. Romain Grosjean (Haas)

7. Carlos Sainz (Renault)

8. Esteban Ocon (Force India)

9. Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)

10. Lance Stroll (Williams)

11. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

12. Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)

13. Fernando Alonso (McLaren)

14. Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)**

15. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)*

16. Sergio Perez (Force India)

17. Charles Leclerc (Sauber)

18. Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)

19. Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)*

20. Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)

*Ricciardo and Ericsson both have grid penalties for taking a new engine

** Hulkenberg has a grid penalty for taking a new engine as well as a 10-place penalty for causing a crash at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix