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Saturday’s Italian Grand Prix qualifying session brought plenty of chaos in more ways than one for Formula One fans.
Charles Leclerc took pole for Ferrari’s home race as the passionate tifosi fans roared from the stands. Behind him, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz recorded the second and third fastest laps, respectively, but the Red Bull and Ferrari drivers will not be starting near the top of the grid.
Verstappen and Sainz are among the nine total F1 drivers who face grid drops, and with almost a majority of the field having penalties, chaos ensued as teams awaited to see where their drivers would line up for Sunday’s race.
Two spots that were locked in when qualifying came to an end were the front row—Leclerc and George Russell, who qualified sixth. In front of Russell, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton both had penalties. From there, Lando Norris moved up to the second row with a P3 start despite qualifying seventh.
The penalty distributions are as follows in order of severity: Verstappen (five-place), Esteban Ocon (five-place), Perez (10-place), Valtteri Bottas (15-place), Mick Schumacher (15-place), Kevin Magnussen (15-place), Sainz (back of the grid), Hamilton (back of the grid) and Tsunoda (back of the grid).
Additionally, Alex Albon will not be on the grid this weekend because of appendicitis, and Williams Racing announced that Nyck de Vries will take his place.
Now, the dust has settled. The FIA confirmed the provisional grid for the 2022 Italian Grand Prix will be as follows:
- Leclerc
- Russell
- Norris
- Ricciardo
- Gasly
- Alonso
- Verstappen
- De Vries
- Zhou
- Latifi
- Vettel
- Stroll
- Perez
- Ocon
- Bottas
- Magnussen
- Schumacher
- Sainz
- Hamilton
- Tsunoda
Will Leclerc hold on to repeat his 2019 Monza victory for the home crowd or will the McLaren duo try to repeat its ’21 fortunes? Will Verstappen surge through the grid once again? Or could we have a maiden F1 victory for Russell on the horizon?
Buckle in, F1 fans—it’s time for the Italian Grand Prix.
