Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/722943
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2016 51 Sport SPORTTODAY FORMULA 1 Supreme Hamilton eases to pole in Italy CHAMPIONSHIP leader Lewis Hamilton will start today's Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d'Italia 2016 from pole position after see- ing off team mate Nico Rosberg by nearly half a second in qualifying at Monza. It was the world champion's third successive pole in Italy and his seventh of the season, putting him firmly on course for a third straight win at the fabled 'Temple of Speed'. Home favourites Ferrari were once again Mercedes closest challengers, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Rai- kkonen the only drivers able to get within a second of the rapid Silver Arrows. Williams' Valtteri Bottas was best of the rest, ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstap- pen and the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, with Haas' Esteban Gutierrez completing the top ten. Hamilton owned Q1 with a su- perb 1m 21.854s on supersofts, as Rosberg lagged in second on 1m 22.497s. Vettel was third on 1m 23.077s, but on the soft Pirellis. Further back, Toro Rosso's Da- niil Kvyat was bumped from Q2 by McLaren's Fernando Alonso, leav- ing the Russian a frustrated 17th on 1m 23.825s. Felipe Nasr's misfiring Sauber was next on 1m 23.956s from team mate Marcus Ericsson on 1m 24.087s, leaving the Renaults of Joly- on Palmer and Kevin Magnussen as the last cars with timed laps. Both got the Ascari chicane wrong when on target for better laps, but ulti- mately a lack of straight-line speed cost them. The Englishman thus had to rely on 1m 24.230s, the Dane 1m 24.436s. Esteban Ocon's Manor cut out again as it had in FP3, stranding him at the first chicane on his out lap. He thus did not record a time. Hamilton went faster on softs in Q2 with 1m 21.498s – and it was a mark of his authority that his t ime on the yellow-marked rubber would have been good enough for pole, had it have been set in Q3. Rosberg also improved, to 1m 21.809s, on the same rubber, meaning Mercedes will be the only team in the top ten to start on softs, though Hamilton's front right has a small flat-spot after some heavy braking for the first chi- cane. Behind the lead two, Vettel went faster than he had in Q1 too, albeit on supersofts, with 1m 22.275s. Sergio Perez was out of Q3, then jumped back in right at the end at Felipe Massa's expense. That left the Williams driver 11th on 1m 22.967s. Romain Grosjean was next on 1m 23.092s, tricky since Haas team mate Esteban Gutierrez was a great seventh between the Red Bulls, but a penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change (the cause of his FP3 spin) drops the Frenchman to 17th. The McLarens of Alonso and Jenson Button sandwiched Pascal Wehrlein's Manor; the Spaniard lapped in 1m 23.273s, the German 1m 23.315s and the Englishman 1m 23.399s. Carlos Sainz was 16th for Toro Rosso, on 1m 23.496s. Hamilton went back to supersofts to set the pace after the first runs in Q3, with 1m 21.346s to Ros- berg's 1m 21.646s, while Raikkonen aced Vettel with 1m 22.065s to 1m 22.347s. Then Bottas did 1m 22.457s to displace the Red Bulls of Ricciar- do and Verstappen, who had done 1m 22.505s and 1m 22.621s apiece. On the second runs Hamilton nailed it yet again with 1m 21.135s, leaving Rosberg on 1m 21.613s as Vettel improved to third with a de- cent 1m 21.972s. Raikkonen didn't improve, and neither did Bottas, but Ricciardo lowered his time to 1m 22.389s, a thousandth behind the Finn, and went back ahead of Verstappen who had improved to 1m 22.411s. Perez jumped Force India team mate Nico Hulkenberg for eighth with 1m 22.814s to 1m 22.836s, as Gutierrez made do with 1m 23.184s for 10th after going wide at the second Lesmo on his first run. Thus, without any further penal- ties, the grid will line up: Hamilton, Rosberg; Vettel, Raikkoneen; Bottas, Ricciardo; Verstappen, Perez; Hulk- enberg, Gutierrez; Massa, Alonso; Wehrlein, Button; Sainz, Kvyat; Grosjean, Nasr; Ericsson, Palmer; Magnussen, Ocon. Qualifying results - 2016 Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix Pos. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps 1. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:21.854 01:21.498 01:21.135 16 2. N. Rosberg Mercedes 01:22.497 01:21.809 01:21.613 15 3. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:23.077 01:22.275 01:21.972 13 4. K. Raikkonen Ferrari 01:23.217 01:22.568 01:22.065 15 5. V. Bottas Williams 01:23.264 01:22.499 01:22.388 12 6. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:23.158 01:22.638 01:22.389 17 7. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:23.229 01:22.857 01:22.411 15 8. S. Perez Force India 01:23.439 01:22.922 01:22.814 15 9. N. Hulkenberg Force India 01:23.259 01:22.951 01:22.836 18 10. E. Gutiérrez Haas 01:23.386 01:22.856 01:23.184 21 11. F. Massa Williams 01:23.489 01:22.967 10 12. R. Grosjean Haas 01:23.421 01:23.092 14 13. F. Alonso McLaren 01:23.783 01:23.273 13 14. P. Wehrlein Manor 01:23.760 01:23.315 14 15. J. Button McLaren 01:23.666 01:23.399 13 16. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:23.661 01:23.496 12 17. D. Kvyat Toro Rosso 01:23.825 9 18. F. Nasr Sauber 01:23.956 8 19. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:24.087 7 20. J. Palmer Renault 01:24.230 9 21. K. Magnussen Renault 01:24.436 9 22. E. Ocon Manor Marchionne admits Ferrari has 'failed' in 2016 FERRARI President Sergio Mar- chionne has conceded that the out- fit has "failed" in 2016, due to its in- ability to emerge at the head of the Formula 1 pack. Marchionne, who took over from Luca di Montezemolo towards the end of 2014, set Ferrari the target of competing for this year's title, hav- ing finished as runner-up to Mer- cedes last season. However, Ferrari has not won a race this season, failed to score a podium finish since Austria, and slipped to third in the Construc- tors' Championship, behind Mer- cedes and Red Bull. "I think we failed our target, I don't think there's a doubt in my mind," said Marchionne, while attending Ferrari's home event at Monza. "There's no use putting sweeten- ers on it, the car isn't there, I don't think we developed it. "We started well in Australia and I think that we failed in developing the car during the season, which is due to a variety of reasons." Marchionne nonetheless re- mains confident that Ferrari can recover across the coming months. "We have made changes to the leadership team and I feel quite comfortable that these people are quite capable of turning the fate of the Scuderia around," he com- mented. "But unfortunately we don't have a lot of season left. "Already here there are changes we have made to the car, and I feel a lot more comfortable than I did. "Let them finish the season; I think we'll do the best we can for the rest of 2016 and then the fight begins in 2017 at the first race."