Bottas secures pole for Saturday sprint qualifying at Monza
Valterri Bottas will start Saturday's sprint race at Monza from pole position after Friday's qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:19.555 |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | +0.096 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +0.411 |
| 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.434 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +0.440 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +0.705 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +0.907 |
| 8 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.955 |
| 9 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | +1.056 |
| 10 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +1.253 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | Q2 |
| 12 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | Q2 |
| 13 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | Q2 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | Q2 |
| 15 | George Russell | Williams | Q2 |
| 16 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | Q1 |
| 17 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | Q1 |
| 18 | Mick Schumacher | Haas | Q1 |
| 19 | Robert Kubica | Alfa Romeo | Q1 |
| 20 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | Q1 |
Despite placing first, Bottas will start at the back of the grid for Sunday's race due to engine changes regardless of how he places on Saturday from pole.
This marks Bottas' first race since learning that he'll lose his Mercedes seat to Williams' George Russell. The Finn will race for Alfa Romeo next year.
Silver Arrows teammate Lewis Hamilton secured a front-row lockout for Mercedes, going second fastest, while championship leader Max Verstappen put up the third-fastest lap.
This is the second time Formula 1 has run the sprint qualifying system after its debut at Silverstone earlier this season. Saturday's sprint race decides the entire grid for Sunday's race and also awards points to the top three drivers.
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