MONZA, Italy: Charles Leclerc hopes Ferrari have put recent troubles behind them after giving the Italian team a great chance of winning on home soil by taking pole at Monza on Saturday.
The man from Monaco is in prime position to record his first win since Austria in early July thanks to his eighth pole of the season, which came after a rapid final qualifying lap around the Temple of Speed which put him 0.145 seconds ahead of championship leader Max Verstappen.
He also benefits from nearly half the drivers at the Italian Grand Prix being hit with grid penalties, including reigning champion Verstappen who was docked five places for exceeding his engine allocation on Friday.
A win in front of massed ranks of passionate Ferrari fans would be the perfect antidote to a campaign which has been littered with mishaps and blunders.
The nadir came in a farcical team display at last weekend’s Dutch GP which was punctured by errors including bungled pit-stops, unsafe releases in the pit lane and erratic strategy calls.
“It’s not because we’re here at Monza that it’s more important than other races not to make any mistakes,” Leclerc told reporters.
“We need to become a team which does no mistakes wherever we go. Yes it is a special weekend for us but the target for us doesn’t change, we just need to have a clean race and a good race.”
This was Ferrari’s 22nd pole at Monza on the famous Italian constructor’s 75th anniversary, marked by a dash of yellow on the team’s livery this weekend.
Leclerc will try to cut Verstappen’s 109-point lead at the top of the drivers’ standings in front of Ferrari chairman John Elkann.
The Agnelli family scion said in an interview with the Gazzetta Dello Sport published on Saturday that a world title will come before 2026 and said Leclerc was in “pole position” to claim a first drivers’ crown for Ferrari since 2007.
“Monza is always special, to get the pole position here is always special, is always incredible,” Leclerc said later to Sky Sport Italia.
“I think we have found something. We need to confirm it tomorrow because it’s tomorrow that counts but to have such a positive Saturday gives us something to smile about.”
Leclerc will be mindful that Verstappen charged up the field from 14th position to Spa-Francorchamps to win the Belgian Grand Prix last month.
The Red Bull driver is on a run of four GP triumphs in a row and was confident he could get his first ever win at Monza — where he has never even got on the podium — despite the grid penalty.
“I just need to have a clean lap one, clear the cars between us quite quickly and I think we still have a good chance, yeah,” he told reporters.
George Russell, who posted the sixth fastest time in qualifying for Mercedes, will start alongside Leclerc on the front row due to further grid penalties to Carlos Sainz, Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton.
A total of nine drivers have been knocked down the grid, with Sainz and seven-time champion Hamilton starting at the back alongside Yuki Tsunoda.
The second row after the raft of sanctions is an all McLaren affair of Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, last year’s Monza winner.
Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri and the Alpine of Fernando Alonso occupy the third row, with Verstappen joined by Nyck de Vries on the fourth row.
De Vries was thrown into the F1 deep end, making his debut after stepping in for Alex Albon at the last minute.
Williams driver Albon, 26, had to abandon the GP on Saturday after being diagnosed with appendicitis.
Leclerc hoping for no Ferrari blunders after taking Italian GP pole
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Leclerc hoping for no Ferrari blunders after taking Italian GP pole
- The man from Monaco is in prime position to record his first win since Austria in early July
- A win in front of massed ranks of passionate Ferrari fans would be the perfect antidote to a campaign which has been littered with mishaps and blunders
Sabalenka beats Svitolina to reach Australian Open final
- Top-seeded Belarusian Sabalenka will bid for a third crown at Melbourne Park in four years and fifth Grand Slam title overall
MELBOURNE: Aryna Sabalenka swept to her fourth successive Australian Open final with a 6-2 6-3 win over Ukrainian Elina Svitolina on Thursday in a semifinal overshadowed by geopolitical tension.
Top-seeded Belarusian Sabalenka will bid for a third crown at Melbourne Park in four years and fifth Grand Slam title overall against the winner of the late semifinal between Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina at Rod Laver Arena.
“I just cannot believe that. It’s an incredible achievement but the job is not done yet,” world number one Sabalenka said on court. “I’m super happy with the win. She’s such a tough opponent and has been playing incredible tennis the whole week.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for which Belarus has been a staging ground, Russian and Belarusian players have been banned from representing their nations at the Grand Slams and tour events.
Svitolina has been vocal about the strain of playing the countries’ players, and said she hoped to bring her nation “light” at the Australian Open after a tough winter.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka, however, crushed those hopes in a furious display of raw power.
She became the third woman in the professional era to reach the Australian Open decider four times in a row following Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1971-76) and Martina Hingis (1997-2002), who each played six finals in a row.
“Gutted not to make it through tonight,” Svitolina told reporters. “Of course it’s very difficult when you’re playing a world number one on fire.”
Svitolina comprehensively beaten
While 31-year-old Svitolina was comprehensively defeated, she fought hard from the first ball to the last.
The 12th seed started with tenacity, thumping a forehand winner down the line on the first point returning serve.
Sabalenka wobbled, giving up two break points with a loose backhand, but blasted her way out of danger.
There was early tension at 2-1 when Svitolina was awarded a point mid-rally, with Sabalenka penalized for hindering the point with a late grunt.
Incensed, she demanded a video review but the point stood.
She channelled her frustration into breaking Svitolina, then held for a 4-1 lead.
Pinning Svitolina well behind the baseline, Sabalenka grabbed three set points and converted the third, roaring “Let’s go!” after a sizzling cross-court backhand winner.
After 41 minutes of earth-shaking power, Sabalenka’s weapons finally misfired.
She dropped the opening service game of the second set with a clutch of errors, raising cheers from a crowd yearning for a contest.
But Sabalenka steadied herself, breaking Svitolina twice in succession.
Svitolina never dropped her head and earned a break point when trailing 4-2 to put the match back on serve.
Sabalenka was not to be denied, though.
After thrashing a forehand winner down the line to save the break point, she proved unstoppable.
Grabbing two match points with a huge serve, Sabalenka closed it out in style, swooping forward with a forehand cross-court winner to book her chance of claiming a third trophy at Melbourne Park.
