"Tell me that we have achieved it!", an emotional Carlos Sainz said on the radio after achieving pole position, the fourth of his Formula 1 career, at the home of Ferrari, on a Monza circuit dyed red and delivered to his idol. Barely a day after celebrating his 29th birthday, the man from Madrid, "with goosebumps" and spurred on by thousands of tifosi who cheered him on at every turn, gave himself one of the best sensations since his arrival at the Italian team, winner by a single hundredth of a frantic battle with Max Verstappen, finally second on the starting grid at the Italian Grand Prix. The spotlights this time were not for the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, who in the race will start from a discreet tenth place.
“It has been a very intense qualifying. We have been to the limit. I knew I had some time in the Ascari corner and it worked out well. I pushed hard on that lap. Wherever we go we always have support from the fans here. Let's see if tomorrow we can go out well and compete with Verstappen ”, he explained in front of his Sainz fans, more relaxed but still ecstatic.
The Spaniard brought a ray of light to a Ferrari team that started the season with great expectations, convinced to fight for the title again, and yet has taken a step back this year in the evolution of the car, with constant errors both human as technicians. The nightmare turned into hope for one day thanks to the skill of the Madrid pilot.
The number 55 Ferrari had already been the fastest in free practice by a narrow margin, both in the second and third sessions, and when the moment of truth arrived, the war with Verstappen was even more bitter, in just a breath, decided by a minimum detail.
The reigning champion, the ogre of the World Cup that monopolizes everything, did not make it easy at all, the fastest both in Q1, with a lap bordering the limits of the track, and in Q2, where he snatched the best time from the Ferraris a few seconds from the checkered flag. But in the final fight for pole position, the transalpine team showed its pride and, above all, to the last thousandth of the red car.
The first round of the decisive stake was already for the Ferraris, although with an asterisk: Verstappen had been only one tenth slower despite one of his tires being covered by gravel. Mad Max still hadn't said the last word about him. The absolute leader of the championship seemed to write the usual script, the one that ended with his tenth pole of the year, after rising to the first position in his last attempt in Q3. He devoured Leclerc's time, until that moment the poleman, and put Sainz's nerves of steel to the test, who at that moment was negotiating the last meters of the final sector of the circuit in practically the same hundredth as the Dutchman.
The Spaniard, already the last hope of the fans of the Prancing Horse, herded the pianos to the limit of failure. The stands held their breath until the technology, the screen that marks the times, certified a resounding joy after many disappointments for the Italian team. Ferrari broke the hegemony of Red Bull on Saturdays, which had been taking pole position in the previous nine classifications.
“I will always remember this lap”, added Sainz, who dreams of rounding off his great weekend occupying the top step of the podium for the second time in his nine years in the great circus. An almost utopian goal against a tyrant like Verstappen who has nine wins in a row.
1. Carlos Sainz (1:20.294)
2.Max Verstappen (0.013)
3. Charles Leclerc ( 0.067)
4. George Russell
5. Sergio Perez
6. Alexander Albon
7. Oscar Piastri
8. Lewis Hamilton
9. Lando Norris
10. Fernando Alonso
11. Yuki Tsunoda
12. Liam Lawson
13. Nico Hulkenberg
14. Valtteri Bottas
15. Logan Sargeant
16. Guanyu Zhou
17. Pierre Gasly
18. Esteban Ocon
19. Kevin Magnussen
20. Lance Stroll
