In what played out to be a gripping battle for pole at Monza with all top three drivers breaking the previous record for the fastest ever Formula 1 lap (set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004), Raikkonen claimed his first pole in over a year by finishing ahead of his teammate Sebastian Vettel. This is the Finn’s eighteenth career pole, lapping at 1’19”119. Hamilton, who was comfortably sitting on provisional pole until the last few seconds of the qualifying session, finished third.
The Tifosi have long waited to celebrate since Ferrari won their home race in 2010 with Fernando Alonso. But today, they are looking forward to a dream result with both of their drivers starting at the front row. In the drivers’ Championship, Vettel is currently 17 points behind Hamilton – after throwing away victory in Germany.
Vettel when asked directly after qualifying whether Raikkonen would be allowed to race for the win, responded “Well, if he’s starting from pole, I guess he’s allowed to win. It’s a long race. Obviously, he wants to win, I want to win. Hopefully one of us will win.”
