05/09/2020
NEWS STORY
Monza is the 'temple of speed' and it lived up to its name in qualifying today, with Hamilton's pole time breaking the all-time track record that had stood since 2018, set by Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari in qualifying. The record was already broken in Q2, before being lowered further in Q3. Both Mercedes drivers broke the previous qualifying record of 1m19.119s.
The tactics weren't just about which tyres to use, but also how best to get a tow from other drivers - which often caused a traffic jam as drivers jostled for the best position. All the drivers in the top 10 on the grid used the soft tyre to get through Q2, and will start on this compound tomorrow. Mercedes was the only team to use the medium during Q1.
As seen yesterday, there was a bit of dirt on the track caused by drivers running wide, which may have affected some drivers during the closely-fought session.
Today was hotter than yesterday, with 31 degrees ambient and 46 degrees of track temperature halfway through the session. Similar conditions are expected tomorrow.
All the drivers in the top 10 of the grid will start the race on the Red soft tyres. The fastest strategy for the 53-lap Italian Grand Prix is a one-stopper, starting on soft and going onto Yellow medium after 24 laps (or alternatively, vice versa).
The second-quickest way is still a one-stopper, but this time using soft for 22 laps and then White hard for 31 laps.
Close to both of these - but with the big advantage of providing a wider pit stop window - is a strategy that involves the medium for 26 laps and the hard for 27 laps. As always, this can work just as well the other way round.
A two-stop strategy is definitely slower, but the best way to do it would be two 16-lap stints on the soft and a 21-lap run on the medium, possibly using the medium in the middle stint.
Mario Isola: "Everything went very smoothly from a tyre point of view. Tomorrow should be a one-stop race but there are different variations of one-stoppers that can be applied, opening several strategic possibilities. The top 10 will all start on the soft tyre tomorrow, levelling up the playing field, so it will be interesting to see how many drivers from P11 downwards decide to try something different by starting on the medium or hard in what are expected to be warm conditions. Mercedes was the only team to run the medium in qualifying, which otherwise featured the soft from start to finish, but the harder compounds are set to play an important role in the race. Once more, we saw another track record comprehensively broken this weekend - but this one is particularly significant, as it's on the fastest circuit of them all, and our home race."