69 career pole positions. Lewis Hamilton now stands out on his own in Formula 1 after taking pole position in Monza.
A record impressive not just because of the track where he did it, but also the conditions that he did it in.
The qualifying session had been delayed by rain which brought out the red flag following Romain Grosjean's aquaplaning into the barrier on the pit straight in Q1. The session did not resume for another two-and-a-half hours when conditions were deemed to have improved enough for the cars to get back out on track.
Initially, it seemed like it would be business as usual with Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull leading the way in Q1 and Q2. But rain always throws the rulebook out and we saw the order really shaken up.
Williams' Lance Stroll outclassed his veteran teammate Felipe Massa to get himself up into P4, and Force India's Esteban Ocon left his teammate/sparring partner Sergio Perez behind in Q2 and took P5 in Q3. Stoffel Vandoorne was in P10 and perhaps the unsung hero out of all the surprises.
The Ferraris really suffered once they got into Q3. They never threatened to get even into the top 6, never mind the front row. The lack of performance was baffling to the drivers as well who couldn't get within 2 seconds of Lewis Hamilton in P1.
Verstappen and Ricciardo had a strong showing in Q3 and owned P2 and P3 respectively. Verstappen's form in the rain is well-known now. Comparable to Hamilton even. But unfortunately for Red Bull, the timing of their grid penalties could have been better to capitalize on the poor performance of the Ferraris. As it is, the Ferraris get nudged up 2 positions into P5 and P6 as the Red Bulls fall to the back of the grid.
With the race expected to be in dry conditions, Ferrari have plenty of time to recover as Monza is quite a long race. The Williams and Force India may not be too difficult to get out of the way, but the Ferrari tacticians will have to put together something really clever to take P1 from Hamilton. At least the Force India pit wall will be able to breathe easy knowing their drivers have a lot of fresh air between them for this race and they shouldn't tangle with each other.
