Ferrari want to keep up the momentum in the race
Scuderia Ferrari locked out the front row in the qualifying session for the 69. Italian Grand Prix with Kimi Räikkönen in the first and Sebastian Vettel in the second place.
After topping every dry-weather practice session, Ferrari secured a one-two finish in the all-important qualifying. However, the road to the success was not that neatly paved for the Scuderia. The session turned out to be a thriller which saw the two Ferraris battling it out with Lewis Hamilton. With his first place on the grid, Kimi Räikkönen scored the 18th pole position of his career and his first one since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix. Of 14 qualifying sessions, Ferrari has taken the pole position for the seventh time so far this year.
The Italian team, enjoying the indescribable support, has been very strong both on low and high fuel. Kimi Räikkönen stressed that the support was crucial in the intense battle with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
“The car has been good all weekend and we knew it would have been a close battle. All three sectors were obviously crucial; so far the difference between the top three had been very small, so it was a question of who would get it right and today it was me! It’s great to be on pole in our home Grand Prix in front of our tifosi. When we are driving we cannot hear them, but we could see them cheering and they gave us a lot of support.”
Sebastian commented: “I’m a bit disappointed as I couldn’t get pole today and made some mistakes, so that my lap was not that tidy, but locking out the front row with both cars is a great result for the whole team.”
Both Ferrari drivers pins hopes on the car’s performance, but they stressed that they can nothing for granted as many factors can interfere in a race.
“I’m very happy for this result but unfortunately this doesn’t guarantee anything for tomorrow. Half of the job has been done, but tomorrow is the most important day. For sure we have a good car and the best possible starting place. The race is long and many things can happen; we need to do a perfect job and hopefully tomorrow will be another good day”, said Kimi.
“For tomorrow I think we will have the right speed to race and hopefully we can have a good start, which is always important, especially here. The race is long, so that anything can happen, but we’ll work hard and do our best. The car is strong, so we should be fine. I am happy for the result, as much for our tifosi and hope to get the same result tomorrow,” concluded Sebastian.
