Kimi finally makes it on the front row!
Qualifying for Scuderia Ferrari’s home race, the Italian Grand Prix took place in sunny conditions after this morning’s rain, so that weather conditions more or less replicated what’s expected for tomorrow. Kimi Raikkonen will start from second on the grid with a time of 1.23.631, while Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel will start from third in 1.23.685 in front of the big crowd here in Monza. Lewis Hamilton took pole for Mercedes in 1.23.397. [via ferrarif1.com]
| Pos | Driver | Car | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m23.397s |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 0.234s |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 0.288s |
| 4 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 0.306s |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 0.543s |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 0.730s |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1.229s |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 1.657s |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1.920s |
| 10 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 2.817s |
| 11 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 1.128s |
| 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1.501s |
| 13 | Will Stevens | Marussia/Ferrari | 4.334s |
| 14 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia/Ferrari | 4.515s |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Renault | 2.221s |
| 16 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 2.399s |
| 17 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 2.661s |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 2.757s |
| 19 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | – |
| 20 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | – |
*engine-change penalties for Sainz, Kvyat, Button, Alonso, Verstappen, Ricciardo
QUOTES
Read the full post-qualifying FIA press conference here.
From ferrarif1.com – Kimi: “It was the best qualifying of the year, I’m happy for all the team and the people who support us. This was the perfect time for us: obviously we’d like to get such a good result at every race, but if I have to choose one it’s here. Today was a good day, it gives us a good chance for the race, but this doesn’t mean that tomorrow we can beat everybody. We need to do a good job. I’m a bit surprised because we knew our weaknesses and the layout of this track, but everything worked well and we were closer to Mercedes than we what we expected. It’s impossible to say what’s going to happen tomorrow, obviously our aim is to make a good start then go safely into the first corner, do the maximum and hopefully we’ll be able to challenge. We’ll try to do our best and see how it ends up.”
From autosport.com – Kimi: “In a way it’s a big surprise that we are this strong compared to Mercedes. People always talk so much about Friday, but it’s just Friday – you do whatever you want and it’s not about the laptimes. It’s pointless to say we were bad yesterday, we just did our stuff we normally do and if you end up first or 10th it makes no difference. It turned out in qualifying that it all worked out well for us. We’re still not happy with second or third, but this was a place where we expected it to be a bit more difficult because of the circuit layout, so it’s a big surprise. The first corner can easily be a mess in the middle of the pack. The biggest thing [about qualifying second] is we’ll have much less trouble in the first corner and that gives us a good chance for the race.”
From motorsport.com – Kimi: “I think if we look now, we probably surprised ourselves a little bit. We expected a strong weekend but we didn’t expect this place to be our strongest. In the end the car turned out to be pretty good in qualifying conditions. We had many good laps, so it’s nice to be here, especially the home race for us and being the best qualifying for us as a team. I don’t expect an easy race but usually we are more confident for the race and not qualifying.”
Raikkonen radio “Nice job Kimi P2, come on Kimi!” “Ah thanks, that was a good qualifying” #F1
— Connor (@cmckinleyF1) September 5, 2015
RAIKKONEN: “Good result not just for ourselves, but for our fans and Ferrari people behind us” #ItalianGP #ForzaF1 pic.twitter.com/mtVwwWqnMh
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 5, 2015
Qualifying Top 3 https://t.co/yOWUCcqsJk #ItalianGP
— Ky (@FiftyBuckss) September 5, 2015
Marchionne about Kimi’s contract: “He deserved it. We put a bit of pressure on him. He’s a good guy and a good driver” | #Raikkonen #Ferrari
— Gianlu D’Alessandro (@Gianlu_DAle) September 5, 2015
Marchionne: “Today I’ve seen a Raikkonen, regarding the spirit and the mood, like I’ve never seen before”
— Gianlu D’Alessandro (@Gianlu_DAle) September 5, 2015
OTHER STUFF
Analysis of Hamilton and Raikkonen’s Q3 lap https://t.co/3HDt2MqhUs #ItalianGP
— Ky (@FiftyBuckss) September 5, 2015
Well well, looks like you need to prepare your fridges with #icemanlongdrink for a victory party tomorrow! Best served Kimi cold.
— Iceman Long Drink (@icemanlongdrink) September 5, 2015
#F1 Congrats Kimi! P2! pic.twitter.com/LYurJHMmEv
— Mr. Pigz (@MisterPigz) September 5, 2015
Kimi Raikkonen has secured a place on the front row of the grid for the first time since China in 2013 #ItalianGP pic.twitter.com/yKgsphinaj
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 5, 2015
RAIKKONEN: “I have something hanging off the back of my car.” We can see it, Kimi… #ItalianGP #Quali pic.twitter.com/GjNl4hZTi3
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 5, 2015
KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE 
Fantastic, Kimi – You made my day! Very best wishes for tomorrow, go, go, Kimi!!!!
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