Hamilton wins pole for Italian Grand Prix; Rosberg in row 2
Ryan Joseph Ramos September 5, 2015Mercedes AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton captured yet another pole position, beating out Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for the chance to start at the front of the grid at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix. Raikkonen’s teammate Sebastian Vettel qualified at P3, followed by Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg in p4.
The qualifying times were close, with Hamilton emerging on top thanks to his 1:23.397. Raikkonen was at 1:23.631, which was just a shade better than Vettel’s 1:23.685. Rosberg topped out at 1:23.703.
This most recent pole is Hamilton’s seventh straight and eleventh out of twelve GPs so far in the 2015 Formula One season. Seven straight poles were the best done by Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher, and the only better effort is the eight straight done by Ayrton Senna.
Schumacher also has the record of 15 poles in a season, which is only four away now from Hamilton. The defending champ is also at number three on the all-time list with 49, just behind Senna’s 65 and Schumacher’s 69.
Hamilton was the fastest in all the free practice runs and was also fastest in Q2. The Brit defending champ acknowledged that the team did a great job again as the car felt great all weekend. With the pole and Mercedes’ track record when it comes to race pace, Hamilton should be a good bet to win the 85th iteration of the Italian GP.
Ferrari was equally delighted, of course, and being able to achieve a 2-3 qualifier in front of the home crowd must feel great. This was Raikkonen’s first front-row qualification since the Chinese GP back in 2013. This is Vettel’s first Italian GP in Ferrari red, having transferred from Red Bull Racing just this season.
