Fernando Alonso takes pole position for Italian Grand Prix
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso took pole position for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix in front of the home fans.
In a week where they were didn’t face further punishments from their team orders scandal at the German Grand Prix, Alonso put his car on pole with a time of one minute 21.962 seconds.
He starts the race ahead of reigning world champion Jenson Button, who did a superb job to start from the front row after he posted a time of 1:22.084s in his McLaren. The other Ferrari of Felipe Massa starts from third on the grid (1:22.293s).
Red Bull stated the fast Monza track would not suit their car, and Mark Webber was best-placed for the team, setting a time of 1:22.433s. Lewis Hamilton in the other McLaren was widely tipped to take pole position, but he only managed to get fifth (1:22.623s), starting ahead of Webber’s teammate Sebastian Vettel (1:22.675s).
Pole position was just what Ferrari needed after they started to fall behind in the race for both the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, and it is also their first pole position since Brazil 2008.
“Pole position was a nice surprise,” said Alonso.
“When I stopped in parc ferme, they radioed and told me I was keeping the first position. But there were still some cars completing their laps, Jenson had gone pink in the first sector and I thought, as had happened before, someone would go faster. It is a nice surprise and a fantastic feeling to get this first pole position for Ferrari,” added the Spaniard.
The Italian fans will have to wait until tomorrow to see whether Alonso can get the other half of the job done.
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