Qualifying Highlights | 2023 Italian Grand Prix

Ordinary middle part of the lap for Stroll, ordinary middle part of the lap for Piastri, who is really, really struggling. And we've got the chequered flag waving. Bottas up to 12, delivered when he needed to. What are we going to see across the line now? Sargent going very quickly. Joe Guan Yu is right on the brink now. Oscar Piastri finds a time, under enormous pressure, to move up to eighth position. And could this be a great moment for Sargent? Yes, he's up to fifth place. It's Joe Magnussen-Stroll. And what about the two Alpines? Lawson gets himself through into the next part of qualifying for the first time in his Formula 1 career that's only lasted two races. Now Yuki Tsunoda goes to fourth, and it's over to the Alpines. Ocon is out. He's in 17th position. No, he's not. Gasly's in 17th position. Both Alpines fall for the first time in manufacturer history. It's the first time for the Renault-owned team since 2016 that they have both fallen at the first hurdle, along with Joe, along with Magnussen, and Lance-Stroll. It's a tough day for those who drive for the Enstone-based team. This isn't the lap that Logan Sargent would want down there in 14th place. His teammate is up in fourth at the moment. Can he find himself through there? And can he make the progress through? Albon is punching a hole in the air here. He's gone across the line. Sargent now cuts the beam. No improvement for Logan Sargent as he goes across the line. It was an improvement for Yuki Tsunoda. Sargent falls at the second hurdle of qualifying. That will be disappointing for the young American driver. We're on board with Lewis Hamilton, seven times on pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. The chequered flag is waving. Who is able to make the improvement when it's all on the line? Russell goes up to fifth place. He will be in the final part of qualifying. Hamilton goes into fifth position now. It's Piastri, Hülkenberg, Lawson and Bottas who are trying to improve their positions and get through. The roar is because Charles Leclerc has gone to the top of the timing page. Lawson gets to P12, but is out in this segment of qualifying, along with Hülkenberg. Piastri delivers the lap that demotes Yuki Tsunoda. So two Alfa Tauris out, then Hülkenberg and Sargent. Verstappen goes and Bottas moves up to 14th position. He will exit qualifying as well. Lando Norris makes it through by 13 thousandths of a second. Fine margins. The Alfa Tauris are out along with Hülkenberg, Bottas and Sargent. Verstappen attacking for all he's worth out there to the very limit of the racetrack. Yeah, now Albon has opened up as well as the fastest person first sector. A full two tenths quicker than Verstappen. Middle part of the lap we've got Pérez a couple of tenths down on his teammate. Let's see where those Ferraris and Leclerc has gone marginally quicker than Verstappen in the middle sector. Verstappen sets the time. There's more pace out there. It's a 1.20.6. Pérez comes over the line. He's into second. Charles Leclerc is waiting to cut the beam. He's got the Parabolica to go. Norris is third. Alonso is fourth. Here's the man who won the Grand Prix in 2019. Charles Leclerc on the soft tyres in the Scala Ferrari goes ahead of both Red Bull drivers. He delivers with seven minutes to go. Carlos Sainz takes it away from Charles Leclerc by three hundredths of a second. It's a Ferrari 1.2, a Red Bull 3.4. At least it was Alex Albon. He's matched his personal best in Formula One with that result. One run to go though, but it's Sainz who has one hand on pole position. Now Russell goes over the line in fourth place, but there was an enormous cheer. There's less than a tenth of a second between the top three. Sainz, Leclerc and then this man. Fantastic sound on the main straight as Charles Leclerc is gunning for pole position 21 in Formula One. He is trying to head the field for the Italian Grand Prix. Verstappen is the next car that will respond to Leclerc's time and then it will be Carlos Sainz who is giving an unintentional tow to Lando Norris. Sainz, Leclerc and Verstappen separated by less than a tenth of a second and Charles Leclerc is improving through the first sector of the racetrack. The visible body language of that race car as he mounted the kerb into the second chicane. He is hustling. He knows the importance of this. He's brilliant at qualifying and the car is below him. Little snake of the rear as he comes out of the second Lesmo. Look at how close it is. Charles Leclerc is marginally up on Carlos Sainz through the first sector of the lap. Verstappen marginally down and it's close once again between the two Ferrari drivers. But the second sector is Red Bull town. It's Max Verstappen town. He's got corners. Will we see Verstappen take a step forward in the middle part of the lap? We will. But it's only by half of the difference over Leclerc in the first sector. So Leclerc marginally up over Verstappen. All three drivers at the front of the field are improving. Charles Leclerc to the line. Charles Leclerc improves to pole position. Can Max Verstappen find an answer? He's out of the Parabolica. The Red Bull driver going up through the gears, flat to the floor, looking for a ninth pole this season. Verstappen takes it away from Charles Leclerc. What a great lap and it's over to you, Carlos Sainz. Carlos Sainz takes pole position to raise a roar from the crowd and the Tifosi are jubilant because Carlos Sainz has a fourth career pole and a first one at the Italian Grand Prix. Russell is in fourth at the moment. No, he's not. Over the line goes Sergio Perez. Albon is P5 for Williams. Ferrari are celebrating. There are still laps to come. Let's sort out this order for the Italian Grand Prix. Then we'll get to the celebrations. Russell up to fourth position with a late lap and it's over to the man who has the most pole positions in Formula 1 at this track. It won't be today. It will be eighth place for Lewis Hamilton. Send us back to Carlos Sainz, who has beaten Max Verstappen by 13 thousandths of a second around a 3.6 mile circuit. Sainz on pole. We have it. Yes, we have it. Good job. One of the great sessions of the season. All three drivers chasing pole position improved their time. They were separated by 99 thousandths of a second when we went into Q3 Run 2. At the end of that session, they're separated by 67 thousandths of a second.