Oscar Piastri took his second consecutive pole position in a powerful showing during the qualifying session in Monza.
The Australian rose quickly to provisional pole on his first set of tyres, then delivered a great final lap to claim the four points.
Piastri will start the Feature Race from the front of the grid, while he will begin the first Sprint Race tomorrow from the fifth row because of the reverse Top 10 grid rules.
Piastri said: “Pole position in Monza! I’m very happy with that, and it’s two in a row. It was a good session.
“We were quick in the beginning and then delivered when it counted. It wasn’t my finest lap, I’ll be honest, but it was good enough for pole.
“Big thanks to PREMA for the great car; we made a few changes in the middle that probably helped a bit.
“Hopefully, we can survive Turn 1 tomorrow starting from 10th place and have a clean weekend from there.
“Last year, I started 15th and survived that.
“I think it will be ok; nobody has raced for a while, but everybody understands how the format works now, and I hope nobody will try to be a first-corner hero because this is the best place all year for overtaking.”
Robert Shwartzman finished qualifying in 12th, which is where he will start in both the Feature Race and Sprint Race 1.
A flat-spotted tyre in the only practice session forced the Russian to play catch up for the rest of the day, leaving him not able to get further up the grid in qualifying.
Shwartzman will try to make the most out of the first Sprint Race and Monza’s overtaking chances.
He will then hope to take advantage of the reverse grid for Sprint Race 2 to make the most of his weekend.
Shwartzman said: “For sure, it hasn’t been the start that we wanted for this weekend. We got a flat spot in practice, and that put us a bit on the back foot.
“Then in qualifying, we didn’t really maximise the potential, so we ended up outside the Top 10. I’m obviously not satisfied with that, and we have to understand the root of the issue.
“However, this is probably the best track that we have for overtaking. We will try to bounce back and possibly put ourselves in the best possible position for race 2.
“It’s difficult, but not impossible.”
PREMA will want their good race pace and luck to continue for the drivers when they head off the line for the Sprint Races tomorrow.
Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited
