Italian F1 Grand Prix 2019 Qualifying: Saturday's Results, Times, Final Grid

Rory Marsden @@roomarsdenFeatured ColumnistSeptember 7, 2019

MONZA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 07: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Scuderia Ferrari SF90 on track during final practice for the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo di Monza on September 07, 2019 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

Charles Leclerc will be in pole position for the Formula One Italian Grand Prix on Sunday at Monza after a shambolic end to qualifying on Saturday.

The Ferrari driver's lap time of one minute, 20.126 seconds was enough to head world champion Lewis Hamilton, who will start second in front of his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Sebastian Vettel qualified fourth ahead of the two Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.

Here are the standings in full:

Formula 1 @F1
QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION* *Stewards are investigating the climax to Q3 #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 https://t.co/kH58mbohwd

It was a truly bizarre finish to Saturday's session in Italy, as in Q3, after a red flag was drawn due to Kimi Raikkonen's crash, nine of 10 drivers failed to make the start line in time to register a final lap time.

The session resumed after the red flag with six minutes remaining, but all the teams effectively played chicken in the pits as they looked to place themselves for an advantageous tow.

In a laughable finish to the day's proceedings, they were all losers, as eventually only Carlos Sainz ended up making the line in time to complete another lap, robbing the watching fans of the exciting finish they would have been expecting.

As a result, the final positioning of the top 10 of the grid was largely decided from the first laps completed in Q3.

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Leclerc's description of the situation as "a big mess" was right on the money:

Formula 1 @F1
"I'm happy with the pole. It's a shame but there was a big mess at the end... Let's hope for a good race tomorrow" #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 https://t.co/enBrag0W0k

Alfa Romeo's Raikkonen caused the delay midway through Q3 when he went into the wall at Parabolica (Turn 11):

Formula 1 @F1
🚩 RED FLAG🚩 Moments into Q3 and Raikkonen goes into the barriers at the Parabolica 😮 #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 https://t.co/60w7UqoXy8

Red Bull's Max Verstappen was the big casualty from an interrupted Q1 after he failed to set a time:

Sky Sports F1 @SkySportsF1
END OF Q1 Verstappen suffers power issues and fails to set a time. Top 15 within 0.600!⏱ OUT IN Q2: Verstappen, Kubica, Russell, Perez, Grosjean 📺Live on Sky Sports F1 📱Live on the App and Sky Go: https://t.co/BFwOUmJQSn 💻Live blog: https://t.co/CkqLNAZAQx https://t.co/sI4WA2g8IH

Sergio Perez also fell at the first hurdle after drawing to a halt on track with an engine problem, which prompted a red flag.

In Q2, both Toro Rosso drivers finished outside the top 10 after Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly failed to properly execute an effective tow.