FIA F2
Monza: Qualifying report
Piquet Pole Spells Game On in Monza Nelson Piquet Jr has scored his sixth pole position of the season from eleven events. With a belting lap around the Autodromo di Monza, the Brazilian took top spot and with it two valuable points to nibble into ...
Edited: Dec 11, 2006, 4:15 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Piquet Pole Spells Game On in Monza
Nelson Piquet Jr has scored his sixth pole position of the season from eleven events. With a belting lap around the Autodromo di Monza, the Brazilian took top spot and with it two valuable points to nibble into Lewis Hamilton's championship lead. Nelson will be joined on the front row by local hero Giorgio Pantano, with Lewis starting from third position.
A lap of 1:30.161 was enough to grab Nelson the top spot in qualifying following a titanic battle with his season-long rival Lewis. The pair matched each other almost lap for lap until, with half the session gone, Nelson set the time that would net him pole.
In the early part of the session, the fight was between Luca Filippi and Franck Perera, with the Italian just edging the Frenchman with ten minutes gone. By now the championship contenders were way down the order, waiting for their chance to make a move in clean air.
With just under half the session gone they were out, with Lewis around 20 seconds up the road from Nelson. The pair were going for an out-and-out battle of nerves. Lewis was naturally the first to set his time and flew straight into P1. Nelson was next through and stole the position from him, but Lewis was straight back on top with his second effort. Nelson was not to be beaten however, and the man who has taken more pole positions than any other driver this season blasted over the line almost seven tenths faster than his rival.
As seems to have become the tradition of late, it was now up to the rest of the field to catch Nelson, and Lewis was straight in for fresh rubber to try his hand. With each lap that passed he took another tenth or two out of the Brazilian's time, but it wasn't enough. Just as it looked as though the grid was perfectly formed for a front-row championship showdown, however, up popped Giorgio Pantano. The Italian was reveling in his local surroundings, on a track he knows and loves, and in the dying minutes he set a lap which would net him second and push Lewis down to third.
With the gap between Lewis and Nelson at just eight points, it really is game on for the championship. Tomorrow promises to be a truly nail-biting affair.
1st Nelson Piquet Jr Piquet Sports.1:30.161
The car was great again, and I was lucky not to get involved in traffic or anything. I really don't know what to say. I'm just really happy. Everything needs to go well in the race and I need not to get involved in any stupid mistakes. I'm sure we can finish at the top.
2nd Giorgio Pantano Petrol Ofisi FMS International. +0.229
I think we've seen in the last four or five races that we've been really there not far away from Nelson or Hamilton. I know the circuit quite well and the car worked very good. The championship is not my problem. I want to win the race. I have nothing to lose, so I'm going to do my race.
3rd Lewis Hamilton ART Grand Prix. +0.327
There was a yellow flag in the last corner, but it was right by the incident. I was already straight, and I didn't even think it was a fast lap. I remain positive. Even if they take my best laps I'll still be third. Tomorrow I won't try any silly moves. It'll be close, but I want to win.
-credit: gp2
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Piquet hits first in Monza, grabs pole
Next article Monza: Racing Engineering qualifying report
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Hamilton
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Oscar Piastri on his Singapore puncture: “Ironically, it probably helped”
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Ferrari caved in to Lewis Hamilton’s failed Singapore F1 gamble
More from
ART Grand Prix
When Paul Di Resta beat Sebastian Vettel to the F3 title
F3
F3
When Paul Di Resta beat Sebastian Vettel to the F3 title
Haas announces 15-year-old Kaylee Countryman as 2026 F1 Academy driver
F1 Academy
F1 Academy
Las Vegas
Haas announces 15-year-old Kaylee Countryman as 2026 F1 Academy driver
Williams parts ways with Lia Block as F1 Academy star is set to return to rally
F1 Academy
F1 Academy
Las Vegas
Williams parts ways with Lia Block as F1 Academy star is set to return to rally
Latest news
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
4 h
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
4 h
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe