He Who Dares...

Sebastian Vettel continued his recent great form, collecting his first career pole in a soaked Monza. It was a day of high suspense and surprise as some of the major players failed to show the kahona’s needed to deal with the weather.

Vettel was quick throughout the day in the changing conditions, driving with the maturity and consistency one would expect from a championship contender. Kovalainen will start beside him tomorrow, the only driver of the top teams to really strut his stuff.

Webber and Bourdais completed a fantastic day for Red Bull as a whole, locking the second row. Like Vettel, Bourdais has been supreme these last few raced. One wonders if it will be enough to convince Toro Rosso to keep him on.

Championship contender Felipe Massa will start sixth. None of his challengers will start in the top ten. Kubica will start eleventh after Massa bumped him. Raikkonen celebrated his new contract with 14th, Hamilton surprisingly in 15th.

Hamilton is perhaps the biggest surprised. Over the past two seasons, he has shown supreme skills in the wet. But yet another cock-up on the strategic front put him on the back foot. The decision to send him out on inters at the start cost him time. Despite the switch to the ‘extreme’ wets, Hamilton lacked the balls and the confidence expected of him. Cars around him were finding more pace than him, including Massa who snuck into the top ten at the time. His performance is baffling.

Starting 15th isn’t the end of the world for him, nor is it for Raikkonen. Both have fast cars underneath them and the Monza straights will provide ample opportunity to overtake. They need to be careful about the first corner, which always causes issue. I’m sure everyone will be hypersensitive to avoid the usual tip across the first chicane as well.

The weather is supposed to be dry, but we will just have to wait and see how it all plays out. The topsy-turvy grid might make for an interesting race for the first time in a while!