Lewis Hamilton snuck through to Q3 at the Italian Grand Prix by the barest of margins, just one thousandth of a second ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto.
His team-mate Charles Leclerc was just seven thousandths further ahead in ninth place in Q2, with the team on the brink of absolute disaster at their home grand prix.
Q1 had thrown up something of a surprise challenger, with Pierre Gasly setting the fastest time of the first part of qualifying in his Alpine, just a shade ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
His team-mate Franco Colapinto set the fourth fastest time of the first section of the session, with just half a tenth of a second covering the top four in a tight and muddled up first session.
Down at the back, Aston Martin and Honda received a chastening reminder that they still have significant work left to do to challenge at power-critical circuits, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll sitting 21st and 22nd on the timing sheets.
They were just behind the Cadillac pair of Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, who were joined in the cut zone by Alex Albon – who will take a 20-place grid penalty and start from the back – and Yuki Tsunoda.
F1 2026 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Results
ELIMINATED IN Q2
11. Gabriel Bortoleto [Audi]
12. Ollie Bearman [Haas]
13. Nico Hulkenberg [Audi]
14. Liam Lawson [Red Bull]
15. Carlos Sainz [Williams]
16. Esteban Ocon [Haas]
ELIMINATED IN Q1
17. Yuki Tsunoda [Racing Bulls]
18. Alex Albon [Williams]
19. Valtteri Bottas [Cadillac]
20. Sergio Perez [Cadillac]
21. Fernando Alonso [Aston Martin]
22. Lance Stroll [Aston Martin]
Changes to F1 Qualifying in 2026
There are a couple of changes to the way qualifying works this year, not quite as sweeping as the new technical regulations.
Firstly we now have 22 cars on the grid, so instead of five cars exiting after Q1 and Q2, we will have six being eliminated. That still leaves 10 for the pole shootout in Q3.
The other notable change lies in the timings – Q3 now gets an extra minute and lasts for 13 rather than 12.
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