Antonio Fuoco has secured pole position for Ferrari in the final qualifying session of the World Endurance Championship at Monza. The Italian was the fastest in both qualifying sessions held on Saturday afternoon with his Ferrari 499P from #50 AF Corse.
During the final 10-minute session, known as Hyperpole, Fuoco recorded a time of 1:33.364, narrowly surpassing the previously set time by Mathieu Jaminet with the #19 Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar, which clocked 1:33.460.
Fuoco expressed his joy at achieving pole in his home race, highlighting the difficult conditions that complicated qualifying. ‘It’s very special to be on pole at Monza and I’m very happy because the car has been exceptional today. The conditions were tricky and the team did an amazing job preparing the car,’ he commented.
All the previous practice sessions took place in damp conditions, which meant qualifying represented the first opportunity for all teams to run in the dry. Earl Bamber from Jota Cadillac finished third with a time of 1:33.541, while Antonio Giovinazzi secured fourth position with a time of 1:33.573 for the #51 Ferrari.
The fifth place went to Theo Pourchaire with the Peugeot #94, while Victor Martins placed his Alpine #36 in sixth position. Jeffrey Steven qualified seventh with the Cadillac #12, just ahead of Robert Kubica and the satellite Ferrari, while the top 10 was completed by Nick Cassidy with the Peugeot #93 and Sheldon van der Linde with the BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh.
Neither of the two Toyota cars, who are competing for the drivers’ title this final weekend of the championship, made it to the Hyperpole. Ryo Hirakawa qualified in 15th position with the #8 Toyota HYBRID TR010.
On Sunday, the 6 Hours of Monza race will start at 11:00 local time, with much anticipation to see how this final test of the championship will unfold.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
