Fernando Alonso's gesture, even though he swapped roles with Sainz at Monza

Aerodynamic exasperation tempered by minimal downforce to avoid skidding on ice during the variants, critical cars facing such a cocktail that also manifests itself in brutal braking without missing the exact point that could ruin the entire lap , extreme lines seeking the edge of the abyss and the gravel... Monza challenges its guests with unique demands. When all the cars are separated by eight-tenths of a second in Q1 and the top fifteen by half a second, the party goes wild.

Max Verstappen (pole) and Fernando Alonso (ninth) got their respective cars out of the way, with youngster Gabriel Bortoleto as a wild card. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz (thirteenth) was the star of a Zandvoort race, as the Spaniards reversed expectations in practice for the Italian Grand Prix . As in the race, when the worst performer on Saturday will be better on Sunday.

Alonso surprised everyone in Q1, even though he needed three of the five sets of soft tires. Sainz finished fifth, as expected, but Alonso sixth... Something wasn't right with the Aston Martin , the car with the lowest aerodynamics on this track. Albon narrowly escaped Q2. Anyone can have a bad lap, but it was the first warning for the team. The surprise came in the second block. Albon failed the first variant. Something wasn't right with the tires at Williams, because Sainz achieved a poor first time that he couldn't improve on his final attempt. The tires, it was obvious. The drivers would explain it later.

Slipstreams like a fox

"The truth is, with Alpine, we thought we had the worst car , or we still think we have the worst car. So it was an inspired day," the Asturian summed up, not wanting to say much. Indeed, the two French team drivers and Stroll were left in Q1, and there was no prospect of Alonso making it past Q2.

But he was chasing slipstreams like a fox, not even in Aston Martin's wildest dreams. He hooked up with Antonelli's Mercedes in Q3, landing an eighth-place finish —with Hamilton receiving a penalty— that seemed like a joke considering the car with the lowest aerodynamic efficiency on the grid. Paradoxically, Alonso wore the serious expression of someone who had crashed in Q1, showing no satisfaction at all with his personal contribution. Why? It will be a tough fall in the race, he seemed to imply. Little hope on Sunday for the AMR25's prospects.

"Like last year"

"Yes, it was better than expected, to be honest. We thought we'd miss out on Q1. We put on three sets of tires because we thought we wouldn't need any more, and we made progress in Q1, and then Q2 as well," Alonso explained at the close of the session. "In the end, starting eighth tomorrow is a surprise for us, but we're taking it."

Alonso outlined Aston Martin's outlook at Monza. "I thought I'd be on the verge of Q1. If I made it out of Q1, I'd have to accept that, too, because we felt a bit slow all weekend, especially on the straights. We don't have less wing, and we didn't prepare for this race very well either . As it's a bit atypical, it's difficult to spend resources here on new wings and new things, because you only use them once. So we're coming in a bit like last year ; last year we were really bad, and this year it wasn't a surprise to be doing badly."

Miracles, one day. Two, it seems impossible. "I think we'll struggle (in the race). We're the slowest on the straights, and tomorrow that won't be a big handicap. I understand it's a bit out of position, eighth, and I'll fall off during the race, I suppose little by little."

The thorn in Williams' tire

The disappointment was evident at Williams. On Friday, all the analyses and rivals had the FW47 among the favorites. There was a trick. Once again, like Alonso's Zandvoort, it's best not to shout out loud on Friday. Sainz, at the finish, gave shape to what was visible on the asphalt. "It's happened again, a bit like what I predicted yesterday. With soft tires , we have a lot of problems with tire warm-up and preparation."

He then explained the key to Friday's good, albeit misleading, feeling. "Yesterday I was very high up the lap because we were able to do five or six preparation laps. We ended up getting it up to temperature and in the window, and I announced it in the press."

With just one lap of preparation in qualifying, we weren't on the same level. "Today, what happened to us has been happening to us all season, which is a bit of a lottery with our tire problems. But when it happens to two drivers like Alex and me... We have experience, we know how to prepare a tire and how to do things in qualifying , and then something different happens to both of us every weekend, which shows that we're having a lot of problems."

And in the first races of the calendar? " It's been conditioning us all year . There are races where we're able to improve and overcome it. There are others where the window is so small that as soon as you go out of it, you're dead on such a tight grid. It's something that's been happening to us all year, which is why you see us struggling so much."

Albon agreed with Sainz: "We've been trying all weekend with the tires; our problems come in qualifying, when it matters." At least the Madrid native was once again beating his teammate. For the race, the FW47 offers better pace with the other two compounds. Although with only one stop planned and the difficulty of overtaking in the DRS trains organized at Monza, Albon warned that in order to score points, he said: "We'll need clean air and be careful with degradation."