Written by Vyas Ponnuri
Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli took pole on home turf at Monza, ahead of Alex Dunne, while Fornaroli's fellow Italian championship contender Gabriele Minì netted third on the grid, keeping himself within touching distance of the Trident racer leading the standings.
The trio emerged on top after a frantic qualifying session, one that had been split into two groups of 15 cars each, with odd and even-numbered cars being the basis of forming both groups.
As such, the championship-contending Fornaroli, Minì, and Luke Browning all found themselves in group A, while Minì's teammates Dino Beganovic and Arvid Lindblad, and ART's Christian Mansell were slotted into group B.
Each group was allotted 13 minutes out on track to set their laps and form the grid for Sunday's feature race, with qualifying sessions for either group separated by an eight-minute break. The quicker of the leaders in the groups would take home pole position and two vital championship points.
As such, it was Fornaroli who added two further championship points with his pole position, setting a lap time of a 1:38.287, almost six tenths ahead of Group B leader Dunne, who set a 1:38.818 in comparison.
This means Group A's qualifiers would line up on the odd-numbered grid slots for Sunday's feature race, while Group B's qualifiers will be line astern behind Dunne on the even-numbered slots.
However, a major concern with any qualifying session in Monza is always the slipstream and tow on the long straights. With fewer corners, it becomes more difficult for drivers to gain lap time around the 11-turn, 5.7 km long Temple of Speed.
As such, teams and drivers usually look to play a strategic game and send their drivers out behind another car. This is to help their driver behind gain plenty of time on the long straights, due to the car ahead 'punching a hole in the air' and the reduced air resistance allowing for an extra few kilometres an hour of straight line speed.
It's no secret how crucial the tow is around a track of Monza's traits, laden with long straights. As Dunne, the group B leader emphasised:
"I think first to seventh were separated by only a tenth and a half. If something goes wrong in your qualifying lap, it could make the difference between the top three and not even making the reverse grid (12th in qualifying)," the Irishman said.
While the tow brings immense benefits, it also leads to a concertina effect, the cars bunching up together. It almost becomes a Canadian standoff, a game of "No, after you," "After you" where none of the drivers want to be the lead car on the track, punching a hole in the air for the rest to gain a tow and an advantage.
This was witnessed on the first laps for those in Group A, with most of the drivers bunching up between the Lesmo curves on their out laps. The ensuing effect saw ART's Laurens van Hoepen arrive much quicker onto the scene, and make contact with a slowing Kacper Sztuka at turn six, causing damage to both cars, and bringing out a red flag.
Two of the top three finishers, Fornaroli and Minì, were a part of the train of slow-moving cars off the racing line in between the two Lesmo curves in Group A. As the latter would describe, it was not a nice sight to be slowing down, however, the problem remained track-specific.
"As I said, the stewards, and everyone are trying to do their best, to put the new rules, where you should start to push. Once again, it's not an easy thing to fix," the Italian remarked.
Minì also weighed in his thoughts on the melee between the two Lesmo corners in qualifying. "I think it is not a nice thing to stop in the middle of the track, during the warm up lap, for the drivers, for those watching (on the outside).
"But once again, everyone is doing their best to try and avoid it. It's within a specific track, and everyone is fighting for their career, and to get a lap in. It's not easy to go ahead and tell the rest to come behind you," Minì said, highlighting how the problem is witnessed mainly in Monza. "It's not an easy situation to manage (the tow) inside the car, and outside," the Prema racer expressed.
Fornaroli too expressed the difficulty when it comes to setting rules specifically for such situations. "I think it's super hard to take a decision here in Monza. They changed the rules here, but still everyone is playing (with life) here. You must absolutely have a tow for a good lap.
"The only thing I will say is (what I said before), put the point from where we have to push, a bit behind, so that we have a bit more time to organise (ourselves), but it will still be very hard (to do so)," the Trident racer remarked.
While Group A's qualifying session generated plenty of chatter, Group B's headline was no less in terms of drivers dangerously slowing down as they vied for slipstream. The likes of Christian Mansell and Nikola Tsolov backed off on their fast laps between the Ascari Chicane and Curva Alboreto, as they steadied themselves for another flying lap instead.
Dunne was the first to lay down a marker on the board, which proved to be the quickest lap in the group, and key to the Irishman's high grid slot for the weekend.
The MP Motorsport racer highlighted how it would be difficult to police the situation, with drivers seeking newer solutions to combat the stringent rules.
"It's hard to say, to be honest," Dunne said, on whether the rules needed to be tweaked for Monza alone. "Whatever rule they (the FIA) bring in, drivers will find a way to push the limits of what that rule is," the McLaren junior expressed.
Apart from stating the importance of the tow, Dunne expressed the hungry nature of the drivers to succeed, and the difficulty in policing the situation.
"I'm not sure how it (the rule) can really be changed," he responded. "Every driver is trying to maximise what is possible, and get the best out of their qualifying sessions. Some drivers are more in the wrong than others, but you can't blame them, as they are in a difficult position. Their career is on the line.
"I don't think you can blame us (drivers). We are all young, and we want to do as well as we can, so it's difficult to police," Dunne responded, giving the perspective of the young drivers and the situations they find themselves in.
While Monza's infamous tow has caused one problem too many for drivers in the current era of racing, it has left fans and pundits scratching their heads and rummaging through alternatives, seeking solutions.
The likes of Minì, Fornaroli, and Browning, are amongst a series of drivers to have received four-place grid drops for the sprint race on Saturday, after the melee of the qualifying session earlier. Expect the line-up for the sprint to wear a new look once all the penalties have been applied.
Do tune in for the sprint at 09:30 track time (08:30 BST) to find out how the championship race unfolds going into the season finale on Sunday!
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