• Italian Grand Prix - Qualifying

Alonso 'surprised' to take first Ferrari pole at Monza

Fernando Alonso secured pole position in front of Ferrari's loyal Tifosi © Getty Images

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• Alonso storms to Monza pole
  

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Fernando Alonso admitted it was a surprise to come out of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix on pole position.

It is Alonso's first pole position for Ferrari and he said that he was half expecting someone to come through and beat his time after he aborted his second fresh-tyre run in Q3.

"It was a nice surprise," he said. "When I stopped in Parc Ferme, by radio they told me we were in first position but there were still cars doing their laps. I think Jenson [Button] was pink in the second sector so I thought that, as has already happened this year, someone will arrive in the last lap and we will be second or third by a hundredth of a second. At the end today was different, we remained on pole position during the last minute to the chequered flag so that was a little surprise. For sure, a much better feeling and a fantastic taste to have pole position for Ferrari in Italy."

He said he actually set a faster lap when he wasn't trying as hard, after a bit of risk taking on his second run failed to pay off.

"We divide Q3 into two runs and the first run was to put a good lap on the table and then in the second and third runs we tried to risk it a little more," he added. "And sometimes here in Monza it's quicker when you try to do a normal lap. The time is better than when you try to risk too much in these tricky chicanes, in these fast corners, with this low downforce. It's very easy to overdrive a little bit. But the first lap in the end was the best one, because maybe you do it in a calmer way."

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