Mercedes chief blasts qualifying mess as Leclerc take Italian GP pole

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said Formula One looked idiotic on Saturday after the final qualifying laps for pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, won by Charles Leclerc, saw only two cars of the final 10 taking part.

Ferrari's Leclerc secured the prime starting position to the delight of the Italian team's home fans, but only he and McLaren's Carlos Sainz clocked final lap times while the rest were timed out by the chequered flag.

The 'cat-and-mouse' procession as the teams crawled round the circuit, backing each other up to claim good slipstreaming positions, resulted in a farce that saw eight cars timed out by the chequered flag.

"You have been around for 35 years -- have you seen anything like this? That was worse than a junior formula," Wolff told Sky Sports F1.

"The problem was everyone wants a slipstream and nobody wants to go first -- and then everyone looks like idiots."
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"It's a bit of an anti-climax, but we just timed out."
"There was no point in Charles overtaking me. He should have been ahead the whole way. I just didn't have a tow, and that's the difference between pole and no pole today."
"I was towards the front (of the pack) and then Nico was playing games trying to get me out in front. Then other cars started overtaking and it was a mess."