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Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Monza

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull chose the Italian Grand Prix to take some engine penalties to ensure they were in as good shape as possible for the upcoming races which suit their car better - Singapore especially but also Malaysia and Japan. So it was unfortunate that qualifying was wet and Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo took second and third. The drivers were pleased with their performance and matter-of-fact about the penalties, while team boss Helmut Marko and Christian Horner said they had no regrets.

Verstappen and Ricciardo start 14th and 17th after their penalties. What can they achieve. “Aaah, probably challenge Lewis for the win,” Ricciardo joked. Verstappen said: “It’s not a great starting position but I think in terms of pace we can definitely get into the points but it’s a bit of a shame for me that Williams and Force India, they start that far up so that’s why I think they will gain quite a bit of time on us in the first three laps. But we will try our best and we’ll see where it ends up.” Reading between the lines, they probably feel they can get up to about their normal positions - fifth and sixth - by the end of the race.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Monza

Image source, Getty Images

Lance Stroll has had a generally difficult first season at Williams, with the shining exception of Baku, where he scored a podium and was genuinely on the pace for arguably the first time this year. He’s at Williams at the tender age of 18 largely because of his father’s money, but the team have always insisted he had the talent, and boy did he show it here. Fourth quickest in the wet in a Williams, beaten only by Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bulls was a stupendous job by the Canadian. The trick seems to have been that he was able to drive “freely” in a way that is not always possible in the dry.

“I have had good days on my side where I have felt really confident and good,” Stroll said. “But there are still a lot of things with the tyre to learn in the dry - what the tyre will allow me to do in the dry is not the same as in the wet. In the wet it is very forgiving like F3 - you can brake hard, you can carry a lot of combined (brake and turning), it accepts really anything. But in the dry I am still adapting my driving style to F1 which is not super-natural. In the wet today I just drove naturally the way I would drive last year - brake, carry speed into the corner, that sort of thing about the tyre giving up on me towards the end of the lap. In the dry I am still working on a few details like that.

“Today I felt at one with the car. we had a much more competitive car than we have had over the last few events really since Baku and what’s great is we were really able to put it all together.”

"Your top three on the grid!! Counting down 'till lights out!"

Joel Larkin: Hamilton is a great by his sheer pace in quali and race management under pressure. Also his rain pace is something special

Alex Withington: No question @LewisHamilton, external is an F1 legend now. Amazing qualifier, feisty & exciting racer and a complex personality off the track

Lee Smith: Absolutely...but let him finish his career before we judge where he stands amongst the best ever

Image source, Rex Features

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Monza

Image source, Reuters

Third place on the grid is occupied by Esteban Ocon’s Force India - a performance in qualifying that was overshadowed by the superb laps by Lewis Hamilton and Lance Stroll in front of him but still highly impressive. In the difficult wet conditions of qualifying, Ocon was always a factor - and in the end he edged out team-mate Sergio Perez by just 0.002secs. Given the tension there has been between the two this year, it was a classy move for the Mexican to be the first person to congratulate Ocon when they saw each other in the debriefing room afterwards.

“We knew there was an opportunity for us this afternoon and I’m so pleased we could take it,” Ocon said. “I always enjoy driving in the wet and the conditions today were really challenging. The car felt great; there was a really nice balance and I have to say a big thank you to the team for all their hard work. We will need to fight hard tomorrow because there are quick cars all around us, but I believe we can score some really big points and I’ll be aiming for the podium.”

Scott Taylor: Of course he should be considered a great. If Schumacher is, with a whole team behind him, then Hamilton is a no brainer

The Pucheur: No brainier. @LewisHamilton, external is an all time great. Stats don't lie. Problem is Brits don't like to see Brits doing too well

Jeremiah Kariuki: Hamilton on a good weekend and with car in the right mood is a spectacular driver. The records he has broken makes him a great!

Image source, Getty Images

It's exciting to watch, but so much more exciting to be behind the wheel yourself.

Here's Red Bull principal Christian Horner on why you should give motorsport a try...

From karting to club motorsport, marshalling and volunteering, right the way up to F1, there's something for everyone - even Hamilton and Vettel started somewhere...

So if you want to find out more, check out our Get Inspired guide to motorsport and get involved!

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Monza

Image source, EPA

What happened to Ferrari in qualifying? The team did not make their drivers available to the written media, but Sebastian Vettel was not giving away anything in his TV interviews, saying: “I don't know”, and adding: “Something did not come together. There are a couple of things we need to look into and try to understand.”

Vettel and Raikkonen were just 0.077secs apart in seventh and eighth places - which become fifth and sixth on the grid - and the belief is Ferrari simply did not get the wet tyres in the right temperature window. Whether this was influenced by what a rival team said was borderline chaos in their garage for much of qualifying is unknown. Their task in the race will be to clear Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll as quickly as possible and try to limit the damage Lewis Hamilton might do in the championship starting from pole.

I enclose, without comment, the first reply to Andrew Benson's grid tweet.

I think Peter speaks for all of us.

Image source, .

Jack Nicholls
Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator

Over one lap, you can argue Lewis Hamilton is the best driver of all time. That is what the stats say anyway.

Having said that, the poles don't get him points. I don't anticipate the two youngsters - Stroll and Ocon to be in with a shot at the race win but Hamilton has a decent buffer between him and his championship rivals...

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton yesterday became just the sixth man in history to hold the outright record for F1 pole positions, joining an elite group comprising Juan Manuel Fangio, Alberto Ascari, Jim Clark, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher.

His status as a three-time champion also ranks him among the very best in the sport, and his tally of 58 wins is second only to Schumacher's 91.

If you look at the bald facts, it's a no-brainer. He has to be among the very greatest in the history of the sport - but not everyone is convinced.

So today's question is a straightforward one - should Hamilton be considered an all-time great and why?

#bbcf1 please.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer in Monza

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton was a pretty decent bet for pole position before Formula 1 even came to Italy but no-one would have said that the people next to him on the grid come the race would be Williams’ Lance Stroll and Force India’s Esteban Ocon. “Did you say Ocon and Stroll?” Hamilton said in the news conference afterwards. “Wow, that’s awesome. All these young kids coming through, keep me on my toes. I think it’s great because I know Ocon and Lance have also been driving so well this year and to come into a series when the cars have changed, a lot more physical than they had before, much more of a challenge, really thrown in at the deep end, they’ve done a great job. So to come to this awesome circuit and be where they are shows great promise for their futures.”