McLaren tech boss James key has equated Mugello's challenging layout to "a combination of Silverstone and Barcelona".
The Tuscan track is therefore all about keeping the flow and downforce through its endless series of medium and high-speed corners, with straight-line speed a secondary concern.
Mercedes' preferred set-up compromise allowed for its W11 to remain pinned to the track through the fast sweeps in qualifying while also breezing nicely down the main straight where pacesetter Lewis Hamilton clocked in at 322.1 km/h, just edging the McLaren of Carlos Sainz who qualified P9.
Predictably, the speed trap readings at Mugello offered another validation of Ferrari's engine woes, with the five slowest cars all powered by Maranello's unit. Same old, same old.
