Max Verstappen has achieved his 45th career pole position in Formula 1 by taking P1 at Monza, beating both McLarens.
The Red Bull driver sets a new lap time around the Temple of Speed with one minute, 19.792 seconds. Initially Lando Norris was quickest but Verstappen found the extra pace to go ahead in the final moment in Q3.
Verstappen bounced onto the scene in Q2 and set the fastest time in the middle stage, demonstrating strong pace in the high-speed first and third sectors following Red Bull’s decision to trim the RB21 out.
Norris struggled through the middle segment of qualifying with the McLaren driver had to abort an earlier effort and was instructed to set a banker lap before two cool laps, ahead of a final push.
That final effort ensured that Norris, who had dropped into the bottom five of Q2 through Hamilton’s escape from the elimination zone, could breathe a sigh of relief.
Norris did not set a particularly fast first effort in Q3, and was almost half a second off Verstappen’s opening time of one minute, 18.923 seconds. He was able to recover, however, and briefly went at the top with his follow-up one minute, 18.869 seconds.
Verstappen then reasserted his authority with a lap time of one minute, 18.792 seconds, showcasing a significant turnaround in Red Bull’s fortunes at Monza after last year’s tricky weekend.
Dutch Grand Prix winner Oscar Piastri was third fastest, just over a tenth behind his teammate, and will start alongside Charles Leclerc in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.
Leclerc set a time of one minute, 19.007 seconds in his opening Q3 effort, but was unable to spark celebrations from the home fans – tifosi – in his second run.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth fastest over George Russell, whose request to run with mediums in Q3 was denied. And yet Hamilton will drop down to P10 following a five-place grid penalty for not slowing down in yellow conditions at Zandvoort.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli qualified seventh. Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, and Yuki Tsunoda completed the top ten – the latter used to help Verstappen on his opening run of Q3.
Oliver Bearman dropped out in Q2 at the last minute at the expense of Norris. Bearman was just 0.3 seconds off Verstappen’s Q2 best, while Nico Hulkenberg also fell off and is outqualified once more by teammate Bortoleto.
The practice promise from Williams was not delivered as neither Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon could do enough to improve in the final runs and could only manage P13 and P14, while Esteban Ocon’s session also ran aground in Q2.
Dutch Grand Prix podium finisher Isack Hadjar was unable to achieve his Zandvoort best qualifying performance and was knocked out in Q1 by Albon, in an extraordinarily tight, competitive session. The Racing Bulls driver was only 0.5 seconds away from George Russell’s first-stage qualifying time.
Albon beat Hadjar out of the top 15 by 0.08 seconds, but he was able to get P15 himself as he escaped the drop. Hadjar is set to take a penalty for a change in power unit components for Sunday’s race, and his lowly result will have made the decision easier.
Lance Stroll improved on his final run but was unable to get out of the bottom five, a fate which affected Alpine pair Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. Liam Lawson was slowest, having aborted his final run.
So congratulations to Max Verstappen in taking pole position at Monza beating the Papayas. It will be interesting if Red Bull has the race pace to challenge McLaren for the race win.
Italian Grand Prix, qualifying positions:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:18.792
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:18.869
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:18.982
4 Chalres Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.007
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:19.157
6 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:19.200
7 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:19.390
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:19.424
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:19.519
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:19.124*
11 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:19.446
12 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:19.498
13 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:19.528
14 Alexander Albon Williams 1:19.583
15 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:19.707
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:19.917
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:19.948
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:19.992
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:20.103
20 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:20.279
*Five-place grid penalty