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
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen pulled another lap out of the bag to claim pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, pipping McLaren rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in an incredibly close Qualifying session at Monza.
Following their “very tough” weekend at the Temple of Speed last season, Verstappen and Red Bull have looked much more competitive at this year’s event, with the Dutchman emerging as a genuine threat to McLaren’s supremacy.
As a heart-stopping Qualifying hour drew to a close, Verstappen initially led the way in the decisive Q3 phase, before being overhauled by Norris but then fighting back with a blistering lap of 1m 18.792s to seal P1 by 0.077s.
Piastri was 0.190s back in third, from the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton, who could not quite deliver enough for the front row – the seven-time World Champion nonetheless losing five places with his pre-event grid penalty.
Mercedes used a different tyre strategy to their rivals when Qualifying began, starting out on the medium tyres, before the transition to softs yielded sixth and seventh on the grid for George Russell and home driver Kimi Antonelli respectively.
Gabriel Bortoleto was one of Saturday’s stars en route to eighth for Kick Sauber, continuing the outfit’s positive trajectory under new team boss Jonathan Wheatley, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda completed the top 10.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/verstappen-beats-norris-and-piastri-to-pole-for-italian-gp-in-qualifying.7j6Ls1jDJUp67EqfCoQhiN
Racing Bulls Formula 1 driver Isack Hadjar has criticised Williams driver Carlos Sainz for “playing around trying to make my lap difficult” during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at the historic Monza circuit.
Just one week on from celebrating his first F1 podium finish at Zandvoort, Hadjar found himself eliminated from qualifying at Monza in Q1. Having qualified in P16, the French-Algerian driver has confirmed that he will take a grid penalty for a new power unit, and so he will start the race from the pitlane.
“I mean we actually were really fast, the car was really good. I mean the out-lap was a mess with Carlos, he was just playing around a lot to then let me by,” Hadjar explained to Sky Sports F1.
“I don’t know why [we] even went out on track in the first place on new tyres to just cruise around, and I don’t know what was the point and then I made a mistake on my lap, and that’s it. It’s my first mistake in quali in a while, so it happens.”
He added: “No, I was on new tyres, Carlos was on used. He was playing around, trying to make my lap difficult on my out-lap and then not really letting me by properly. I just don’t know what he was doing.”
Although Hadjar was clearly annoyed by the situation, he confirmed that he will not speak to the Williams driver after the session, as it would not have changed his position due to taking the pitlane start.
“No, he has his reasons. He’s on his own plan, he knows what he’s doing. But anyway, I’m starting last tomorrow, so even if I was putting it on pole I wouldn’t care because I’m starting from the back.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/isack-hadjar-calls-out-carlos-sainz-after-f1-italian-gp-qualifying-playing-around/10757111/
Lando Norris has admitted that getting past Italian Grand Prix polesitter Max Verstappen will be a “big challenge” as he is set to start the race at Monza from the front row beside the four-time Formula 1 champion.
Norris missed out on pole position by just 0.077 seconds to the Red Bull driver, and rounding out the top three was Norris’s McLaren team-mate and championship rival Oscar Piastri.
Although McLaren has had an impressive showing so far this season, winning 12 of the 15 grands prix, Norris was not surprised by Verstappen’s pace.
“No, no, no. Max has been quicker this weekend, and it’s never a surprise with Max. It was quite a session for me, just up and down and too many mistakes here and there, but to pull it all together on the last lap was… I was pretty happy. I’m happy with P2.”
Norris added: “I always give my result depending on how I drove today. So I feel like I didn’t do the best of jobs, but to end up P2, I was so happy with. So let’s say good things and bad things.
“P2 is still not a bad position to be off the line. And I mean, I want to be ahead of everyone, that includes my championship contenders and Oscar. It’s a good position for tomorrow, and I’m excited for the race.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-passing-max-verstappen-a-big-challenge-in-italian-grand-prix/10757143/
Max Verstappen believes his record-breaking pole position lap was “a great moment” with the Red Bull driver set to lead the field away in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman sat top of the times after the first flying laps in the final part of Qualifying on Saturday, and having been shuffled down the order by Lando Norris’ final effort, he once again asserted himself as fastest with a 1m 18.792s.
The lap, at an average speed of 164.46mph, proved to be a new lap record around the Monza Circuit and marked Verstappen’s fifth pole position of the season.
“I think around here with the low downforce, it’s always very difficult to nail the lap – under braking it’s easy to make mistakes also, but Q3 felt good,” said Verstappen.
“Happy with the laps, and of course to be on pole here for us is fantastic. The car’s been working a lot better the whole weekend, and to be able to fight for pole, I’m very happy with that.
“It was tight. We were still lacking a tiny amount, made some final changes which I think allowed me to push a bit more, and that’s exactly what you need in Qualifying, so for us it’s a great moment.”
Despite starting on pole at several races this season, Verstappen’s last victory from the front came back in April at the Japanese Grand Prix and he believes it will be a challenge to hold off Norris and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri.
“Let’s see. Historically this season the race has always been a bit more complicated for us, but we’re going to give it everything we have,” he said.
“I think that’s the only thing that we can do, and then we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/a-great-moment-verstappen-reacts-to-fantastic-italian-grand-prix-pole.55IDdy00s2YX8ayUMidAJS