Verstappen Shatters Monza Record, Snags Pole Position Ahead of Norris at Italian GP

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen produced a stunning lap to claim pole position for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday, breaking the Monza track record in the process. The Dutchman clocked 1:18.792, edging out McLaren’s Lando Norris by just 0.077 seconds in a thrilling end to qualifying.

Norris had briefly looked set for pole after posting 1:18.869 on his final run, but Verstappen responded immediately, lowering the benchmark and eclipsing the previous record of 1:18.887 set by Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

“Yes guys! That’s unbelievable. A really good job. It worked out. It’s all good,” an elated Verstappen said over the team radio after securing the top spot.

McLaren’s championship leader Oscar Piastri will start third, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc lining up alongside him on the second row. Leclerc, who won at Monza last year, will be looking to give the home tifosi reason to cheer on Sunday.

Mercedes’ Hamilton qualified fifth but will serve a five-place grid penalty, promoting teammate George Russell to fifth and 18-year-old Italian rookie Kimi Antonelli to sixth for his second home race of the season.

Further back, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto will start seventh, just ahead of his mentor Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin. Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda qualified ninth.

Norris admitted he was pleased with his lap despite falling narrowly short of pole. “Max has been quick all weekend and it’s never a surprise with him. It was quite a session from me, up and down and too many mistakes here and there. But to put it together on the last lap, I was pretty happy with P2,” he said.

McLaren has dominated recent weekends, winning the last five races with seven one-two finishes, but Verstappen’s return to the top spot suggests a tighter contest awaits. Piastri, who qualified third, said his effort was “tidy”, tho,ugh he conceded the result was expected: “We would have loved to have been a little bit further up,” said the Australian, a seven-time race winner this season.

Meanwhile, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, fresh from his maiden F1 podium in Zandvoort, failed to progress from Q1 and will start 16th. Teammate Liam Lawson will start at the back, with Alpines Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly in 18th and 19th, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in 17th.