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.
Ollie Bearman led the Haas team’s charge in 11th, missing out on a Q3 spot by just one hundredth of a second, with Nico Hulkenberg 12th in the second of the Kick Sauber machines after struggling to match the pace of high-flying team mate Bortoleto.
Williams caught the eye during Friday practice but slipped down the order through FP3 and failed to make an impression in the grid-deciding session – Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon having to settle for 13th and 14th places from the other Haas of Esteban Ocon.
After his dream run to a maiden podium finish at the Dutch Grand Prix last time out, Isack Hadjar suffered a painful Q1 exit, having made a mistake on his final run, leaving the Racing Bulls rookie 16th for Sunday’s race over the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.
Franco Colapinto experienced a difficult start to the Monza weekend but managed to out-pace Alpine team mate Pierre Gasly in Qualifying, on the day of the Frenchman’s contract renewal, while Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) lost a lap to track limits and wound up slowest.
More to follow.