Verstappen steals pole from Norris in frenetic Monza qualifying

Max Verstappen showed everyone why he remains the class of the field after a mighty effort to clinch pole from the two McLarens and home favourites, Ferrari. Lando Norris starts second ahead of Oscar Piastri, with Charles Leclerc joining the second row for Sunday's race.

Max Verstappen took his fifth pole of the season in Monza | Credit: Formula One

After three extremely close practice sessions, the grid warmed up for qualifying at Formula One’s most visited circuit. With multiple teams showing promising pace leading up to the session and McLaren’s rivals much closer than they had anticipated, pole was anyone’s to grab in Monza.

Q1 - Alpines and Racing Bulls fall at the first hurdle

As the 18 minutes started on the clock, the first to set an early benchmark was Ollie Bearman, quickly pipped by the Ferrari pair led by Charles Leclerc with a 1:19.801 lap time much to the sea of red’s delight in the grandstands.

With gravel abundantly present around the track, Carlos Sainz was on the receiving end of its consequences as he kicked up dirt out of the second Lesmo and subsequently had his time deleted for track limits.

As the early laps were completed, McLaren leaped up in the timing tower, Lando Norris continuing to show strong pace after topping the final two practice sessions. 

Meanwhile, the two Mercedes were the only cars on medium tyres, George Russell hitting P1 while his teammate Kimi Antonelli struggled to take it out of the bottom five on home turf.

With under five minutes remaining, both Alpines, Antonelli, Esteban Ocon and Liam Lawson occupied the elimination zone while at the head of the field, Sainz had recovered from a scruffy first outing to a lap that placed him third behind Norris.

As the final seconds ticked down, the tightly competitive mid-field cars wrestled their way around Monza’s corners causing a riot of action, including a high-stakes lap from Alex Albon that promoted him to the next stage by a hair's width.

As the clock stopped, Q1's victims were last round’s podium finisher Isack Hadjar, followed by Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson. 

Q1 Exits

Isack Hadjar

Lance Stroll

Franco Colapinto

Pierre Gasly

Liam Lawson

Isack Hadjar had his first ever Q1 exit in Monza | Credit: Formula One

Q2 - Norris' heart-in-throat moment after narrow escape from elimination

A slight delay preceded the start of Q2 to clear gravel, but as soon as action resumed, it was right back to pushing the limits for the 15 drivers remaining.

Both Williams were the first on track, hoping to continue their practice momentum where Sainz finished third in two of three sessions. However, qualifying was less straightforward for the team, as Albon dipped a wheel in the gravel through the Ascari complex. 

An electric lap from Max Verstappen took him a second clear of the early lap times from Williams, who was soon joined by Russell in second and Leclerc in third.

Meanwhile, Norris was called back to the pits after going deep at the first chicane, just as his teammate Oscar Piastri took third from the Ferrari driver. 

An unlikely name in the top five was Gabriel Bortoleto, who had quietly slotted in right behind Piastri to continue his streak of outstanding qualifying performances.

As the rest of the grid took to the pits, Norris went out for a cleaner attempt on fresh softs but could only manage seventh – while the rest behind him were on prep laps ready to attack, putting the championship contender under heavy pressure.

Another driver looking behind their back was home hero Antonelli, stuck in eighth and unable to improve.

With a minute to go, Norris found himself slipping behind as Bearman took eighth, followed by Lewis Hamilton who knocked Norris into the drop zone. 

With enough time for another lap on the now scrubbed softs, Norris took a final effort to make it to the top 10 – clawing into the final stage and pushing the Haas out of Q3.

Williams’ promising weekend until that point fell apart in the dying moments, as both Sainz and Albon were unable to find time.

Williams were favourites for Q3 appearances but failed to fight through | Credit: Formula One

Nico Hülkenberg once again ended his Saturday early while his rookie teammate Bortoleto took another Q3 entry after steadily improving throughout the session.

Q2 Exits

Oliver Bearman

Nico Hülkenberg

Carlos Sainz

Alex Albon

Esteban Ocon

Q3 - Verstappen sets fastest lap in F1 history to take pole

Pole position was anyone’s for taking heading into the final minutes of qualifying, with Verstappen, Russell, the McLarens and Ferrari all in the mix.

The elephant in the room for the Italian outfit was the question of Hamilton assisting his teammate Leclerc with a slipstream through the Temple of Speed – given the seven-time champion being on the back foot with a five-place grid drop.

Red Bull had a similar situation to evaluate, with Yuki Tsunoda also in Q3, opening up opportunities for Verstappen to get a tow as well.

A rapid lap was set by the Il Predestinato, the grandstands erupting as Leclerc slotted P1 but Verstappen was quick to dampen Italian hopes after going eight hundredths quicker.

After a tantalising first set of runs, giving everyone a teaser of what was to come soon, teams recovered to the pits again to gear up for a final scrap for pole.

As cars headed back out, Leclerc and Hamilton were the first to light up the track, evidently not capitalising on Hamilton’s penalty and opting to let Leclerc punch a hole through the air instead.

Both Ferraris didn’t improve, while not far behind, Norris managed a speedy third sector that took him to provisional pole.

McLaren started celebrating early, but were not expecting a mighty lap from the reigning champion, Verstappen, who took the Red Bull across the line to claim the team’s 108th pole position.

The Dutchman’s Monza magic placed him ahead of both McLarens, followed by Leclerc in fourth, Hamilton (who will start 10th tomorrow following the penalty carried over from Zandvoort), Russell, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso and Tsunoda.

Final results can be found here.

Looking ahead

The Italian Grand Prix's starting grid is all set, with Verstappen ready to lead the fray on Sunday. Will he be able to hang on to P1 and keep the dominant McLarens behind? Can Norris seize the lead from the Dutchman to reignite his championship hopes? Or will Ferrari deliver a home special and claim back-to-back wins in Monza?

Tune in on 7th September at 14:00 BST to find out.