Verstappen takes pole for Italian GP ahead of title contenders Norris and Piastri

MONZA, Italy (AP) — It takes something special to beat McLaren this year.

And that's what Max Verstappen produced on Saturday as he stunned title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri by snatching pole position for the Italian Grand Prix with the fastest lap ever at Monza.

Verstappen set a new lap record in the final part of qualifying for Sunday’s race and Norris couldn’t quite match it, ending up .077 of a second behind the Red Bull driver, with Piastri 0.190 off the pace.

“Yes guys, yes. That is unbelievable,” Verstappen yelled over the team radio. “Relax here, it is all good."

Four-time world champion Verstappen raced around the 3.54 miles (5.79 kilometers) of asphalt at the so-called Temple of Speed in a time of 1 minute, 18.792 seconds, for an average speed of 164.466 mph (264.682 kph). That was almost a tenth of a second quicker than the one-lap record set by Lewis Hamilton on his way to pole at Monza in 2020.

And Formula 1 touted it as the fastest lap in F1 history by average speed.

Charles Leclerc — who won at Monza last year and in 2019 — qualified in fourth for Ferrari at the Italian Scuderia’s home race, just ahead of teammate Hamilton, who will start Sunday’s race in 10th as he serves a five-place grid penalty.

Leclerc had briefly topped the standings early in Q3 to loud cheers from the Ferrari fans — matched by groans from the passionate red-clad tifosi when Verstappen went faster, moments later.

Verstappen has been on pole position 44 times but just once at the Italian Grand Prix, where he has triumphed twice.

“It was tight, we were still lacking a tiny amount and we made some final changes which I think allowed me to push a bit more and that’s exactly what you need in qualifying,” Verstappen said. “For us, it’s a great moment.

“Historically this season the race has always been a little bit more complicated for us, but we are going to give it everything we have. That’s the only thing we can do and then we will see what happens tomorrow."

It is a 45th pole position for Verstappen and a fifth this season, although only one of his two wins this year has come from the front of the grid.

He will be joined on the front row on Sunday by Norris, who trails Piastri by 34 points in the championship with nine races left of the season.

“Max has been quick all weekend and it’s never a surprise with Max,” Norris said. “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.”

Norris almost didn’t make it out of Q2 as an early mistake meant he had to change tires and he needed a tow from Piastri to get out of danger and go through in fifth place.

Teenager Antonelli impresses

Italian teenager Kimi Antonelli was seventh-fastest, just behind Mercedes teammate George Russell as he bounced back in front of his home crowd.

The only Italian on the grid, Antonelli had a tough introduction last year as he crashed at Monza 10 minutes into his first F1 practice session. The 19-year-old also ended Leclerc’s race at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.

Russell and Antonelli will move up a place on the grid because of Hamilton’s penalty, as will Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda, who round out the top 10.

“Obviously with the penalty and everyone being so close, it’s going to be tough to overtake them,” said Hamilton when asked about his chances at his first Italian Grand Prix in Ferrari red. "But we’ve got good topline speed, so I’m going to open it up and try to make up some ground.

“I need to do that, a good start, a good first lap, a good strategy. We’ll go away now and try and figure out what we can do to try to leapfrog the guys ahead of me if possible.”

Hadjar's disappointment

French rookie Isack Hadjar was “over the moon” at a first F1 podium last week. It was back to earth with a thud as the 20-year-old driver was eliminated in Q1 on Saturday.

Hadjar would have started Sunday’s race from the pit lane in any case, due to an engine change.

“I made a mistake on my lap and that’s it. It’s my first mistake in qualifying in a while so it happens,” the young Racing Bulls driver said. “I’m starting last tomorrow so even if I put it on pole I wouldn’t care because I’m starting from the back.”

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