Max Verstappen smashed Lewis Hamilton’s lap record, storming to pole position for the Italian Grand Prix. The Dutchman finished ahead of championship contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, upsetting McLaren following a thrilling qualifying session.
The tone was set for a thrilling qualifying in Q1 with Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes closely matched at the top end of the order. When the cars hit the track for their final runs, George Russell set the pace with a blistering time on medium compound tyres.
Team-mate Kimi Antonelli found himself in trouble. He was 17th in the order heading into the final Q1 efforts, and only improved to 11th. Fortunately, with several in the bottom five failing to improve, he avoided being bumped into the elimination zone. Piastri and Hamilton also made it through, in spite of underwhelming times.
Norris put himself at risk after making a mistake at Turn One on his first Q2 lap, while Piastri was one-and-a-half tenths back from Verstappen in P1. Gabriel Bortoleto was the major outlier, placing his Sauber into fourth place with a remarkable time.
After his second run, Norris remained in a precarious position. The McLaren star was only seventh-fastest, leaving him at risk of an early qualifying exit. However, after receiving help from team-mate and championship rival in the form of a sector-one tow, the 25-year-old jumped up to fifth.