Verstappen pulls a classic lap out of the bag for pole at Monza, betters P2 Norris, P3 Piastri; Ferrari forced to settle for fourth and fifth fastest at home race

Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen proved once again why he is still a top driver in Formula 1 even without the superior equipment he’s had in the past, pulling out a final lap during Saturday Qualifying  good enough for pole at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Despite the best efforts of the normally blindingly fast McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who run one-two in the points, it was Verstappen who wrested pole away from them both with a brilliant final flying lap here at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the Temple of Speed. The put paid to Norris’s brief moment atop the pylon after finally hooking up all three sectors during his final attempt, putting some rather disjointed earlier efforts that risked dropping him perilously down the grid in the rearview. And Piastri, while solid, will have to try and get by both aces, as the young Aussie Drivers’ leader was relegated to P3.

For a brief, shining moment Ferrari’s faithful tifosi thought one of their pilots might just pull off the pole on their home turf. But once Verstappen and the two McLaren’s really found their grooves, Charles Leclerc’s best effort in Q3 was only good enough for P4, ironically the same position the Monegasque started from when he won last year’s race here. But it’s hard to imagine Leclerc repeating that feat with this year’s Prancing Horse consistently being the third or even fourth fastest car over the long runs. Lewis Hamilton qualified P5 in his Monza debut with the Scuderia but will also be penalized five grid spots for a Yellow Flag infraction in last week’s Dutch GP.

George Russell, disgruntled by the team’s decision to put him on the Soft Pirelli tires when he wanted Mediums, could only muster P6 for Mercedes, while rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli represented well in P7. Fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continued to impress by hustling his Kick Sauber up to P8, the ageless Fernando Alonso slotted his Aston into P9 and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda qualified P10, a ways away from his team leader Verstappen.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 9 AM Eastern here in the States. It should be a dogfight between the elite top three and perhaps a Ferrari will be inspired by the home crowd to get in on the action, as well — hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!