Max Verstappen has secured the pole position for the Italian Grand Prix after a thrilling qualification. Surrounded by both McLarens on the starting grid, this promises to be a spectacle at Monza! Can the Dutchman keep the Woking-based team at bay?
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri will start from P2 and P3 respectively, posing the most significant threat to Verstappen. Piastri will be defending his championship lead in Monza, while Norris will have to pull out all the stops from the front row to stay ahead of his teammate and title rival.
Charles Leclerc, starting from P4, was somewhat of a disappointment for the passionate Tifosi crowd, who were hoping for more red fireworks on home soil. Lewis Hamilton was even less fortunate: a five-place grid penalty pushed him back to P10, promising a challenging catch-up race in his first Ferrari-red race at Monza.
But the Italian fans have another reason to be excited besides Leclerc and Hamilton: Kimi Antonelli will start from P6 in the Mercedes during his home race in Formula 1. Rookie Gabriel Bortoleto also impressed during the qualification, securing a commendable seventh place in the Sauber.
Setback for Racing Bulls
Not everyone could take advantage of the tight field. Racing Bulls drivers Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson had a disastrous qualification, ending up in P16 and P20 respectively on the starting grid. For a team that usually competes in the top ten, this is a significant setback. It should be noted, however, that anyone who was more than half a second off the fastest time in Q1 of the qualification was already eliminated.
With such a compact top ten and minimal differences, this afternoon’s race in Monza promises to be a spectacular event. The Italian Grand Prix starts at 13:00 UTC.
