Italian Grand Prix:Verstappen Blazes to Pole in Monza
At Monza, pole position has historically been a golden ticket to victory until the so-called “Monza Pole Curse” struck in 2020. This weekend, that streak was finally broken.
Friday’s practice saw Hamilton and Norris set the pace, and on Saturday morning Norris again topped the timesheets, edging Leclerc by just a few hundredths. For this round, Pirelli brought its softest range of tyres C3 as Hard, C4 as Medium, and C5 as Soft.
In Q1, Russell led the way with a 1:19.414 on Mediums, while Hadjar, Stroll, Colapinto, Gasly, and Lawson dropped out. Q2 belonged to Verstappen, who clocked a 1:19.140, while Norris lost valuable time to a poorly timed pit call and only squeezed into the top ten on his final lap. Bearman, Hülkenberg, Sainz, Albon, and Ocon were eliminated.
The fight for pole reached its peak in Q3. Leclerc and Piastri each held provisional pole, but Verstappen delivered a stunning 1:18.792 a new Monza record and the fastest lap in Formula 1 history, with an average speed of 264.68 km/h.
The lap secured Verstappen his fifth pole of the season and the 45th of his career. He will start alongside Norris on the front row, with Piastri and Leclerc on the second, and Russell and Antonelli on the third.Hamilton will line up further back after serving a five-place grid penalty.
