Max Verstappen snatched pole from Lando Norris in a thrilling qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix, with championship leader Oscar Pisatri in third.
Norris narrowly avoided a shock Q2 elimination but took provisional pole towards the end of Q3 until Verstappen’s superb last-gasp effort saw him beat the McLaren driver by 0.077s – setting a new lap record around the iconic Monza circuit and posting the fastest lap by average speed in F1 history.
Piastri will start behind Norris as he looks to prevent his team-mate from making inroads into his 34-point advantage in the Drivers’ Championship with nine rounds remaining, starting with Sunday’s race at 2pm on Sky Sports F1.
“Classic Verstappen,” reacted Sky Sports F1‘s Martin Brundle. “Pulls a lap out of the bag, finds some speed and confidence, and commits. He has absolutely stolen that pole position away from the McLarens.”
There were high hopes for Ferrari on home soil but Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were unable to improve their times on their final Q3 runs, so dropped to fourth and fifth respectively.
Hamilton will start 10th due to a five-grid place penalty for not slowing sufficiently under yellow flags on his way to the grid at last Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.
George Russell was quick at times in qualifying but could only manage sixth, ahead of Kimi Antonelli, who was back on track after a difficult run of performances, in seventh.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto impressed in eighth, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in ninth and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda in 10th.
Williams were expected to be strong around Monza but Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were both eliminated in Q2 in 13th and 14th respectively.
Isack Hadjar was knocked out in Q1 for the first time in his career, just one week on from his maiden F1 podium. Racing Bulls will change his power unit which means Hadjar will start from the pit lane.
‘Magic’ Max upsets McLarens again
Not for the first time in 2025, the driver to topple the dominant McLarens was four-time world champion Verstappen.
The Dutchman, who was not in the top three in any of the practice sessions at Monza, ensured he got a small slipstream on both of his Q3 laps and threw the car into the corners to make things stick.
Verstappen beat Leclerc on the first Q3 run by 0.084s but Norris vaulted up the order from seventh to provisional pole on the last runs.
Norris ensured he was in the pack to get a small tow from Piastri on his final flying lap and set a blistering 1:18.869 which gave him pole, but only for a few seconds, as Verstappen hit back with a 1:18.792 with an average speed of 164.466mph – the fastest lap ever in F1.
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Karun Chandhok analyses the close fight for pole position at the Italian GP between Verstappen and Norris
“Around here with the low downforce it’s very difficult to nail the lap. Under braking it’s easy to make mistakes,” said Verstappen.
“Q3 felt good, happy with the laps and to be on pole here is fantastic. The car has been working well here the whole weekend and to be able to fight for pole I’m very happy.
“We were still lacking a tiny amount [going into qualifying], we made some final changes which allowed me to push a bit more which is exactly what you need in qualifying. For us it’s a great moment.
“Historically this season the race has always been more complicated for us but we’ll give it everything we have. That’s all we can do and we will see what happens.”
Norris was slightly fortunate to reach the last part of qualifying after a mistake early in Q2 put him under pressure and he squeaked through to Q3 but could easily have been eliminated had there been an untimely yellow or red flag.
He will rely on McLaren’s usual superior race pace over Red Bull to take a much-needed win after his retirement in Zandvoort, with, perhaps, one eye on team-mate Pisatri at the start.
Sky Sports F1’s Italian GP Schedule
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Look back at some of the most dramatic moments to have taken place at the Italian Grand Prix
Sunday September 7
7.10am: F3 Feature Race
8.40am: F2 Feature Race
10.40am: Porsche Supercup Race
12.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: Italian GP build-up
2pm: THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX*
4pm: Chequered Flag: Italian GP reaction
5pm: Ted’s Notebook
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1’s European season concludes with the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday with lights out at 2pm and build-up from 12.30pm on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
