Formula 1 in Monza

Monza: Qualifying LIVE from 4pm

Lando Norris will start from pole position on Sunday.

(Bild: APA/AFP/JOHN THYS)

McLaren driver Lando Norris has secured pole position for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The Briton came out on top on Saturday ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri and George Russell in the Mercedes. Meanwhile, world champion Max Verstappen continues to struggle with problems in his Red Bull. The Dutchman finished in seventh place. 

Lando Norris secured pole position for the Italian Grand Prix ahead of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri and clearly outpaced Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen. While the Red Bull driver was 0.695 seconds behind in seventh place on the grid in Monza on Saturday, McLaren secured the front row of the grid for Sunday's race (3pm) in a thrilling battle with Mercedes and Ferrari. 

For Norris, it was the fifth pole position of his career and the third time in the last four races that the 24-year-old Briton has started from the front of the grid. In the drivers' championship, Zandvoort winner Norris is still 70 points behind Verstappen, who has been winless for five Grand Prix weekends. Norris was just faster than Piastri (+0.109 seconds) and Mercedes driver George Russell (+0.113) on the high-speed track. They were followed by the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc (+0.134) and Carlos Sainz (+0.140), who celebrates his 30th birthday on Sunday.

Perez support does not help Verstappen
This puts McLaren in an ideal position to move closer to the Austrian-British outfit in the constructors' championship, where they are currently 30 points behind Red Bull. Verstappen, however, who won in 2022 and 2023 at the gates of Milan, has a race to catch up. "I had no grip at all on this set of tires, shocking," Verstappen radioed after his first attempt in Q3, in the second attempt he received help from teammate Sergio Perez, who was only just slower in eighth place (+0.735).

Williams debutant Franco Colapinto, who replaces the sacked American Logan Sargeant for the remaining nine races of the season, had to make do with 18th place on the grid after a spin on his last fast attempt. "It's part of the development, I still have a lot of things to work on. The race will be a nice practice session with lots of laps in a row to understand the tires better," said the 21-year-old Argentinian.