Monza played host to some serious drama this Saturday. Max Verstappen, the Red Bull ace, proved why he’s a four-time F1 world champion, snatching pole position for the Italian Grand Prix. It wasn’t a walk in the park, though, with McLaren pushing him right to the limit.
Lando Norris, in his McLaren, finished just 77 thousandths of a second shy of Verstappen’s time. Talk about a photo finish! He will start Sunday’s race right alongside the Red Bull number 1. His teammate, Oscar Piastri, secured the third spot. The Australian, who currently leads the Drivers’ World Championship, was a mere 0.113 seconds behind Norris. McLaren certainly brought their A-game to qualifying.
Ferrari, racing at home, also showed strong pace. Charles Leclerc delivered the fourth-best time. He will start next to Piastri on the grid, giving the Tifosi plenty to cheer about. Behind them on the third row, we’ll see seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. He lines up side-by-side with his former Mercedes teammate, George Russell. Mercedes’ second driver, Kimi Antonelli, landed the seventh-best time, roughly four tenths off pole position.
The real head-turner of the day, however, was Brazil’s Gabriel Bortoleto. He pulled a big surprise, guiding his Kick Sauber car to eighth place on the grid. He will start alongside Kimi Antonelli’s car number 12, a truly impressive showing for the young driver.
Rounding out the top ten, which are the point-scoring places, are Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Yuki Tsunoda from Red Bull. The Spanish veteran and the Japanese speedster will complete the fifth row of the starting grid.
The lights go out for the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday. Race action kicks off at 2 PM Lisbon time.