{"id":14991,"date":"2025-09-06T17:22:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T17:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/?p=14991"},"modified":"2025-09-07T16:03:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T16:03:47","slug":"italian-gp-max-verstappen-beats-lando-norris-by-three-quarters-of-a-tenth-to-secure-pole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.f1vault.co.uk\/index\/italian-gp-max-verstappen-beats-lando-norris-by-three-quarters-of-a-tenth-to-secure-pole\/","title":{"rendered":"ITALIAN GP \u2013 Max Verstappen beats Lando Norris by three-quarters of a tenth to secure pole"},"content":{"rendered":"

Max Verstappen has beaten Lando Norris by just over three-quarters of a tenth to take pole for the Italian Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver set an 18.792, a new track record which had moments earlier been set by Norris, to deny McLaren a front row lockout in one of the closest qualifying sessions of the season. Throughout the weekend, the four-time champion has been thereabouts on pace with the McLarens.<\/p>\n

Verstappen\u2019s pole coming as a surprise given he looked to struggle with the car throughout practice, but as this season has proved, he can never be totally counted out to spring a surprise. It was a qualifying where every hundredth and thousandth mattered as Norris proved when he was almost knocked out in Q2.<\/p>\n

But it was a sign of what was to come, as Verstappen announced his intent to challenge in Q2, Norris looked to struggle and backed out of his runs in the middle sector which put him into the drop zone when Lewis Hamilton cemented his place in Q3. He was then forced onto an extra soft run, going fifth knocking out Ollie Bearman.<\/p>\n

Norris was over a tenth faster than his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and had taken provisional pole before being pushed into second during the final moments of Q3. Norris had just moved himself into provisional pole after a messy first run, which left him with it all to do and went fastest, but then Verstappen moved ahead securing his first pole since Silverstone two months ago.<\/p>\n

Verstappen said, \u201cAround here with the low downforce, it’s always very difficult to nail the lap. Q3 felt good. Happy with the laps. The car has been working a lot better all weekend, and to be on pole I’m very happy with that. For us, it’s a great moment. Historically, this season the race has been a little more complicated for us but we will give it everything we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norris added, \u201cHe’s been quick all weekend. It’s never a surprise with Max. It was quite a session from me, up and down, and too many mistakes, but I managed to pull it out in the end so I’m happy with P2. I feel like I didn’t do the best of jobs but to end up P2 I’m still happy with.<\/p>\n

Piastri said, \u201cTurn one was a little bit average, but the rest of the lap all felt pretty tidy. I felt like I executed a pretty good session but it’s been incredibly tight this weekend. Max and Red Bull looked quick. A lot of teams looked quick; it has not been quite as comfortable for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri was a quarter of a tenth ahead of the Ferrari\u2019s who were also in the mix for pole with Charles Leclerc going over a tenth faster than teammate Hamilton. But Hamilton was used more strategically to help his teammate in Q3 thanks to a five-place grid penalty for not slowing sufficiently under yellow flags on his way to the grid in Zandvoort. Nevertheless, it was one of his strongest qualifying\u2019s this season.<\/p>\n

Hamilton was three hundredths\u2019 faster than his former teammate George Russell and his replacement Kimi Antonelli four hundredths further behind. However, when it really appeared to matter, Mercedes looked to struggle to join the Verstappen-McLaren-Ferrari fight, Russell just under half a second off pole.<\/p>\n

Despite being on the back foot all weekend thanks to he penalty, Hamilton has looked more confident and positive, saying he got what he wanted from the car. Adding \u201cThe last lap is never as good as you would hope it would be and that is something I have to work on with the balance I have with the car. I’m grateful I could at least be there. This penalty puts me further back but I will try and work my way through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mercedes had taken a different strategy to the rest of the top four, starting out on the medium tyres, before the transition to softs yielded sixth for Russell and seventh for Antonelli, respectively.<\/p>\n

Sauber continued their strong form at high speed and downforce circuit, Gabriel Bortoleto going three and a half hundredths ahead of his manager, Fernando Alonso, with Yuki Tsunoda completing the top ten. Bearman ultimately missed out on Q3 by just over a hundredth off the second Red Bull.<\/p>\n

Alonso, a two-time Monza winner, perhaps using his experience to deliver a surprise for Aston Martin as they were expecting a difficult weekend both in Monza and next weekend in Baku, a high-speed circuit where they have struggled with drag.<\/p>\n

Bearman put his Haas half a tenth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, the Sauber driver three hundredths ahead of the two Williams. Carlos Sainz went just over half a tenth ahead of his teammate Alex Albon, while Bearman\u2019s teammate Esteban Ocon was slowest in Q2 over a tenth behind Albon.<\/p>\n

Williams were a standout performer on Friday, but in FP3 and qualifying they struggled to repeat the strong pace and performance. That left them a tenth and a quarter, almost ahead of Ocon.<\/p>\n

Isack Hadjar was fastest of those knocked out in Q1, six days on from his maiden podium in Zandvoort, the Frenchman made a mistake on his final attempt and that meant he missed out on Q2 by eight hundredths. That perhaps highlighted what was to come in a session defined by hundredths and thousandths of a second.<\/p>\n

Lance Stroll put his Aston Martin almost half a tenth ahead of the two Alpine\u2019s, Pierre Gasly who started the day with a new contract until 2028, was comfortably ahead of Liam Lawson, who had his fastest lap deleted.<\/p>\n

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