Italian GP: Max Verstappen enjoys 'great moment' after snatching pole position with record-breaking lap

Defending champion will start from front of grid on Sunday ahead of McLaren pair Norris and Piastri

Max Verstappen celebrates at Monza after securing the 45th pole position of his career. AP

Reigning champion Max Verstappen snatched an unexpected pole position at the Italian Grand after finishing of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in qualifying at Monza on Saturday.

The Red Bull driver produced a blistering final lap to beat second-place Norris by 0.077 seconds with championship leader Piastri third, while the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth – but the Briton will start Sunday’s race in 10th as he serves a five-place grid penalty.

Verstappen's time of one minute 18.792 seconds beat the F1 lap record set by Hamilton at Monza in 2020 for Mercedes by 0.095 secs

After dominating last weekend's Dutch GP from start to finish, when victory saw Piastri extend his lead over teammate Norris in the title race to 34 points, the Australian had to settle for second row on the grid at the 'Temple of Speed' in Northern Italy.

It is four-time champion Verstappen's first pole since the British GP four rounds ago while it was in Italy that the Dutchman last won a race at Imola back on May 18.

It was also the 45th pole of his career, which takes Verstappen above former Red Bull man Sebastian Vettel's record total with the team.

“Q3 felt good and I'm happy with the laps and to be on pole here for us is also fantastic,” said Verstappen “The car has been working better the whole weekend and to be able to fight for pole, I'm very happy with that.

“It was tight, we were still lacking a tiny amount and we made some final changes which I think allowed me to push a bit more and that's exactly what you need in qualifying. For us, it's a great moment.”

Norris, who was forced to drop out at the Zandoort Circuit last Sunday with seven laps to go while in second place, feels that it will be “a “big challenge” to get past Verstappen.

“I feel like I didn't do the best of jobs but to get P2 I'm still happy so let's say there were good and bad things,” said the Briton.

“P2 is not a bad position to be off the line and I want to be ahead of everyone and that includes my championship contenders and Oscar.

“Our race on Sunday is normally our strength. [Red Bull's] race pace is very strong. If you see at the end of the lap, they're doing the same times as us.

Piastri, who was won two out of the last races, admitted that “would have liked to be a little bit further up” on the grid.

“Nothing major [went wrong], Turn One was a little bit average but the rest of the lap felt pretty tidy,” he said.

“I felt like I executed a pretty good session and built a little bit up to it at the start and found my feet.

“I think it’s just been incredibly tight this weekend, Red Bull and Max Verstappen looked quick, to be honest a lot of teams looked quick.

“It’s not been quite as comfortable for us so the result is not a big surprise.

“I will try to make up some spots tomorrow because I would like a few more wins if I can.”

Ferrari's Leclerc had “no regrets” with his performance at the circuit where he also started from fourth on the grid last year but went on to claim a memorable victory.

“I knew my lap was I hate to say perfect and I think no one ever does a perfect lap, but I think it was as close as what I would want to do during a qualifying lap,” said the Monegasque.

“I knew I had taken all the risk in the first run, I wanted to go for a bit more in the second run but it didn't work out. I have no regrets because that is the place we could have done in the best possible case.”

Teammate Hamilton remained upbeat despite his grid penalty paid tribute to the Italian fans at Monza.

“It's been an amazing weekend here as a Ferrari driver, I can't even find the words for it to be honest,” said the seven-time champion. “The fans are really beautiful and the energy since Wednesday, they've turned up in the thousands.

“When I leave the garage and you get down to Turn 1 you see them on the left and the right and you see red.

“I don't know what's possible tomorrow but I will work my way through.”

Rounding off the top of Sunday's grid will be Mercedes pair George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in fifth and sixth, Gabriel Bortoleto was an impressive seventh for Sauber ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda.