The Sunday morning papers in Italy have been singing the praises of Red Bull's Max Verstappen after the Dutch driver took pole position in a dramatic qualifying session at Zandvoort. "Attacco al Maximo", meaning 'Maximum Attack' and a play on Verstappen's name, is the headline of the Gazzetta dello Sport for raceday, continuing to say: "Verstappen already drove Zandvoort crazy on Saturday, but Lewis Hamilton is definitely not giving up yet. "Hamilton almost disrupted the orange party in the Netherlands by taking the pole position from Verstappen. However, the Mercedes driver was just a bit short of Verstappen in his last run and that was perhaps a good thing, since the Dutch public was already on the benches with 70,000 people on Saturday. "The Dutch, or orange crowd, was really fantastic in Zandvoort. On the straight, we saw the grandstands packed for 700 metres, as in the glory days of Ferrari at the Monza circuit. The pole had to go to Verstappen, he was more than happy to give it to his fans. Apart from that, pole position is of course also very important in the battle for this season's world title. "In the Netherlands, it is clear to see that the only thing that was really needed to revive motorsport was a Messiah. They have now received it in the form of Max Verstappen, who was even cheered on by his own king on Saturday! It is therefore clear that Verstappen will do everything in his power on Sunday in the Netherlands to take revenge for what happened at Silverstone and the Red Bull driver can do that by taking the lead in the battle for the World Championship." The Corriere dello Sport is similarly enthusiastic in praising Verstappen, running the headline: "Magical Verstappen, Ferrari at podium level". It continued: "The wave of orange pushed Verstappen to the finish line. The Red Bull driver especially did a great job. Verstappen flew over the track and came in an amazing time of 1:08.885 and even suffered from a stuck DRS system in the last metres of his pole lap. "The front row looks great with Hamilton and Verstappen in the first two places. The knives will also be sharpened, although Hamilton kept his 'mask' on as always by praising Verstappen's lap in particular. Ferrari also did well on Saturday in Zandvoort and still has a chance of a podium place. In addition, we can enjoy Antonio Giovinazzi, who qualified very well in seventh place." Compared to the enthusiasm of the two papers above, La Repubblica is somewhat more restrained, but also pointed out the enthusiasm of the Dutch public. "Under a wave of orange, Verstappen took pole position at 'his' Zandvoort," it wrote. "The Dutchman drove an amazing time, which was just enough to stay ahead of top competitor Hamilton."
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