Max Verstappen lands Mercedes joke after snatching Lewis Hamilton record

Max Verstappen, newly minted as the proud owner of the fastest lap in F1 history, joked he would have been even faster in the car that previously held the record.

The Dutchman clinched pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, beating the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with a lap time of 1:18.792 at Monza.

In doing so, not only did the Red Bull driver set a new lap record at the Temple of Speed, he also completed the quickest lap in the championship's 75-year history, when judged by average speed.

The four-time F1 drivers' champion's attempt averaged 264.682 km/h (164.47 mph). It was +0.095 (just under a tenth of a second) quicker than Lewis Hamilton's pole position time at the same venue in 2020.

Set in the all-conquering Mercedes W11, the British driver had averaged 264.363 km/h (164.268 mph).

Reflecting on his latest accomplishment after qualifying, Verstappen could not resist the urge to make a light-hearted comment about his new record.

"New asphalt, different kerbs, so the track has become faster," the 65-time grand prix winner told Dutch broadcaster Viaplay.

"I think you'll go even faster if you put the 2020 Mercedes here, especially if you put me in the car!"

A turnaround from last year

It was an extreme contrast in fortunes for the 27-year-old from the same qualifying session 12 months ago, where he could only achieve seventh on the grid and was unhappy throughout the weekend.

Addressing his surprise pole, he highlighted how changes heading into the final part of qualifying put him in a position to capitalise on a far better RB21 than the RB20 seen at Monza last year.

"During the day, we made some more adjustments," he said. "That felt just a bit better, with a bit more stability. And both the laps in Q3 were just good. The feeling was okay, in some places better than elsewhere. In Q2, I did have a slipstream from someone, so that gave a bit of a bias. But then we made good strides in Q3."

He added: "That's a lot better, but it couldn't be worse than last year either. That was real drama. Last year, the car was just totally uncontrollable. I couldn't attack corners, just oversteer and then understeer. Now it's just a little bit better.

"You can go into corners a little bit more stable; it turns a little bit better. And of course, we also learned a lot from last year. A lot of things have been changed on the car as well. I always expected it to be better than 2024. It's also nice to have a Monza wing instead of sawing all off."