Max Verstappen urges Red Bull caution despite historic Monza pole

Max Verstappen has urged Red Bull to be cautious heading into the Italian Grand Prix, despite setting the fastest ever lap to steal pole position.

Verstappen found himself on provisional pole at Monza after the first Q3 runs, with a 1:18.923 to find himself just 0.036s short of the record of 1:18.887 set by Lewis Hamilton in 2020.

On the second run, Lando Norris initially beat the record with a 1:18.869, before Verstappen roared across the line with a 1:18.792. 

That is an average lap-time of 264.7 kph (164.47 mph), beating Hamilton's record of 264.363 kph (164.268 mph).

Reflecting on his 45th Red Bull pole to pass the team benchmark of Sebastian Vettel, Verstappen signalled the team's race pace weakness could come back to haunt it.

"I try, but around here with the low downforce, it is always very difficult to nail the lap," Verstappen explained, if the lap was part of the 'Verstappen magic', as described by interviewer Nico Rosberg.

"Under braking, it is easy to make mistakes, but Q3 felt good, and of course, to be on pole here for us is fantastic. The car has been a lot better this weekend.

"It was tight, we were still lacking a tiny amount and made some final changes which allowed me to push a bit more, and that is exactly what you need in qualifying.

"It is a great moment, but historically, the race has always been a bit more complicated for us, but we are going to give it everything we have; that is the only thing we can do, and then we will see what happens."