Norris roars to Italian GP pole as Verstappen flounders at Monza

Intro

Lando Norris bagged a fourth pole position of the F1 season in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, as title rival Max Verstappen could only manage seventh. 

Having already set provisional pole on a 1:19.401, Norris was able to shave off 0.074s on his second attempt to post a 1:19.327 to record a first McLaren pole at Monza since Lewis Hamilton in 2012.

Following on from his pole at Zandvoort last weekend, it is the first time McLaren has back-to-back poles since Hamilton in Italy-Singapore in 2012 and the 160th for McLaren overall. 

He is joined on the front-row by team-mate Oscar Piastri, with George Russell slotting into third as Verstappen could only manage seventh, just behind Hamilton in sixth as the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz took fourth and fifth at their home race.

Q3

After the first runs in Q3, it was advantage Norris, whose 1:19.401 effort was 0.035s clear of Piastri, with a similar gap between Russell and Hamilton in provisional third and fourth, 0.032s apart. 

The Noah's Ark continued with the Ferrari's fifth and sixth with Perez 0.010s ahead of Verstappen in eighth after reporting a lack of grip and running wide at the Parabolica.

On the second attempts, Perez ran wide at second Lesmo and aborted the lap, allowing Verstappen to pip him by 0.040s for seventh. 

It means Verstappen has only started one of the last nine races on pole and hands Norris the opportunity to take a giant bite out of the 70-point lead Verstappen holds in the standings.

Piastri was unable to improve but held onto second with Russell slotting into third ahead of Leclerc, Sainz and Hamilton with Perez eighth on the all-Red Bull fourth row. 

Alex Albon took ninth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg for Williams and Haas.

Alonso out in Q2

There was a brief delay to the start of Q2 to allow marshals to clean the track of gravel after various offs during Q1. 

The big-name casualty was Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, who missed Q3 for the fifth straight race. 

He ended 0.010s slower than Hulkenberg in 10th to take 11th, with Daniel Ricciardo joining him on the sixth row for RB. 

Kevin Magnussen lost the Haas head-to-head qualifiyng battle for the season as he took 13th, with Pierre Gasly taking Alpine bragging rights ahead of Esteban Ocon in 14th and 15th. 

Up front, Ferrari went for a first run on used tyres, allowing the fresh tyre runners to climb ahead, with Hamilton topping the segment on a 1:19.641. 

A second push lap from Verstappen placed him second as Norris was third and Sainz fourth.

Colapinto out in Q1

Rookie Colapinto qualified in 18th place for his F1 debut after making a mistake on his final flying lap. 

Rounding the second Lesmo, he dipped the Williams into the gravel, and survived a tank-slapper but lost out on the opportunity to improve after not being able to re-charge the battery and go again. 

He was joined in the drop-zone by Yuki Tsunoda in 16th and Lance Stroll in 17th as the Stake pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu failed to live up to practice promise.

Bottas was 19th ahead of Zhou in last place. 

Up front, Norris's 1:19.911 on his first flying lap was enough to top the segment for McLaren, with Ricciardo the last driver to make it through.