Home F1 Italian GP: Norris leads McLaren 1-2 to pole; Verstappen only P7

Italian GP: Norris leads McLaren 1-2 to pole; Verstappen only P7

31/08/2024

Lando Norris led a McLaren 1-2 in F1 Italian GP pole with Oscar Piastri in second from George Russell, as Max Verstappen ended up outside the Top 5.

Q1:

The first part in F1 Italian GP qualifying at Monza saw early moment for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz at Lesmo 2 but he managed to continue on. The corner had multiple others touch the gravel, with Williams’ Franco Colapinto having a big one towards the end.

The same lap saw Haas’ Kevin Magnussen have a moment in the next corner which disrupts his rhythm as he went wide in the Parabolica to give way to others. But he caused a yellow flag moment, which anyhow hampered the laps of others.

In the end, it was McLaren’s Lando Norris on top with a 1m19.911s lap with teammate Oscar Piastri in third after he was pinged for unsafe release against Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The Top 3 saw Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc slot in second.

The knockout zone saw Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo knock out teammate Yuki Tsunoda (1m20.945s) by 0.044s margin in 16th as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m21.013s) was 17th from Colapinto (1m21.061s), who couldn’t improve after the off.

The two Kick Sauber cars rounded out the back row in 19th and 20th with Valtteri Bottas (1m21.101s) ahead of Zhou Guanyu (1m21.445s).

Q2:

The start of second part of F1 Italian GP qualifying was delayed with marshals sweeping the circuit to remove the gravel thrown. It was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on top with a 1m19.641s lap ahead of Verstappen and Norris in the Top 3.

The fag end saw Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso (1m20.421s) miss out Q3 by 0.010s margin from Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg. Just behind in 12th, it was Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m20.479s), who jumped to 11th only to be pushed down by the Spaniard.

Haas’ Magnussen (1m20.698s) did not have a good final lap to be 13th from the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly (1m20.738s) and Esteban Ocon (1m20.766s).

Q3:

The final part in F1 Italian GP qualifying saw another unsafe release noted against Verstappen when Ferrari released Carlos Sainz in his way. But the Dutchman did not have pace anyhow after grip troubles left him only eighth after the first run.

It was, in fact, McLaren-Mercedes-Ferrari-Red Bull in two-by-two formation. Norris had provisional pole with a 1m19.401s lap from Piastri by 0.035s. Mercedes’ George Russell was third from teammate Hamilton who led Sainz, Leclerc, Sergio Perez and Verstappen.

The second run was not so happening for Red Bull, as Norris led a McLaren 1-2 to secure F1 pole in Italian GP with a 1m19.327s lap ahead of teammate Piastri (1m19.436s). The fight for third was on which saw George Russell (1m19.440s) take it finally.

The Ferrari pair of Leclerc (1m19.461s) and Sainz (1m19.467s) were pushed down to fourth and fifth, with Hamilton (1m19.513s) in sixth ahead of Verstappen (1m20.022s), who managed only seventh from Perez (1m20.062s).

The Mexican had a slight off at Lesmo 2 which not just disrupted his lap but maybe even Verstappen, who was just behind. The Top 10, meanwhile, was rounded out by Albon (1m20.299s) and Hulkenberg (1m20.339s).