Italian Grand Prix: Norris takes pole

Sunny. Dry. Air +33C, highway +50C

Qualifying in Monza doesn’t really influence the success of the race – in the last five years the pole holder has only won this race once, but the circuit has changed this year and the balance of power – it was extremely interesting to see how a session where the drivers will actively attack.

The weekend turned out to be hot, under a cloudless sky the asphalt temperature approached 50 degrees, the tires and cooling systems could barely cope. Besides the heat many complained about the swaying cars on the straights.

In the first practice session, Verstappen set the best time, and as the rivals improved, the Red Bull cars lagged behind. In the second and third practice sessions, Hamilton led, and Ferrari also improved – the new products prepared for the home round were starting to work.

Logan Sargent’s replacement, Franco Colapinto, was in his first Formula 1 qualifying session.

The tire manufacturers brought the softest compounds on the podium: C3 as hard, C4 as medium and C5 as soft. During qualifying only Soft was used.

IN first session The drivers completed a series of fast laps with relatively little tyre wear.

Piastri messed up his first attempt by cutting the second corner, but corrected himself at the second. Gasly informed the team about smoke coming from the front brakes. Sainz and Colapinto took the gravel at the exit of Lesmo 2. Gasly complained about the lack of grip of the front wheels, the Mercedes drivers complained about the strong heating of the seat.

Magnussen went off the track at the final corner due to technical problems.

Norris set the best time, lapped in 1:19.911. Tsunoda, Stroll, Colapinto, Bottas and Zhou dropped out of the further competition.

Start second session four minutes delay – the marshals had to sweep the track in Lesmo 2 after the flights and remove sand and gravel from the surface.

At the first attempt Hamilton showed the best time, his result remained the best: 1:19.641. Alonso, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Gasly and Ocon did not make it to the final. The top ten fits in eight tenths.

Entering the pit lane to definitiveVerstappen had to turn away from Sainz, who was dropped just in front of him. Norris showed the best time at the first attempt: 1:19.401.

On the second attempt, Norris clocked 1:19.327 and remained in the lead.

After winning qualifying in Monza, Lando Norris took the fifth pole position of his career and the second in a row. Oscar Piastri showed the second time – McLaren in Monza had the entire front row of the grid. Russell and Leclerc start from second place, Sainz and Hamilton from third. Verstappen is only seventh.

Qualification results