Lando Norris gave himself a great chance to further cut Max Verstappen’s Formula One championship lead by taking pole position for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.
Trailing by 70 points in the drivers’ standings, Norris clocked one minute and 19.327 seconds in a one-two with team-mate Oscar Piastri, as Red Bull’s Verstappen finished nearly seven-tenths of a second behind in seventh.
Briton Norris claimed his fourth pole of the season, and second in succession, in a car which looks capable of a similar result as at last weekend’s Dutch GP, when he romped home to victory nearly 23 seconds ahead of the three-time champion Verstappen.
A dominant display from Norris and Piastri is great news for McLaren who are only 30 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.
Verstappen’s troubles continued, the Dutchman complaining on the team radio about steering and lack of grip on the newly laid tarmac at the Temple of Speed.
The 26-year-old has failed to win any of the last five GPs – only finishing on the podium in two – after claiming the honours at seven of the first 10.
Lewis Hamilton’s last Monza race for Mercedes
George Russell will sit on the second row for Mercedes alongside Ferrari driver and home hope Charles Leclerc while Lewis Hamilton was one place and 0.509 ahead of Verstappen in the second Mercedes.
Hamilton, who was fastest in the day’s practice session, is racing for the last time at Monza as a Mercedes driver and Ferrari fans will be keen to see how the 39-year-old will perform on Sunday ahead of his move to the Scuderia at the end of the year.
The lights will go out at 15:00 (SA time).
As a reminder, the 2023 Italian Grand Prix was won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.
Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari took third place.
GRID FOR THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX:
Front row
Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)
Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren)
2nd row
George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)
Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)
3rd row
Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)
4th row
Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)
Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)
5th row
Alex Albon (THA/Williams)
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas)
6th row
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/RB)
7th row
Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas)
Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine)
8th row
Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)
Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/RB)
9th row
Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)
Franco Colapinto (ARG/Williams)
10th row
Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Sauber)
Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Sauber)
Standings ahead of the Italian Grand Prix
Drivers
| Rank | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | 295 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | 225 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | 192 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | 179 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | 172 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | 154 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | 139 |
| 8 | George Russell | 122 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | 50 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | 24 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | 22 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | 22 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | 12 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | 8 |
| 15 | Oliver Bearman | 6 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | 5 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | 5 |
| 18 | Alexander Albon | 3 |
| 19 | Zhou Guanyu | 0 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | 0 |
| 21 | Valtteri Bottas | 0 |
| Rank | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | Red Bull | 434 |
| 2 | McLaren | 404 |
| 3 | Ferrari | 370 |
| 4 | Mercedes | 276 |
| 5 | Aston Martin | 74 |
| 6 | RB | 34 |
| 7 | Haas | 27 |
| 8 | Alpine | 13 |
| 9 | Williams | 4 |
| 10 | Sauber | 0 |
