Max Verstappen roared to a new outright lap record Monza to take pole for the Italian Grand Prix ahead of McLaren rivals Lando Norrris and Oscar Piastri. 

In the final runs of Q3 it looked like Norris had done enough to take pole with a strong lap of 1:18.869 that left a tenth clear of title rival and championship leader Piastri. Verstappen, however had other ideas and after a record-breaking final lap of 1:18.792 the Dutch took his fifth pole of the season and his 45th overall. 

At the start of Q1 it was Ferrari’s drivers who set the pace with Charles Leclerc taking P1 with a lap of 1:19.801, a tenth of a second ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen the split the Ferrari pair with this first flying lap of 1:19.812. Norris and Piastri were next across the line and Norris vaulted to P1 with a lap of 1:19.611, a round 0.1s clear of the Australian. 

Mercedes’ George Russell then jumped to P1 on 1:19.414 on Medium tyres and it became clear that the track was improving and that no driver was safe. 

As Russell’s Medium tyre time kept him in P1, Verstappen crossed the line just 0.041s off the Mercedes man to progress in P2 ahead of Norris and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda. 

There was no place in Q2, however, for Racing Bulls driver Isack Hadjar who exited in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Alpine pair Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, and last-placed Liam Lawson in the other Racing Bulls car. 

Verstappen headed out early in Q2 and his lap of 1:19.140 put him in P1. Russell slotted into second place, while Piastri took P3, 0.151 off top spot. Norris didn’t set a time, with his lap being deleted after he locked up and cut the opening chicane. The Briton headed back to the pits to take on a new set of Soft tyres and then headed out for a push lap, two cool down laps and then a final push lap. 

The McLaren driver’s first lap put him in P7, almost two hundredths of a second off Tsunoda but after two slow laps his final flyer pushed him to P5 and into Q3. Ruled out after Q2 were Haas’ Ollie Bearman, Kick Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg, Williams Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon and Haas’ Esteban Ocon. 

Norris was first on track in Q3 and without the assistance of a tow he posted a lap of 1:19.433, slower than his Q2 best. Piastri took provisional pole almost four clear of that, but Leclerc and Verstappen were both going faster. 

The Ferrari driver jumped to top spot with a time of 1:19.007 but it was Verstappen who powered to provisional pole as the first man below 1m19s thanks to a lap of 1:18.923. 

In the final runs, Piastri vaulted to P1 on 1:18.982. Norris had the measure of that, however, and aided by a tow from his team-mate the Briton leapfrogged the Aussie to go just over a tenth quicker on 1:18.869. 

Verstappen was flying, however, and the Dutchman crossed the line in record of 1:18.792 to take a stunning fifth pole of the season, the 45th of his career and to set a new Monza record, almost a tenth clear of Lewis Hamilton’s 2020 record. 

“To be on pole here for us is fantastic. The car has been working a lot better the whole weekend. And, yeah, to be able to fight for pole, I'm very happy with that,” said Max afterwards. “It was tight. We were still lacking a tiny amount. We made some final changes, which I think allowed me to push a bit more. And that's exactly what you need in qualifying. So, yeah, for us, it's a great moment!”

With Norris set for the front row behind Max, and Piastri third, Leclerc qualified fourth ahead of Hamilton and the twin Mercedes of Russell and Antonelli, while Bortoleto took a strong P8 for Sauber ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. Tsunoda qualified in 10th place but will start from P9 as Hamilton is set to take a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race.

2025 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Qualifying 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:18.792 - -
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.869 0.077 0.098
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:18.982 0.190 0.241
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:19.007 0.215 0.273
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:19.157 0.365 0.463
6 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:19.200 0.408 0.518
7 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:19.390 0.598 0.759
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:19.424 0.632 0.802
9 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:19.519 0.727 0.923
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:19.124 0.332 0.421
11 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:19.446 0.654 0.830
12 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:19.498 0.706 0.896
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:19.528 0.736 0.934
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:19.583 0.791 1.004
15 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:19.707 0.915 1.161
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:19.917 1.125 1.428
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:19.948 1.156 1.467
18 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:19.992 1.200 1.523
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:20.103 1.311 1.664
20 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:20.279 1.487 1.887