Motor racing-Verstappen seizes last-gasp Monza pole from Norris

Verstappen takes his first pole since July Norris denied top slot in dying seconds Championship leader Piastri starts third Ferrari have Leclerc in fourth, Hamilton 10th after penalty By Alan Baldwin MONZA, Italy, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Max Verstappen smashed the Monza lap record and put Red Bull on pole position for the Italian Formula One Grand Prix after McLaren’s Lando Norris had looked set to seize the top slot for the second year in a row on Saturday. Norris went fastest with his final flying lap but reigning champion Verstappen secured the pole by crossing the line in one minute 18.792 seconds, 0.077 quicker than the Briton’s best. It was the 45th pole of Verstappen’s career, fifth of the season and first since Silverstone in July. The previous track record of 1:18.887 at the ‘Temple of Speed’ was set by seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, in a Mercedes, when he took pole in 2020. “Yes guys! That’s unbelievable. A really good job. It worked out. It’s all good,” exclaimed Verstappen over the team radio. McLaren’s Australian championship leader Oscar Piastri qualified third, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc – last year’s winner – completing the second row and teammate Hamilton fifth fastest but with a five-place grid drop. That means George Russell will start fifth for Mercedes with Italian rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli alongside on the third row for his second home race of the season. Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto will move up to seventh and evergreen Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso, the Brazilian’s manager, eighth with Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda ninth. Sunday’s race is likely to be another big battle between Piastri and Norris, who is 34 points behind the Australian after suffering the agony of mechanical retirement in last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix. “Max has been quick all weekend and it’s never a surprise with Max,” said Norris, who was also slower than Verstappen in the first two phases of qualifying. “It was quite a session from me, up and down and too many mistakes here and there. But to put it together on the last lap, I was pretty happy with P2.” Piastri said his had been a ‘tidy’ lap without any major mistakes. “The result is not a big surprise but obviously we would have loved to have been a little bit further up,” said the winner of seven races so far this year. McLaren have won the last five races and have had seven one-two finishes so far. Isack Hadjar, who took his first career F1 podium with third place for Racing Bulls in Zandvoort last Sunday, failed to make it through the opening phase and will start 16th. Team mate Liam Lawson qualified last while Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly were 18th and 19th respectively with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll 17th.