Norris seals pole position ahead of Piastri at Monza as McLaren secure front row lockout

Lando Norris has continued his promising run of form by taking a stunning pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, with the Briton and McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri locking out the front row in a super-close qualifying session.

After initially claiming P1 during the first runs of Q3, Norris secured his place by pumping in a time of 1m 19.327s, just 0.109s ahead of Piastri. While the Woking outfit came out on top, the leading six cars were all covered by less than two tenths of a second, with George Russell the closest challenger in P3.

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz followed in fourth and fifth for Ferrari as they look to give the Tifosi something to cheer about, while Lewis Hamilton was sixth fastest for Mercedes.

It was a tricky session for Red Bull, with Max Verstappen suffering a snap on his first flying lap before struggling to improve on his second effort, leaving him in P7 ahead of team mate Sergio Perez in P8.

Behind them, Alex Albon and Nico Hulkenberg round out the top-10 for Williams and Haas respectively.

With fine margins across the pack, Fernando Alonso just missed out on Q3 by one hundredth of a second, leaving the Aston Martin man in P11. Daniel Ricciardo – who took his last F1 win at Monza in 2021 – also exited Q2 in P12 for RB, as did Haas’s Kevin Magnussen in P13.

There was a double elimination for Alpine, as Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon failed to make the cut for Q3 in 14th and 15th places.

Yuki Tsunoda found himself pushed out of Q1 thanks to an improvement by his RB team mate Ricciardo, putting him in P16 ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P17. Also exiting was Franco Colapinto, who had a slight off in his first qualifying session as a Williams F1 driver and ended the session in P18.

Kick Sauber, meanwhile, had a disappointing day, with Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu set to start from the back row of the grid in 19th and 20th.

AS IT HAPPENED

Q1 – Norris sets the pace while Colapinto exits in qualifying debut

After a tight third and final practice session earlier on Saturday – in which Hamilton set the pace by just 0.093s from team mate Russell – the drivers and teams turned their attentions to qualifying at Monza, ready to set the grid for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

It was announced prior to Q1 that Haas had opted to replace Magnussen’s gearbox, with the Dane’s car having stopped on track after the chequered flag fell in FP3. However, with the team still working on the VF-24 in the run-up to the session, question marks remained over whether he would be ready to participate.

The Ferrari pair of Leclerc and Sainz were amongst the first to hit the track as the green light appeared at 1600 local time, while Magnussen also made it out following his aforementioned gearbox change.

There was a bit of a moment for Sainz, who was forced to abort his first flying lap after dipping a wheel in the gravel and narrowly avoiding a bigger incident. Piastri also made an error on his effort, having cut across the apex at the first corner.

It was Norris at the top of the leaderboard as Q1 reached its halfway point, the McLaren man going just over a tenth clear of Leclerc with his lap of 1m 19.911s while Sainz followed in third. At the other end of the spectrum, Perez was the biggest name at risk in P19, the Mexican sitting in the elimination zone with Colapinto, Tsunoda, Bottas and Zhou.

Red Bull bolted a fresh set of tyres onto Perez’s car as he returned for his second attempt, while Piastri was noted for an unsafe release in the pit lane after emerging just in front of Verstappen. “We almost crashed,” the Dutchman remarked over the radio.

Back on track, Perez put himself up to P9, while Colapinto had a moment through the gravel and Magnussen also went off the track, prompting the yellow flags to be thrown. But there was better luck for Ricciardo, who improved to escape elimination – just – in P15.

This pushed out his RB team mate Tsunoda, however, who exited in P16, as did Stroll in P17. Also leaving in Q1 were Colapinto – in his first qualifying session as a Williams driver – and the Kick Saubers of Bottas and Zhou.

Knocked out: Tsunoda, Stroll, Colapinto, Bottas, Zhou

Q2 – Hamilton leads the way and Alonso just misses the cut

After a slight delay to Q2 while gravel was swept from the track, Sainz led the pack out when the action got under way and several teams looked to be utilising a tow as the first laps of the session went on the board.

Norris again went fastest after those opening runs, the McLaren driver ahead of team mate Piastri by eight hundredths with a lap of 1m 19.727s, while Verstappen was third quickest and just over a tenth away from Norris.

However, the picture changed when the Mercedes pair emerged on fresh tyres, with Hamilton displacing Norris in P1. Given that the margins were still fine – demonstrated by Hamilton’s advantage being just 0.086s – it looked all to play for ahead of the second runs. Further back, Alonso, Magnussen, Gasly, Ocon and Ricciardo were the drivers at risk.

As everyone barring Norris and Sainz returned to the track for their final attempt, Albon and Hulkenberg both improved to get into the top-10, just behind Perez in P8. All eyes were then on Alonso in P11, but the two-time champion missed out on Q3 by just one hundredth of a second.

Ricciardo was also unable to better his time and exited in P12, while Magnussen, Gasly and Ocon found themselves out in P13, P14 and P15 respectively.

Knocked out: Alonso, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Gasly, Ocon

Q3 – McLaren secure the front row as Red Bull fall away

Albon was the first to head out on track as the top-10 shootout began, and a tow was again in play for the McLaren and Mercedes cars. The Ferrari pair, meanwhile, had Verstappen between them, while Sainz was noted for a potential unsafe release after exiting ahead of the Dutchman.

It was advantage Norris as the first laps came in, with the Briton taking provisional pole after pumping in a time of 1m 19.401s. Team mate Piastri was just 0.035s in a McLaren one-two, ahead of the Mercedes duo in third and fourth, the Ferraris in fifth and sixth and the Red Bulls in seventh and eighth.

Verstappen found himself behind Perez after suffering a big snap on his flying lap, resulting in the world champion labelling his effort as “shocking”. Attentions then turned to the all-important final runs – could McLaren hold onto their front row lockout, or would Verstappen bounce back?

While Perez had a wide moment, Verstappen tried to improve but could only go seventh fastest. Up ahead, Norris looked to have pole in the bag with his time of 1m 19.327s yet it remained super-close, with the Briton’s lap just 0.109s ahead of Piastri.

While the McLaren pair locked out the front row, Russell put himself ahead of the Ferrari pair in third, with Leclerc and Sainz in fourth and fifth in front of Hamilton in sixth. Less than two tenths covered the leading six cars, demonstrating just how fine the margins remain.

Verstappen and Perez had to settle for P7 and P8 in a disappointing showing for Red Bull, and Albon and Hulkenberg will start from the fifth row in P9 and P10 respectively.

Key quote

"Another pole, which is amazing," said pole-sitter Norris. "Like Oscar said, to have the cars first and second when the field has been as tight as it has all weekend, it’s a little bit of a surprise, but a nice one. A big well done to the team as they’ve done an amazing job.

"Honestly, my lap… It hurts me to say, it was not a great lap. My Q1 run one was, but run two [there] was a little bit more and we’re still good enough for pole. So, a little bit surprised again, but very, very happy."

What's next

The 2024 Italian Grand Prix is set to begin at 1500 local time on Sunday. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can catch the action from Monza.