Red Bull driver Max Verstappen took the pole at the Italian GP with the fastest average lap in Formula 1 history at Monza on Saturday, September 6. The four-time defending champion clocked 1 minute, 18.792 seconds for an average speed of 164.466 mph (264.682 kph) to take the first position from McLaren's Lando Norris.
Verstappen secured his fifth pole position of the season and 45th overall. He took the top spot in the last moments of the Qualifier 3, a little after Charles Leclerc was on provisional pole in his Ferrari's home race.
Piastri took the provisional pole before Verstappen snatched it away from him by 0.077s. The Dutchman had an average speed of 164.466 mph (264.682 kph), which beats the one-lap record set by Lewis Hamilton at Monza in 2020 when he took the pole for Mercedes.
“It was tight, we were still lacking a tiny amount, and we made some final changes, which I think allowed me to push a bit more, and that's exactly what you need in qualifying,” Verstappen said after the qualifying session. "For us, it's a great moment.
"Historically, this season the race has always been a little bit more complicated for us, but we are going to give it everything we have. That's the only thing we can do, and then we will see what happens tomorrow."
Norris, who suffered an engine problem in the last race, would look to get a good result in this one as he trails by 34 points to teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri. "Max has been quick all weekend, and it's never a surprise with Max," Norris said.
"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 will start third ahead of Leclerc. Hamilton finished fifth but will start 10th as he has a grid-place penalty. His former Mercedes teammate George Russell will start fifth with another Mercedes man Kimi Antonelli in seventh ahead of Kick Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda, all of whom round up the top 10.
