Monza qualifying: Verstappen Sets Fastest Lap in F1 History

Monza qualifying has just wrapped up, and it will go down in history thanks to Max Verstappen. The Dutchman took pole position with a blistering time of 1:18.792 — the fastest lap ever recorded in F1 history. Even more impressive, he maintained an average speed of 264.68 km/h over the lap.

Red Bull had already shown strong form throughout the free practice sessions, and once again, Verstappen delivered when it mattered most. However, few expected a qualifying session of this caliber, especially considering how competitive McLaren has been this season.

Meanwhile, Leonardo Fornaroli has won the Formula 2 race — you can find the full article here Fornaroli F2 Sprint race Monza

Verstappen pulls 7 tenths clear of the top 10.

McLaren secured P2 and P3 with Norris and Piastri, finishing just 0.077s and 0.190s behind the leader. Norris, who nearly missed out on Q3 after a close call in Q2, looked set for pole before being edged out in the final moments.

Ferrari also delivered a solid performance: Leclerc will start from P4, only 0.215s off Verstappen, while Hamilton qualified P5. However, the Brit will drop to P10 on the grid tomorrow due to a grid penalty carried over from Zandvoort, putting him right in the midfield fight.

Grid Shuffle After Hamilton’s Penalty: Russell and Antonelli Move Up after Monza Qualifying

With Hamilton’s grid penalty pushing him back to P10, all the other drivers in the Top 10 will move up one position. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, who qualified P6 and P7 respectively, will now start further ahead—an impressive turnaround considering both struggled on Friday with power unit issues and minor mistakes.

Bortoleto, Alonso, and Tsunoda rounded out the Q3 participants. The Sauber of the Brazilian rookie continued to impress, reaching the final qualifying segment just 0.598s off pole—an excellent result for the Swiss team.

Nico Hülkenberg also had a solid session and will start from P12. Fernando Alonso edged his teammate Lance Stroll, qualifying P9 with a 0.632s gap to pole, while Stroll will start back in P17. Tsunoda, meanwhile, ended the session 0.727s behind his teammate Verstappen, closing out the Q3 field. Here you can find other news about this incredible session https://www.formula1.com/