Italian Grand Prix FINAL grid after ALL driver penalties

Lando Norris gave himself a great chance to cut Max Verstappen’s F1 championship lead by taking pole position for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris gave himself a great chance to cut Max Verstappen's F1 championship lead by taking pole position for Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. Image: PA

Lando Norris gave himself a great chance to further cut Max Verstappen’s Formula One championship lead by taking pole position for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Trailing by 70 points in the drivers’ standings, Norris clocked one minute and 19.327 seconds in a one-two with team-mate Oscar Piastri, as Red Bull’s Verstappen finished nearly seven-tenths of a second behind in seventh.

Briton Norris claimed his fourth pole of the season, and second in succession, in a car which looks capable of a similar result as at last weekend’s Dutch GP, when he romped home to victory nearly 23 seconds ahead of the three-time champion Verstappen.

A dominant display from Norris and Piastri is great news for McLaren who are only 30 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.

Verstappen’s troubles continued, the Dutchman complaining on the team radio about steering and lack of grip on the newly laid tarmac at the Temple of Speed.

The 26-year-old has failed to win any of the last five GPs – only finishing on the podium in two – after claiming the honours at seven of the first 10.

Lewis Hamilton’s last Monza race for Mercedes

George Russell will sit on the second row for Mercedes alongside Ferrari driver and home hope Charles Leclerc while Lewis Hamilton was one place and 0.509 ahead of Verstappen in the second Mercedes.

Hamilton, who was fastest in the day’s practice session, is racing for the last time at Monza as a Mercedes driver and Ferrari fans will be keen to see how the 39-year-old will perform on Sunday ahead of his move to the Scuderia at the end of the year.

The lights will go out at 15:00 (SA time).

As a reminder, the 2023 Italian Grand Prix was won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez.

Carlos Sainz in his Ferrari took third place.

GRID FOR THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX:

Front row

Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)

Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren)

2nd row

George Russell (GBR/Mercedes)

Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

3rd row

Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari)

Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)

4th row

Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)

Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)

5th row

Alex Albon (THA/Williams)

Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Haas)

6th row

Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin)

Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/RB)

7th row

Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas)

Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine)

8th row

Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)

Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/RB)

9th row

Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)

Franco Colapinto (ARG/Williams)

10th row

Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Sauber)

Zhou Guanyu (CHN/Sauber)

Standings ahead of the Italian Grand Prix

Drivers

Rank	Driver	Points
1	Max Verstappen	295
2	Lando Norris	225
3	Charles Leclerc	192
4	Oscar Piastri	179
5	Carlos Sainz	172
6	Lewis Hamilton	154
7	Sergio Perez	139
8	George Russell	122
9	Fernando Alonso	50
10	Lance Stroll	24
11	Nico Hulkenberg	22
12	Yuki Tsunoda	22
13	Daniel Ricciardo	12
14	Pierre Gasly	8
15	Oliver Bearman	6
16	Kevin Magnussen	5
17	Esteban Ocon	5
18	Alexander Albon	3
19	Zhou Guanyu	0
20	Logan Sargeant	0
21	Valtteri Bottas	0