Red Bull’s Max Verstappen clinches pole position for Italian Grand Prix

MONZA – Max Verstappen took pole position on Sept 6 for the Italian Grand Prix, the reigning Formula One champion giving himself a chance at Monza of slowing McLaren’s dominance.

The Dutchman, who has won the last four drivers’ titles with Red Bull, will start in the front row alongside Lando Norris, who was just ahead of his McLaren teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri.

“Q3 felt good, happy with the laps and to be on pole here is fantastic. The car has been working well here the whole weekend and to be able to fight for pole I’m very happy,” said Verstappen.

“We were still lacking a tiny amount (going into qualifying), we made some final changes which allowed me to push a bit more which is exactly what you need in qualifying. For us, it’s a great moment.

“Historically this season the race has always been more complicated for us but we’ll give it everything we have. That’s all we can do and we will see what happens.”

Heading into this weekend, Piastri leads the drivers’ championship on 309 points, ahead of Norris (275) and Verstappen (205).

Between them, Piastri and Norris have won all but three races this season at the wheel of McLaren cars which have blown away the competition.

Verstappen taking pole in Monza is an interesting scenario, even though he is too far back in the standings.

“Max has been quick all weekend and it’s never a surprise with Max,” admitted Norris.

“It was quite a session for me, just up and down and too many mistakes here and there. To put it all together on the last lap was pretty happy, so happy with P2.

“I always give my result based on how I drove on the day. I feel like I didn’t do the best of jobs, but P2 I’m still happy with. Good things and bad things.”

Piastri also conceded that Verstappen “looked quick this weekend”.

“I felt like I executed a pretty good session, built up a little bit at the start, found my feet but I think it has been incredibly tight this weekend,” he said.

“Max and Red Bull looked quick... I mean to be honest a lot of teams looked quick, it’s not been quite as comfortable for us. The result is not a big surprise, but we would have loved to have been a bit further up.”

Behind the top three are the two Ferraris, with Charles Leclerc in fourth and Lewis Hamilton qualifying fifth. The seven-time world champion, however, has a five-grid penalty and will drop to 10th.

In other news, Pierre Gasly has signed a contract extension with Alpine until the end of the 2028 season, the French team announced.

The 29-year-old joined the Renault-owned outfit for the 2023 season and has achieved two podiums for them.

“I’m thrilled to commit my long-term future to Alpine,” said Gasly. “As a Frenchman, especially, driving for a French car company, makes me feel very proud.

“Since I joined in 2023, I have always felt that this team is the right place to be for the future.”

While Gasly will be around for some time on the track, Daniel Ricciardo has ruled out any return to the sport after the eight-time grand prix winner was named global ambassador for Ford Racing.

The popular Australian was axed by Racing Bulls with six races to go in the 2024 season and replaced by New Zealand’s Liam Lawson.

He has kept a low profile since as rumours of a possible return to Formula One swirled, linked at one stage with the new Cadillac team. Cadillac have since named Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas as their drivers for their maiden season in 2026.

The 36-year-old Ricciardo confirmed on Sept 6 he has retired from racing.

“When I decided it was time to retire, I thought long and hard about finding the most authentic way to stay connected to the world of motor sports,” he added.

“I couldn’t be more excited for all the amazing drives ahead with Ford and for all the incredible projects Ford Racing has in its pipeline.” AFP