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5 Key Takeaways From F1 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying

With the grid now set for the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, what are the key takeaways from Monza qualifying?
Ewan Gale|
Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Max Verstappen pulled out all the stops to take a stunning pole position for the 2025 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

The Red Bull driver pipped Lando Norris to top spot with a lap record at the circuit, with championship leader Oscar Piastri third on the grid.

With stories across the grid from a thrilling hour of qualifying, what are the key takeaways?

Verstappen shows why he's a four-time champion

Max Verstappen, Red Bull
Max Verstappen on his way to pole position at the 2025 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza. | Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Verstappen's record-breaking exploits of the past four seasons tell us everything we need to know about him as an F1 driver, but for anyone still in doubt, this was a punctuation of his talents.

With McLaren expected to dominate again ahead of the weekend, Ferrari was the team that emerged as the closest challenger throughout practice with Charles Leclerc second in each of the three sessions.

But when it truly mattered, Verstappen pulled performance out of the bag to finish top in Q2 and then fastest across both times efforts in Q3. The last-gasp effort to snatch pole came just moments after Norris thought he had secured first on the grid. It was classic Verstappen.

Whether the Dutchman will be able to hold onto that or not remains to be seen given McLaren's superior tire management during races, but Verstappen has proven he is getting every ounce of performance from an underwhelming Red Bull machine.

Another record to Verstappen's name after today: Fastest lap in F1 history.

Norris does what he needs to do

Lando Norris, McLaren
McLaren Racing

While agonizingly missing out on pole, Norris has at least completed his main qualifying objective: finish ahead of Piastri.

With the Australian 34 points ahead in the race for F1's drivers' title after Norris' retirement at Zandvoort, the Briton had to come back swinging this weekend and despite some disappointment that he couldn't take top spot, he at least knows that if positions remain the same on Sunday he will cut the deficit.

Norris was disappointed with his own performance, though, and seemed almost grateful that he ended up where he has on the grid.

“It was quite a session for me, just up and down,” Norris said. “Too many mistakes here and there. But to put it all together on the last lap, I was pretty happy. So I'm happy with P2.”

All focus now turns to ensuring he gets a good start after his poor getaways in Hungary and the Netherlands.

Mercedes and Russell all mixed up?

"I thought I asked for mediums?"

That was the team radio message sent by a perplexed George Russell to his Mercedes team after seeing the red sidewalled soft tires on his W16 for his final qualifying effort.

Russell had been fastest of all in Q1 on the mediums and wanted to try and repeat the feat in Q3, but was denied the chance.

He would end up sixth fastest, behind Verstappen, the two McLarens and both Ferraris, but will start fifth by virtue of Lewis Hamilton's five-place grid penalty from the Dutch Grand Prix.

Kimi Antonelli put in a good performance to extinguish fears of more struggles after his FP2 disappointment. The Italian missed out on running when spinning into the gravel on Friday but fought back to finish just slower than Russell and secure sixth on the grid.

A clean race on Sunday will do the rookie a world of good with his family in attendance for his home race and provide a welcome boost before the flyaway races to end the year.

Williams' pace disappears?

Carlos Sainz, Williams
Williams Racing

The story of Friday was how Williams looked a genuine threat to disturb the status quo with the top four teams.

Carlos Sainz twice finished third fastest on the first day of running to give hope of a strong Saturday for the team based in Grove, England, but that pace evaporated on Saturday.

The Spaniard was only 13th fastest and teammate Alex Albon 14th as Sauber, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Haas' Oliver Bearman outpaced the duo.

Albon said after qualifying that he was struggling to get the soft tires "firing," hinting at tire preparation issues for one-lap performance for the team.

Hadjar back to earth with a bump

The feel-good F1 story of the weekend in the Netherlands was Isack Hadjar's maiden podium for Racing Bulls. A beaming smile that seems to have carried throughout the week was wiped swiftly with a disappointing qualifying for the Frenchman.

He was left furious with Sainz for "playing around" during lap preparation before missing out on a Q2 spot by just eight-hundredths of a second - the first time he has been knocked out in the opening session

It means Hadjar will likely be stuck in a DRS train for the majority of the race and potentially start from the pitlane if Racing Bulls elect to make a power unit change.

Teammate Liam Lawson didn't have the best of times either, finishing slowest after a lap deletion for exceeding track limits.

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Ewan Gale
EWAN GALE

Ewan is a motorsport journalist covering F1 for Grand Prix On SI. Having been educated at Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, and subsequently graduating from university with a sports journalism degree, Ewan made a move into F1 in 2021. Ewan joins after a stint with Autosport as an editor, having written for a number of outlets including RacingNews365 and GPFans, during which time he has covered grand prix and car launches as an accredited member of the media.

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