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MONZA, Italy: Max Verstappen took pole position for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday, the reigning Formula One champion giving himself a chance at Monza of slowing McLaren’s domination.
Dutchman Verstappen, who has won the last four world titles, will start in the front row alongside Lando Norris who was just ahead of his McLaren teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Having led for much of Q3, Verstappen snatched back first place in the final seconds of qualifying from Norris, who has been strong this weekend and seemed to have pipped the Red Bull man.
Verstappen completed his rapid last lap in one minute and 18.792 seconds, 0.077sec ahead of Norris and 0.190sec faster than Piastri, who leads Norris by 34 points at the top of the drivers’ standings.
Norris almost missed a top 10 spot on the grid as he sat 11th before his final lap of Q2 sent him through with time already run out.
Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth, although seven-time champion Hamilton has a five-place grid penalty and will struggle to bring any joy to what has been a difficult first season with the Scuderia.
Another home hope, Kimi Antonelli, will start in seventh, one place behind his Mercedes teammate George Russell.
The Bologna-born teenager, who was announced as a Mercedes driver at Monza last year, gave himself a good chance of turning around a rotten recent run.
French pair Pierre Gasly and Isack Hadjar are at the rear of the grid after failing to get past an extremely tight Q1 in which less than a second separated all 20 cars.
Gasly, who on Saturday extended his contract with Alpine until 2028, is on the back row alongside Hadjar’s Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson.
Hadjar, a 20-year-old F1 rookie, is unlikely to repeat last weekend’s feat of a podium finish after only securing 16th spot on the grid.