McLaren’s Lando Norris took pole position for 2024 Italian Grand Prix after a tense Qualifying session at Monza.
In a four-team scrap for pole position, Norris emerged fastest from his teammate, Oscar Piastri to lock out the front row for McLaren, whilst Mercedes’ George Russell made it two Brits in the top three grid slots.
Now, here is a roundup of all the action across FP3 and Qualifying for 2024 Italian Grand Prix.
FP3
Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou were first on track but it was Haas’ Kevin Magnussen who set the initial benchmark time, of 1m 21.774 on soft tyres which was quickly beaten by several drivers.
Once everyone had set at least one lap time, it was Norris on the soft tyre who sat top on 1m 20.787, ahead of his teammate – Piastri by 0.100 seconds.
Carlos Sainz soon displaced Norris with 1m 20.742 but Russell on the medium tyre found an extra 0.036s to go fastest, until Charles Leclerc produced 1m 20.614 in the 23rd minute to set the pace.
Williams’ Alex Albon continued his solid pace from Friday Practice as he popped up with 1m 20.596 just past the half-hour mark to go quickest, yet Sainz and Leclerc responded in the 38th minute with Sainz on top with 1m 20.463.
Leclerc however did 1m 20.226 on his second flier to go quickest from Norris by just 0.036s, with the Brit then pushed down to third by his own teammate, Piastri who went second and 0.010s quicker than him.
Hamilton however ultimately topped the session like he did in FP2 after he set 1m 20.117 with ten minutes left, whilst Russell found himself second-fastest in a Mercedes one-two.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m 20.117 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.093 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.109 |
| 4 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.135 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.145 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.251 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.346 |
| 8 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.479 |
| 9 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | + 0.788 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.826 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.851 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 0.960 |
| 13 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 1.024 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.038 |
| 15 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.040 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 1.091 |
| 17 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 1.141 |
| 18 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 1.170 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 1.240 |
| 20 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | + 1.918 |
Qualifying
Q1
Zhou was first out on the track and proceeded to set 1m 21.968 as the benchmark which quickly got usurped by several drivers, as Norris sat fastest with 1m 19.911 once everyone ran their first flying laps.
Perez, Ocon, Gasly, Zhou and Sainz meanwhile sat in the elimination zone but Sainz soon moved himself out of the danger area, after he plus Ocon and Gasly ran in the middle phase of Q1 to move into the top ten.
With three minutes left, debutant – Colapinto sat 16th ahead of Tsunoda, Bottas, Perez and Zhou with the quintet in danger of elimination.
At the checkered flag, Zhou and Bottas qualified slowest behind Colapinto who managed 18th in his first session, having ran wide at second Lesmo curve on his final flier.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was unfortunate to finish 17th behind Tsunoda who missed out on Q2 to his RB teammate, Daniel Ricciardo by 0.044s in a frantic finish during which Magnussen caused a yellow flag by running wide at Parabolica.
Q2
The start of Q2 was delayed by four minutes due to gravel dispersed across various parts of the track but once underway, Leclerc and Sainz were first out on track ahead of Alpine and Haas pairs who were in search of a tow.
Leclerc proceeded to set a benchmark 1m 20.296 but once everyone set their first timed laps, Hamilton headed the order with 1m 19.641 and 0.086s clear of Norris.
The bottom five meanwhile comprised of; Alonso, Magnussen, Gasly, Ocon and Ricciardo.
Once the checkered flag fell, Alonso missed out on Q3 to Hulkenberg by just 0.010s and qualified 11th ahead of Ricciardo who improved to 12th, ahead of Magnussen, Gasly and Ocon.
Q3
Albon was first out onto the circuit once the pit exit light went green and set a benchmark time of 1m 20.870, but it was Norris who set the provisional pole time of 1m 19.401 and 0.035s quicker than Piastri.
Russell, Hamilton, Sainz, Leclerc, Perez, Verstappen, Hulkenberg and Albon completed the order ahead of the final runs.
Once the checkered flag fell, Norris clinched pole with 1m 19.327 ahead of Piastri in a McLaren front-row lockout, ahead of Russell, Leclerc, Sainz and Hamilton.
Verstappen could only manage seventh and will line up just ahead of his teammate, Perez, whilst Albon and Hulkenberg will occupy the fifth row.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 19.327 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.109 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.113 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.134 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.140 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.186 |
| 7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.695 |
| 8 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.735 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.972 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 1.012 |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 1m 20.421 |
| 12 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | + 0.058 |
| 13 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.277 |
| 14 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.317 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 0.345 |
| 16 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1m 20.945 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.068 |
| 18 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | + 0.116 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 0.156 |
| 20 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | + 0.500 |
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