Formula 1 News: Norris wins exciting pole battle for Italian GP

Lando Norris set himself up to win the 2024 Italian GP by turning a lap of 1m19.327s to win a close battle for pole at Monza.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

It was the 2nd straight pole for Norris who beat his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri by 0.109s.

“Another pole which is amazing,” said Norris. “To have two cars first and second when the field is as tight as it has been all weekend is a surprise, but a nice one. My lap, it hurts me to say, wasn’t a great lap. So a bit surprised at the end but very happy.”

“First lap in Q3 was good, the second one was not quite enough,” said Piastri. “Amazing effort from the team to pull off [lock out]. Starting a bit further up than last week is a positive to myself, it’s a long run to Turn 1 so starting second isn’t a bad thing.”

The Mercedes of George Russell was a close third, 0.113s behind Norris.

“Great ending up P3, better than I expected as it was a really tough session in Q1 and Q2 so super happy with third. I’m pretty comfortable for tomorrow, I’ll eat some pizzas to fuel me up and will look for a good result.”

The two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. rounded out the top-5, 0.134s and 0.140s behind Norris respectively.

After leading FP2 and FP3, Lewis Hamilton was a close 6th, 0.18s back, while Max Verstappen was way behind Norris – 0.695s behind with no chance to win the race, and he is now at risk to losing the World Championship to Norris, who has a superior car.

Where to start. McLaren still looking the class of the field. Russell launching a dramatic late improvement to jump ahead of the Ferraris, who will be hoping for similar race pace to Zandvoort.

But the biggest story is the gap from Norris to Verstappen. Seven tenths of a second, and seven positions.

Damage limitation is the name of the game for the Dutchman tomorrow. Starting seventh, he needs to pick off as many cars as possible – and hope McLaren’s starting issues return.

Or else his lead in the drivers’ will be cut again – and if that keeps happening, things could get very nervy indeed.

2024 Italian GP Qualifying Results