Lando Norris finds late flying lap to qualify second at Italian Grand Prix

Lando Norris admitted he saved the best to last after he escaped from a mistake-fuelled qualifying session to take second and start Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix ahead of championship rival Oscar Piastri.

Max Verstappen sealed the 45th pole position of his career with the fastest lap ever recorded in Formula One – the four-time world champion blitzing Monza’s 11 corners at a spellbinding average speed of 164.465mph.

Norris momentarily topped the timesheets, only for Verstappen to knock the British driver off his perch in his sub-par Red Bull machinery. Verstappen’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda could manage only 10th.

But Norris was clearly delighted to have joined Verstappen on the front row following a scruffy session at the sun-cooked Temple of Speed in which he risked being served another blow to his title hopes.

“It was a pretty bad qualifying for me,” said Norris. “My last lap was the best I did in qualifying by six tenths, so it was impressive that I managed to improve as much as I did, but also impressive that I did such a bad job prior to that.”

Indeed, Norris could consider himself somewhat fortunate to even contest Q3. The Englishman, quickest in two of the three practice sessions, was forced to abort his first lap in Q2 after he locked up under braking for the opening Variante del Rettifilo.

Norris returned to his garage for a new set of tyres, and his next effort was good enough only for 11th with just the top 10 guaranteed of progressing.

A final throw of the dice lifted him to fifth and a collective sigh of relief from his allies at the back of the McLaren garage as their man made it through.

On to the decisive Q3 and Norris was way back in seventh after his first attempt, half a second down on the pace-setting Verstappen and almost four tenths back from Piastri.

However, the British driver pulled a lap out of the bag in the closing seconds to propel himself up the order and provide him with the hope that he can eat into Piastri’s title lead.

“I was hitting every kerb possible,” said Norris, who trails the Australian by 34 points. “I locked up at Turn 1 and when you lock up at the first corner it knocks your confidence. I was not very comfortable because I just couldn’t get into a rhythm.

“I was definitely not feeling the best inside the car. I couldn’t click back into a rhythm until the last lap but that was the only lap that I needed to do that, so I am happy I did.”

Norris’ title mindset has been challenged with the 25-year-old facing accusations of crumbling at the key moments. So his last-gasp lap, just 0.077 seconds shy of Verstappen’s record-breaking effort, should serve as the perfect tonic, particularly arriving six days after his engine failure in Zandvoort.

Charles Leclerc took fourth for Ferrari, one place clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton. However, the seven-time world champion will start from 10th as he serves a grid drop for failing to adhere to double waved yellow flags at the previous round.

“With the penalty and everyone being so close it is going to be difficult to overtake everybody ahead of me tomorrow, but we have got good top-line speed so I’m hoping to make up ground and that will be with a good first lap and good strategy,” said Hamilton.

Commenting on his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver, the 40-year-old continued: “So far, it has been incredible, amazing. I don’t know what other word I can find for it.

“The Tifosi are everywhere, they are hiding behind trees. There are so many of them. As you leave the track they are on both sides as far as you can go and it is incredible to see the love that people have for this team. There is nothing like it.”