Based on the three free practice sessions, we could expect an extraordinary qualifying session in Monza, as the top six drivers were within three tenths of a second, while the top ten were within eight tenths of a second. With a little exaggeration, practically anyone could have grabbed pole position… Well, that anyone turned out to be Lando Norris.
With this in mind, we started the first stage of qualifying, where after the first laps Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, and Max Verstappen led Q1. By the end of the stage, all this had changed in that the other McLaren joined Norris and Leclerc in the top 3. The two Alfa Romeos, Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, and Franco Colapinto, who performed his first qualifying (excellently), were among the eliminated from the stage.
McLaren started very strongly in Q2, Norris and Piastri immediately pushed Verstappen out of the lead. Later, Lewis Hamilton, who performed well in FP1 and FP2, arrived to do the same for the McLarens. The situation at the top eventually changed so much that Verstappen and Norris came up behind Hamilton, while the two Alpines, Kevin Magnussen, Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso were among the eliminated.
After the first shots of Q3, a line pattern that has rarely been seen lately was formed: the two McLarens, the two Mercedes, the Ferraris and the Red Bulls led the field. But what was shocking was that Max Verstappen's chances of pole converged to almost zero... The last attempts did not bring any surprises: Lando Norris easily pulled the first starting block ahead of Oscar Piastri and George Russell, while Max Verstappen could only manage a seventh place. Will this weekend be the one when the world championship becomes open again?
