F1

Lando Norris ready to seize opportunity on pole and continue momentum

The British driver heads an all-McLaren front row at Monza with Max Verstappen’s struggling Red Bull machine starting seventh.

McLaren’s Lando Norris celebrates his pole position at Monza (Luca Bruno/AP)
McLaren’s Lando Norris celebrates his pole position at Monza (Luca Bruno/AP) (Luca Bruno/AP)
By Philip Duncan, PA F1 Correspondent, Monza

Lando Norris said he is ready to seize another golden opportunity to wrest the world championship momentum from Max Verstappen after soaring to pole position for the Italian Grand Prix.

Just as in the Netherlands a week ago, Norris will line up from the front of the pack on Sunday. In Zandvoort, he was joined by Verstappen on the front row but here, Norris’ rival will start only seventh following a miserable qualifying session for Red Bull at Monza’s Temple of Speed.

An unusually ragged Verstappen slammed his car as “shocking” after he finished a staggering seven tenths adrift.

Max Verstappen, front, was unhappy with his Red Bull vehicle (Massimo Pinca/Pool Photo via AP)
Max Verstappen, front, was unhappy with his Red Bull vehicle (Massimo Pinca/Pool Photo via AP) (Massimo Pinca/AP)

Norris’ statement win in Verstappen’s back yard last week leaves him 70 points behind with 258 points still up for grabs.

Norris, 24, said it would be “stupid” to start dreaming about the title. But his fourth pole of the season, coupled with Red Bull’s woes, will provide him with an expectation that he could yet take Verstappen to the wire.

“For sure, it is a good opportunity,” said Norris, who became the first McLaren driver since Lewis Hamilton in 2012 to qualify on pole at consecutive races.

“We will try and make the most of that. This helps to keep the momentum going. You always try to do your best and normally, the higher up the grid, the better you do.

“Everything is important for me at the minute. Every point, every position is crucial, and that is the way we have to work until the end of the season.

“But it is not like I have to do this and I have to do that. There is no desperation. But being on pole makes my life easier and it makes me happy that we have this momentum.”

Norris might well have a rear gunner at his disposal in team-mate Oscar Piastri for Sunday’s 53-lap affair as McLaren locked out the front row. George Russell took third spot for Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton, fastest in two of the three practice sessions here, a disappointing sixth.

Despite claiming four previous career poles, Norris, who beat Piastri by 0.109 seconds, has never led after the first meaningful corner.

“I am not concerned,” he snapped back when asked if he was worried about the drag race to the opening chicane.

But should Norris rewrite history and lead out of the Variante del Rettifilo, he will be the strong favourite to convert his pole into just a third career win.

Over at Red Bull, Verstappen endured one of his worst one-lap performances in recent memory. He has not won in more than two months – a losing streak of five rounds – and he will have his work cut out to stop Norris from taking a major chunk out of his championship lead.

“We were miles away and we need to understand that, and understand it quickly,” said alarmed team principal Christian Horner.

“The balance just isn’t there for Max and you can hear that from his comments. Something is fundamentally happening that we’re not on top of at the moment.”