What can you do about Max Verstappen when he drives faster than any Formula One speed merchant before him?
You can only fight for second place on the grid, and that is what Lando Norris managed to achieve in qualifying for today’s Italian Grand Prix. It was a toehold the Briton’s wobbling world championship hopes desperately needed.
Behind him, starting third, will be Oscar Piastri, his McLaren team-mate who leads him in the standings by 34 points.
But back to Verstappen, whose first pole this was since Silverstone on July 5, and one achieved by dint of a genius as numinous as any motor racing has known. Here, at the Temple of Speed, he set a record average lap of 164.465mph – 1min 18.792sec over 3.6miles and around 11 corners.
In doing so, he consigned the previous best set by Lewis Hamilton, the would-be hero of the Tifosi, to the history books. Five years ago here, he notched 164.267mph. He was then still top of the hill in a peerless Mercedes.
In his first outing in red at Monza, the 40-year-old was fifth best. There was a welcome respectability to his afternoon in a season of strife, though he will start 10th once his penalty for failing to slow adequately under yellow flags in Holland a week ago is imposed. That is a cruel twist and renders his chances of a sixth win in the sunlit royal park all the harder to imagine. More of him later.
Max Verstappen made history as he claimed pole at qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix
And, while we gawp open-mouthed at Verstappen’s virtuosity, noting that Yuki Tsunoda in the other Red Bull qualified 10th, the bigger picture is the title fight between the two McLarens.
Norris needs urgently to outscore Piastri by as many points as possible in that intra-team battle today. He is nourished in this endeavour by the fact that of Verstappen’s five poles this season, the Dutchman has converted just one to victory, such has been the superiority of the papaya machines over race distance. So the fillip that is the order of the day after an oil leak ended his race at Zandvoort last Sunday is distinctly possible if only he can hold his nerve at the ‘clutch’ moments.
That calmness is something that looked beyond him for much of the afternoon. His jitters lent the success of his final flying lap the air of a resourceful recovery.
He had locked up under braking in his first run of Q2, losing valuable time at the opening Variante del Rettifilo. He was chasing his tail from then onwards, needing a brisk concluding lap of that session to make it into the top-10 shootout. His supporters at the back of the garage breathed a sigh of relief as he answered the demand, though with a fifth place that was hardly convincing going into the all-important Q3.
The first runs saw Verstappen lead the way – Norris in seventh. Verstappen was followed at that stage by Ferrari’s Leclerc, 0.084sec back. Piastri was third, 0.377sec ahead of Norris.
They went again for the last dance. Norris and Piastri improved on their times. The Ferraris did not. Norris led the way, briefly. Then, came Max whistling to the top like a bullet. So, it is Verstappen followed by Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Hamilton and Mercedes’ George Russell (on paper prior to Hamilton’s demotion).
‘It’s very difficult to nail the lap around here with the low downforce,’ said Verstappen. ‘Under braking it’s easy to make mistakes.
‘Q3 felt good and to be on pole is fantastic. The car has been working well the whole weekend and I’m very happy to be able to fight for pole.
The Dutchman set a Formula One record by recording a 1min 18.792sec lap at the Monza circuit
‘We were still lacking a tiny amount going into qualifying. We made some final changes that allowed me to push a bit more. For us it’s a great moment.
‘This season the race has always been more complicated for us, but we’ll give it everything we have.’
Verstappen always does. Norris, though, is not reliably enough the best starter, as was highlighted when he took pole here last year yet finished third, beaten by winner Leclerc and Piastri.
‘It was quite a session for me, up and down, and too many mistakes here and there,’ reflected Norris. ‘I had no rhythm. So, I am pretty happy to put it all together on the last lap to get P2 when I didn’t do the best of jobs.
‘Sunday’s race pace is normally our strength but to get past Max will be a challenge. I don’t expect any magical things, and we have some Ferraris behind that will want to come through as quickly as possible.’
One of those is Hamilton, the £60million-a-year man. He laboured at moments – 12th in Q1, ninth in Q2 before finding some extra zip in Q3. Leclerc, meanwhile, led the timesheets at one stage to lungfuls of cheers from the faithful.
Hamilton, not humiliated if not doing cartwheels, said: ‘I am happy with the progress we’ve made.
‘With the penalty and everyone being so close it is going to be difficult to overtake all the cars ahead of me tomorrow, but we have got good top-line speed so I am hoping to make up ground and with a good first lap and good strategy.’
Of his week’s adulation in this passionate corner of Ferrari’s world, he added: ‘It has been incredible so far, beautiful. I can’t find words for it.
‘Showing up at the factory on Wednesday and driving to Milan and seeing so many people – astonishing. And then coming into the weekend the Tifosi are everywhere. They are hiding behind trees.
‘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.
‘These last couple of races have been tough. If I could take you through all the nuances that have led up the races before (you would be astonished). But we have let all that go and focussed on delivering the job and absorbing the positives and the passion of the fans.’
It sounded as if Hamilton was almost daring to dream.
