Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri dominate qualifying at the F1 Italian Grand Prix

Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images

A dream Saturday for McLaren, a nightmare scenario for Red Bull, and more from a thrilling qualifying at Monza

For the first time since 2012, the front row at the Italian Grand Prix will be orange.

McLaren orange.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row with a tremendous performance in Saturday’s qualifying session at Monza, and given what happened over at Red Bull with Sergio Pérez and Max Verstappen, it is truly game on in both the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship and now, at least for a moment, in the Drivers’ Championship.

What stands out regarding this performance from McLaren is the difference a week makes. Norris’ dominant 22-second victory over Verstappen at the Dutch Grand Prix was impressive but came at a tight and twisty circuit where downforce is king. Those tracks have tended to be fertile ground for McLaren the past year, but at Monza power is everything.

For McLaren to deliver this kind of performance, such a different circuit, is a true warning shot to the rest of the grid.

“A really good team effort,” said Piastri trackside to Davide Valsecchi following qualifying. He will start second, alongside his teammate on the front row.

Norris — who apologized to the team for a bad final lap before learning he qualified on pole — admitted to being surprised at the result.

“Like Oscar said, to have a first and second when the field has been as tight as it has all weekend is a bit of a surprise. But it’s a nice one,” said Norris. “A bit of a surprise at the end, but very very happy.”

Of course, the discussion overnight will focus on the start. Norris still faces questions regarding his race starts, as again last week at the Dutch Grand Prix he got off to a slow start from pole position and saw Verstappen lead the initial lap.

But as he showed in the laps following that start, the MCL38 is absolutely hooked up at the moment. Norris remained patient after that slow start and eventually reeled Verstappen in, catching him at the end of Lap 17 and rocketing away over the remainder of the Dutch Grand Prix.

Even if Norris gets off to a slow start tomorrow in Monza, he remains in a solid position to bring home his second-straight victory. With Verstappen starting well in his rear-view mirror — more on that in a moment — that could see Norris pull within striking distance atop the Drivers’ Championship.

As for the Constructors’ Championship, with the McLaren front-row lockout the Woking-based team is in a position to pull within single digits of Red Bull on Sunday, if not taking the lead outright, barring an unexpected result.

Here are the full qualifying results from the Italian Grand Prix, as well as some more winners and losers:

Winner: George Russell

With the McLaren duo locking out the front row, a fight was on in the closing stages of Q3 to see who would join Norris and Piastri on the qualifying podium. Would it be one of the hometown favorites from Ferrari? Max Verstappen? Or someone else?

It was someone else, and George Russell was that someone else. The Mercedes driver put in a tremendous final push lap in Q3, and will be the lead driver behind the McLaren duo when the lights go out in Monza Sunday.

“A little bit better than I expected,” said Russell trackside.

“I think it’s going to be a tight battle. Everyone is so close up there,” added the Mercedes driver. “Hopefully we can fight for a good result.”

Mercedes endured a difficult weekend in Zandvoort, seeing their run of podium finishes come to an abrupt end with Russell’s P7 and an eighth-place finish from Lewis Hamilton. But after his performance Saturday, Russell is in position to start a new streak for the Silver Arrows.

Losers: Red Bull

Ahead of the final set of push laps in Q3 Red Bull was in trouble.

The first set of push laps saw Sergio Pérez down in P7 and Max Verstappen down in P8, behind the McLarens, the Mercedes, and the Ferraris. They needed thunderous laps from both to improve their standing on the grid.

They could not find those laps.

Verstappen and Pérez went early on their final laps, hoping to lay down their markers and avoid intervention in the form of a yellow flag. But Verstappen could only manage the seventh-best time in Q3, and Pérez’s time was only good enough for eighth.

This means not only are they starting behind the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri, but they’ve got the Ferraris to contend with, as well as the Mercedes duo of Russell and Lewis Hamilton.

Based on recent form, it looked as if McLaren might catch Red Bull by the Singapore Grand Prix in a few weeks, or perhaps the United States Grand Prix in mid-October. But with the McLarens starting up front, and the Red Bull duo back where they are, Red Bull might find themselves in some truly unfamiliar territory tomorrow night given the results from the past few seasons.

Second place.

Winner: Nico Hülkenberg

One of the more fascinating fights to monitor down the stretch of the 2024 F1 season is the battle for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship. At the moment VCARB has an advantage in that fight, with a seven-point lead over Haas.

But thanks to Nico Hülkenberg, Haas has a chance to inch closer to their rivals on Sunday.

While Yuki Tsunoda was eliminated in Q1 and Daniel Ricciardo was eliminated in Q2, Hülkenberg advanced to Q3 for just the seventh time this season and will start tenth on Sunday.

That means that he will start inside the points, and ahead of both VCARB rivals, giving Haas a chance to pull closer in that fight for sixth.

Loser: Yuki Tsunoda

In the inter-team battle between Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda, Ricciardo grabbed the advantage in Q1.

Both Visa Cash App RB F1 Team drivers were on the cusp of elimination as the seconds ticked down in Q1, and initially, Tsunoda had the advantage, sitting in P15 as the final safe driver. But seconds later Ricciardo crossed the line, edging out Tsunoda and dropping him into the elimination zone.

Tsunoda expressed his frustration with the RB01, which he has been struggling with all week.

“It’s so difficult to drive. It’s so ridiculous,” lamented Tsunoda after being informed he was eliminated.

Following Friday’s dual practice sessions the team reported that an “error” in the setup for Tsunoda’s car was a reason for his difficulties. At the moment it seems they are still searching for the right solution to the puzzle.

Winner: Alexander Albon

At the end of a tumultuous week for Williams, one of their drivers will start inside the top ten in the Italian Grand Prix.

Team Principal James Vowles decided to sideline Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the 2024 campaign, replacing the American driver with young Franco Colapinto. But while Colapinto’s first F1 qualifying session ended with a slide into the gravel on his final push lap and elimination in Q1, Alexander Albon not only advanced into Q2 but pushed on into Q3 as well.

It was just the fifth time Albon saw the third segment of qualifying this season.

He will start ninth in the Italian Grand Prix, and that gives Williams a chance to pick up some critical points at Monza.

Losers: Sauber

The search for that elusive first point for Sauber continues.

Valtteri Bottas showed some early promise this week, posting the fifth-fastest time in Friday’s first practice session. But as the track evolved and the times started ticking down over the week — and into Saturday’s first qualifying segment — Sauber again found themselves on the back foot.

And locking out the back row.

Bottas managed just the 19th-fastest time in Q1, with teammate Zhou Guanyu behind him in P20. While Zhou expressed some frustration at drivers ahead of him going off the track and holding up his final push lap, as a yellow flag came out briefly for Kevin Magnussen, the pace simply was not there for Sauber once again. Bottas finished 1.190 seconds off the pace, while Zhou was 1.534 seconds behind Lando Norris, who topped the timing sheets in Q1.

Loser: Lance Stroll

Aston Martin saw one driver, Fernando Alonso, advance into Q2.

Lance Stroll, however, was eliminated in Q1.

Stroll, like some of the other drivers on the circuit, was held up on his final push lap when a yellow flag flew briefly for Magnussen’s slide into the gravel, as well as Franco Colapinto’s own slide.

Instead of joining Alonso in Q2, Stroll was left to lick his wounds ahead of Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Although, he might find some solace in the words from Alonso at the end of Q2. The veteran driver was eliminated ahead of Q3, finishing 11th in Q2.

Which he reported to the team was a better result than expected.

We’ll see if Aston Martin can find better race pace on Sunday.