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Max roars to record pole in Monza Read the full day report from Saturday in Monza.

MaxroaredtoaspectacularsixthpolepositionoftheseasonandanewoutrightMonzalaprecordwithablisteringfinalQ3flyerof1:18.792thatputhimjustundereighthundredthsofasecondclearofMcLaren’sLandoNorrisandontothefrontofthegridfortheItalianGrandPrix.Yuki,meanwhile,issettostartfromhisbesteverItalianGrandPrixstartingpositionofninth.

FP3

Max ended the final hour of practice in fourth place with a best time of 1:19.498. That left him just 0.167s off pace setter Lando and just two milliseconds off third-placed Oscar Piastri, as Charles Leclerc took P2 for Ferrari.

The session was a trickier one for Yuki, however. The Japanese driver spent the first third at the top of the order, using hard tyres to work his way down to a 1:20.775. But when he made the move to soft compound Pirelli tyres, he found it harder to make gains and he ended the hour in P15 with a best time of 1:20.059 .

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Q1

It was Ferrari’s drivers who set the pace at the start of Q1. Charles took top spot with a lap of 1:19.801, a tenth of a second ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Max split the Ferrari pair with this first flying lap of 1:19.812, despite dipping a wheel into the edge of the gravel through the Lesmos. Practice pacesetter Lando and team-mate Oscar were next across the line and Lando vaulted to P1 with a lap of 1:19.611, a round 0.1s clear of the Australian. Further back, Yuki’s first flyer netted him a time of 1:20.039, which put him in P8 with eight minutes to go.

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The flurry of lap improvements meant that Max slipped to P10 ahead of the final runs, while Yuki dropped back to 13th, six tenths off the pace.

Both delivered strong final laps, however, to ease through to the middle session. As George Russell’s medium tyres time surprisingly kept him in P1, Max crossed the line just 0.041s off the Mercedes man to progress in P2.

Yuki also made a big gain. The Japanese driver navigated traffic well to pick up a good tow from Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and after improving by four tenths of a second to 1:19.619, Yuki went through in fourth place, just a tenth off Lando.

There was no place in Q2, however, for VCARB’s Isack Hadjar who exited in P16 ahead of fellow fallers Lance, Alpine pair Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly, and Liam Lawson in the other VCARB car.

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Q2

Williams were first out on track at the start of Q2, though both were on used tyres. Max was next past the pit exit lights and his Q2 opener of 1:19.140 put him in P1. George slotted into second place, 0.147 off Max, while Oscar took P3, 0.151 off the Dutchman.

Yuki’s opening flyer of 1:19.433 left him in a solid sixth place behind Charles and Gabriel, but title contender Lando didn’t set a time, with his lap being deleted after he locked up and cut the opening chicane. The Briton headed back to the pits to take on a new set of soft tyres and then headed out for a push lap, two cool down laps and then a final push lap.

The McLaren driver’s first lap put him in P7, almost two hundredths of a second off Yuki.

Max and Yuki went again but neither was able to find an improvement. For Max, that was no cause for concern as he hung on to P1 until the end of the session. However, as others start to improve Yuki dropped to ninth place.

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That left Yuki watching the final two drivers on track at the end of Q2 – Alex Albon and Lando.

The nervous wait was shortened when the Williams driver failed to find an improvement and he exited in 14th. Lando, also had a nervous final lap, with the Briton needing a tow from Oscar. He managed to haul his way to fifth, however, and meant that Yuki made it through to Q3 in 10th place, 0.013s clear of Ollie Bearman who was ruled out ahead of Nico Hülkenberg, Carlos Sainz, Alex and Esteban Ocon.

Q3

Lando was first on track in Q3 and without the assistance of a tow he posted a lap of 1:19.433, slower than his Q2 best. Oscar took provisional pole almost four clear of that, but Charles and Max were both going faster.

The Ferrari driver jumped to top spot with a time of 1:19.007 but it was Max who roared to provisional pole as the first man below 1m19s with a lap of 1:18.923. Yuki, meanwhile, delivered a lap of 1:19.728 to take P9.

In the final runs, Oscar shaped up to take his sixth pole of the season. The Australian went purple in the middle sector and put in a 26 second final sector to vault to P1 on 1:18.982. Lando had the measure of that, however, and aided by a tow from his team-mate the Briton leapfrogged the Aussie to go just over a tenth quicker on 1:18.869.

Max was finding tiny amounts of time everywhere to keep the battle alive and then in the final sector the Dutchman powered ahead, posting a new outright Monza lap record of 1:18.792 to take a stunning sixth pole of the season and the 45th of his career.

“To be on pole here for us is fantastic. The car has been working a lot better the whole weekend. And, yeah, to be able to fight for pole, I'm very happy with that,” said Max afterwards. “It was tight. We were still lacking a tiny amount. We made some final changes, which I think allowed me to push a bit more. And that's exactly what you need in qualifying. So, yeah, for us, it's a great moment!”

Lando is set for the front row behind Max, Oscar in third, Charles qualified fourth ahead of Lewis and the two Mercedes cars of George and Kimi Antonelli, while Gabriel took a strong P8 for Sauber ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

Yuki, meanwhile, qualified in 10th place but will start from P9 as Lewis is set to take a five-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race.

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