The stage was set for a dramatic and emotional Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix qualifying at Monza on September 6, 2025, with the world’s top drivers pushing the limits and history echoing through the paddock. Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell each had something to prove on a day marked by lightning-fast laps, team miscommunications, and tributes to legends past.
As the sun bathed the iconic Monza circuit in golden light, anticipation buzzed among the passionate tifosi. This year’s Italian Grand Prix was already special before a single engine fired up. Ferrari, in a bold nod to history, ditched their traditional scarlet for a striking blue and white livery and kit—a tribute to the 50th anniversary of Niki Lauda’s first world championship with the team in 1975. Lauda’s spirit loomed large, not just in Ferrari’s colors but in the hearts of drivers and fans alike. Team principal Fred Vasseur summed up the mood: “For the entire team, being surrounded by the passion of our tifosi is an incredible motivation to put our hearts into everything we do. We are aiming to give our very best to repay them for their constant support.”
On track, the battle for pole position was nothing short of electrifying. Max Verstappen delivered a masterclass in precision and speed, securing pole with a record-breaking lap that averaged 164 mph—the fastest in Formula 1 history. The Dutchman, who had not started from pole since Silverstone in July, was ecstatic. “Yes guys! That’s unbelievable. A really good job. It worked out. It’s all good,” Verstappen roared over the team radio, according to reports. This pole marked the 45th of his career, a testament to his relentless drive and the Red Bull team’s ability to extract every ounce of performance, even in a season where their car has occasionally struggled.
Lando Norris, who had been quick all weekend and looked set to challenge Verstappen, ultimately had to settle for second. The McLaren driver’s qualifying session was a rollercoaster—he made a mistake in Q2, running wide at the first chicane and losing a lap time, but bounced back to snatch P2. Reflecting on his performance, Norris said, “Max has been quick all weekend and it’s never a surprise with Max. To put it all together on the last lap was pretty happy so happy with P2. I always give my result based on how I drove on the day. I feel like I didn’t do the best of jobs but P2 I’m still happy with. Good things and bad things. P2 is not a bad position to be off the line. I want to be ahead of everyone. A good position for tomorrow and excited for the race. Sunday race pace is normally our strength but to get past Max I’m sure will be a challenge.”
Behind Norris, Oscar Piastri claimed third for McLaren, while Charles Leclerc, last year’s king of Monza, had to settle for fourth. The Ferrari driver, buoyed by the home crowd and the team’s special tribute livery, was determined to make an impression. However, both Leclerc and his teammate Lewis Hamilton have endured frustrating seasons. The previous week’s Dutch Grand Prix saw both drivers crash out, encapsulating the difficulties they’ve faced. Leclerc currently sits fifth in the drivers’ standings, with Hamilton trailing in sixth—a stark reminder of Ferrari’s 18-year title drought, which will stretch into the 2026 regulation changes.
Lewis Hamilton’s weekend was further complicated by a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow for yellow flags at Zandvoort, meaning he will start Sunday’s race from tenth despite qualifying fifth. Hamilton, however, will be racing with extra motivation, wearing a yellow and white helmet bearing Niki Lauda’s name as a personal tribute. The seven-time world champion has often spoken of his admiration for Lauda, who played a pivotal role in his move from McLaren to Mercedes. “Niki is someone who I miss and who I think we all miss dearly. It is a difficult subject to talk about. Someone you are so fond of and someone that ultimately the world has lost, but I have only the greatest memories with Niki,” Hamilton once shared, highlighting the emotional weight of the weekend.
George Russell, meanwhile, found himself at the center of a classic Formula 1 drama: the tyre choice saga. Russell had shown strong pace in Q1, topping the session on medium tyres and feeling much more comfortable on that compound. Mercedes, uniquely, had saved two fresh sets of mediums for qualifying. Yet, a miscommunication between Russell and the team led to him being fitted with soft Pirelli tyres for the all-important Q3 session. The confusion was evident on the team radio, with Russell asking, “We’ve the softs on, is that right?” and later expressing, “I wanted mediums.”
After qualifying sixth (but promoted to fifth due to Hamilton’s penalty), Russell explained, “It was just a miscommunication with me and the team. So they are not really to blame. It’s probably I’m as much to blame that I didn’t make it clear. I just thought with the lap time I showed, I just presumed. I said after Q1 the medium feels great, and would you consider it for Q3? And then I said in the middle of Q2, after my first lap, I’d like to run the medium in Q3. Then I said in the garage, ‘are we sticking to the plan?’ And they said ‘yes’, and I thought the plan was medium, but the plan was soft. So that’s why it was a surprise. As I said, I’m as much to blame. We should have discussed it more.”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff echoed Russell’s frustration, telling Sky Sports Germany, “Not at all. I think we had a fast car, but we didn’t make any progress during the session. Everyone else improved, but we didn’t. We had everything under control in terms of strategy, so we were hoping for more.” Despite the setback, Russell remained pragmatic, noting that his final position was likely deserved given the circumstances. “The gap was obviously pretty large in the end, but I just felt much more comfortable with the medium tyre,” he said. “I didn’t really do good laps in Q3. I only improved one and a half tenths from Q1 on the medium to my fastest lap in Q3. So you normally talk improvement of probably five or six tenths. And bearing in mind the lap in Q1, I’ve done two laps on the tyre. So you just look at those numbers, you would think substantially faster than what I did achieve. Anyway, P5 is probably a deserving position. We qualify for P6 and we start in P5.”
Elsewhere on the grid, young talents like Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, and Yuki Tsunoda benefited from Hamilton’s penalty, each moving up a place and adding further intrigue to the starting order.
Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event provided fans with wall-to-wall coverage, streaming every practice, qualifying, and race session live. The new Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle even sweetened the deal for viewers, offering more than 100 TV channels and subscriptions to Netflix and Discovery+ alongside the F1 action.
With all eyes now on Sunday’s race, the Italian Grand Prix promises more fireworks. Verstappen’s record-breaking pole, Ferrari’s emotional tribute to Lauda, and the ever-present unpredictability of Monza mean the stage is set for another classic. Will Verstappen convert his pole into victory, or will Norris, Leclerc, or a resurgent Mercedes spring a surprise? For now, the tension is palpable, and the excitement is only just beginning.
