MONZA, Italy - Reigning world champion Max Verstappen beat Lando Norris to pole position as Ferrari faded in the key moment of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen's late 1:18.792 lap time pushed Norris off top spot, after the McLaren driver briefly held the top spot with his own last run in Q3.
Norris, up against it in the title fight now after his race retirement at the Dutch Grand Prix last week, qualified ahead of teammate and championship rival Oscar Piastri by 0.113 seconds.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc had been within 0.1 seconds of Verstappen after the first runs in Q3 but he was unable to improve on his time at the final attempt.
It will set up a tantalizing long run down to Monza's famous first chicane, with the title contenders sandwiched between Verstappen, who has not won since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May. Leclerc, who finished fourth will be looking to repeat his popular win for Ferrari last year at the team's famous home race.
Leclerc's Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth, but will drop down five places because of the grid penalty he came into the race with.
That will promote the cars of his former team Mercedes, George Russell and national favourite Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso and Yuki Tsunoda.
