MONZA, Italy: Max Verstappen took pole position for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday, the reigning Formula One champion giving himself a chance at Monza of slowing McLaren’s domination.
Dutchman Verstappen, who has won the last four world titles, will start in the front row alongside Lando Norris who was just ahead of his McLaren teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri.
Having led for much of Q3, Verstappen snatched back first place in the final seconds of qualifying from Norris, who has been strong this weekend and seemed to have pipped the Red Bull man.
Verstappen completed his rapid last lap in one minute and 18.792 seconds, 0.077sec ahead of Norris and 0.190sec faster than Piastri, who leads Norris by 34 points at the top of the drivers’ standings.
Norris almost missed a top 10 spot on the grid as he sat 11th before his final lap of Q2 sent him through with time already run out.
Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton were fourth and fifth, although seven-time champion Hamilton has a five-place grid penalty and will struggle to bring any joy to what has been a difficult first season with the Scuderia.
Another home hope, Kimi Antonelli, will start in seventh, one place behind his Mercedes teammate George Russell.
The Bologna-born teenager, who was announced as a Mercedes driver at Monza last year, gave himself a good chance of turning around a rotten recent run.
French pair Pierre Gasly and Isack Hadjar are at the rear of the grid after failing to get past an extremely tight Q1 in which less than a second separated all 20 cars.
Gasly, who on Saturday extended his contract with Alpine until 2028, is on the back row alongside Hadjar’s Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson.
Hadjar, a 20-year-old F1 rookie, is unlikely to repeat last weekend’s feat of a podium finish after only securing 16th spot on the grid.
Verstappen pips McLaren pair to pole at Italian GP
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Verstappen pips McLaren pair to pole at Italian GP
- Dutchman Verstappen, who has won the last four world titles, will start in the front row alongside Lando Norris
- Verstappen completed his rapid last lap in one minute and 18.792 seconds
Real Madrid face Man City, PSG draw Chelsea in Champions League last 16
- This is the eighth season in which the teams have played each other since 2012
- Liverpool will have a last-16 rematch against Galatasaray
PARIS: Real Madrid and Manchester City will face off in a Champions League knockout tie for the fifth season running after being drawn Friday to play each other in the last 16, while reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain will take on Chelsea.
The Spanish giants, record 15-time European champions, will host City in the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu next month before traveling to England for the return the following week.
The clubs have already played each other this season, with Pep Guardiola’s City winning 2-1 in Madrid in December during the league phase, in which the Premier League club finished eighth and Real ninth.
That allowed City, Champions League winners in 2023, to advance straight to the last 16 while Madrid had to come through the knockout phase play-offs, in which they beat Benfica 3-1 on aggregate.
This is the eighth season in which the teams have played each other since 2012. Real beat City in the knockout phase play-offs last season, and in the quarterfinals on the way to winning the trophy in 2024. They also emerged victorious in the semifinals in 2022 with City winning at the same stage the following year.
PSG will be at home to Chelsea in the first leg after qualifying for this stage with a 5-4 aggregate win over Ligue 1 rivals Monaco in the play-offs. Chelsea progressed straight to the last 16 after finishing sixth in the league phase.
The sides played each other in the knockout stages in three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016, with Chelsea winning the first of those confrontations in the quarterfinals and PSG triumphing in the last 16 in the following two.
Their last encounter came in July’s Club World Cup final in the United States, when Chelsea won 3-0 against last season’s European champions.
“The draw is fascinating, as usual,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique. “It will be fascinating to play against one of the best English teams, who we know well, but it will not be about revenge. These are two different competitions.”
Chelsea have been coached since January by Liam Rosenior, who had previously come up against PSG in Ligue 1 as coach of Strasbourg.
- Arsenal face Leverkusen, Newcastle play Barcelona -
There is a record total of six English clubs in the last 16. None will play each other in the last 16 but there are two potential all-English quarterfinals.
Liverpool will have a last-16 rematch against Galatasaray, the Turkish giants having defeated the Anfield club 1-0 in September in the league phase.
The winner of that tie will play either PSG or Chelsea in the quarterfinals, meaning there is a chance Liverpool will get the opportunity to avenge their defeat by the Parisians on penalties a year ago.
Meanwhile, Newcastle United will take on Barcelona with the first leg at St. James’ Park — the Spanish side won 2-1 there during the league phase in September.
Barcelona’s only other possible opponents were holders PSG, but their coach Hansi Flick insisted: “We are not celebrating not getting PSG. We must respect our opponents. Everyone wants to reach the final and Newcastle will also be eager to win the Champions League.”
Tottenham Hotspur were drawn to play Atletico Madrid, with the winners of that tie then facing Newcastle or Barcelona in the last eight.
Arsenal, who finished first in the league phase, will come up against Bayer Leverkusen and if they win that would then be huge favorites in a quarter-final against Bodo/Glimt or Sporting of Portugal.
The last-16 meeting with Sporting is the Norwegian upstarts’ reward for knocking out last season’s beaten finalists Inter Milan in the play-offs.
Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes described Arsenal as “perhaps the top favorite for the title in both the Champions League and the Premier League. Everything has to go right, but then we’re capable of making life difficult for them.”
German champions Bayern Munich will play Atalanta, the sole Italian club left in the competition.
The first legs will take place on March 10 and 11, with the second legs a week later. The teams who qualified directly for this stage after finishing in the top eight in the league phase will all be at home in the return matches.
This season’s Champions League final will take place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on May 30.
