Max Verstappen takes the Azerbaijan Grand Prix win after a dominating weekend, with pole position and the fastest lap. He was joined on the podium by George Russell, who had been ill all weekend and Carlos Sainz in P3, with his first podium for Williams.

Championship leaders McLaren suffered another weekend of challenges and troubles, with Piastri crashing on Lap 1 and Norris struggling to pass Tsunoda for the remainder of the race, with a slow McLaren pit stop not helping the situation. McLaren's championship fight continues in Singapore.

Max Verstappen started on pole position for the sixth time this season and managed to hold onto the lead into Turn 1 at the race start.

Verstappen started on the hard compound tyre while Sainz started on the medium tyre. Despite this, Verstappen maintained the lead throughout the first lap and after the safety car restart, as Piastri slammed into the barrier at Turn 5, bringing out the safety car.

Piastri's day started badly and got worse. At the race start, he initially jumped the lights before stopping and engaging the anti-stall, dropping to the back of the grid. Alonso, directly behind Piastri, also jumped the start, somewhat triggered by Piastri. Both received five-second time penalties; however, Alonso served his during his penalty, while Piastri's race finished before the first lap, so his penalty was not served.

Norris lost a position at the race start to Piastri and was down to P8 during the five laps under the safety car. At the safety car restart, Norris lost another position to Leclerc.

The two Mercedes drivers were side by side into the first corner of lap one, but it was Russell who lost out and lost a position to Tsunoda.

Verstappen pulled away from Sainz and quickly established a 1.5s lead after the safety car restart. Hadjar ran slightly wide at Turn 16, allowing both Leclerc and Norris to slide past, with the French driver dropping into ninth, and Hamilton also getting past.

By lap 10, Verstappen had built up a lead of over 2.1s, with Sainz into DRS range of Lawson in P3, Russell in fourth and Tsunoda in fifth.

Tsunoda dropped back and soon led a DRS train, which included Leclerc, Norris, and Hamilton, with Hajar not too far behind them. Tyre management came into effect for the one-stop race.

Further behind, Bearman and Albon moved ahead of Gasly at Turn 1, then joining the back of another DRS train led by Colapinto in P13 and included the majority of the back mid-runners.

Albon pitted for hard compound tyres at the end of Lap 15, followed by Colapinto. The pair came together at Turn 5 with Colapinto taking a full 360-degree spin, but recovered and got back underway. Albon was handed a ten-second time penalty for the incident.

Antonelli pitted from fourth after struggling to find a way around Lawson in P3 and under pressure from his teammate directly behind him. Sainz was 4.5s ahead, with Verstappen another five seconds ahead of him.

At the end of lap 20, Liam Lawson was called into the pits, being the first of the front runners to pit, and reemerged on track just ahead of Antonelli in eleventh. Russell moved into third and pulled away to over three seconds ahead of Tsunoda.

Antonelli eventually got past Lawson at the end of lap 21 with the help of DRS on the start/finish straight.

By lap 23, Verstappen was leading by over seven seconds, ahead of Sainz, Russell, Tsunoda and Norris, who was stuck behind Tsunoda.

Antonelli overtook Bortoleto on Lap 26, moving into 8th place. Saniz pitted on Lap 27 with a gap of over two seconds to Russell and rejoined the track in sixth place on hard compound tyres. Verstappen was now ahead by over twelve seconds.

Norris, now in P4 with others around him, pitting was told to get closer to Tsunoda and go long with his medium compound tyres. Hamilton stopped at the end of Lap 36 and rejoined in ninth place.

Norris eventually pitted on Lap 37 for hard compound tyres but had an issue with his front right-hand tyres and had a stop of over 4.1s rejoining the track in P8.

Tsunoda pitted the following lap and came out just in front of Lawson; however, the Kiwi managed to get past with warmer tyres at Turn 3 with Leclerc and Norris behind him.

Russell pitted at the end of Lap 40, but had created enough of a buffer to rejoin the track in second place, just ahead of Sainz, Antonelli, Lawson, Tsunoda, Leclerc, Norris and Hamilton.

Verstappen pitted from the lead but had enough time to rejoin as race leader.

Leclerc was overtaken by both Norris and Hamilton, with Norris joining the back of a DRS train of Tsunoda and Lawson battling for fifth place.

Both Lawson and Tsunoda were under immense pressure from Norris and Hamilton behind them. Still, both kept their cool, with Tsunoda just hanging behind Lawson, playing the team game with points, trying to keep Norris as far away from Verstappen as possible.

Max Verstappen won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and closed to within 69 points of Piastri and even closer to Norris in the Drivers Championship, with Mercedes overtaking Ferrari for second in the Drivers Championship, and McLaren still not gaining enough points to take the win.

1) Max Verstappen
2) George Russell            +14.609
3) Carlos Sainz                +19.199
4) Kimi Antonelli               +21.760
5) Liam Lawson                +33.290
6) Yuki Tsunoda                +33.808
7) Lando Norris                 +34.227
8) Lewis Hamilton             +36.310
9) Charles Leclerc             +36.774
10) Isack Hadjar                +38.982
11) Gabriel Bortoleto         +67.606
12) Oliver Bearman           +68.262
13) Alex Albon                   +72.870
14) Esteban Ocon             +77.580
15) Fernando Alonso         +78.707
16) Nico Hulkenberg          +80.237
17) Lance Stroll                  +96.392
18) Pierre Gasly                  +1 Lap
19) Franco Colapinto
​DNF Oscar Piastri

Red Bull's Max Verstappen wins from pole in Baku, he said: "This weekend has been incredible for us, last weekend was already great, but for us to win here again is just fantastic.

"In the race, the car was working really well on both of the compounds, we had clean air all the time, and you could then look after your tyres.

"It was pretty straightforward. It's not easy around here, and it's very windy today, so the car is always moving around a lot. I'm very happy with this performance."

On the race: "You always have to be a little more careful with tyre management and stuff, you want to make the one-stop work, so I think everyone was a bit more cautious with that anyway.

"The medium and hard compounds that we were running today, they weren't really used that much up until today and that all helped. I was happy that there were not too many safety cars."

​On the car's competitiveness: "It's difficult to say at the moment, but the last two race weekends have been amazing for us. Singapore is a completely different challenge again with the higher downforce, so we will see what we can do there."

Written by Anny Wooldridge

In a dramatic qualifying session, which had six red flags, the championship winner crashed, along with Charles Leclerc and Esteban Ocon being disqualified for a rear wind infringement. Albon, Hulkenberg, Bearman, and Colapinto all crashed during the session.

It was Max Verstappen who took pole position, followed by Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson in second and third.

Top 10 Results
1) Lando Norris               1:41.223
2) Max Verstappen            +0.222
3) Oscar Piastri                  +0.254
4) Lewis Hamilton              +0.276
5) Kimi Antonelli                 +0.653
6) George Russell              +0.741
7) Alex Albon                      +0.760
8) Oliver Bearman              +0.762
9) Liam Lawson                  +0.923
10) Charles Leclerc            +0.986

Lando Norris finished on top of the timesheets in a high-wind practice session in Baku, ahead of Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.

The circuit was dry for the final practice session of the weekend; however, heavy rain overnight removed the rubber that had been laid down during Friday's running. The high winds created wind funnels in many braking zones.

Oliver Bearman became the first driver to enter the run-off area in Turn 4 in the first ten minutes of the session. Almost all of the drivers stayed in the garage until around the 20-minute mark.

As the drivers started to get out on track, Lando Norris was the first to set a time after his lack of running in FP2 due to hitting the wall halfway through that session.

Charles Leclerc set the initial pace with a lap time of 1m 43.048s, even though he ran deep in the final braking zone.

As track conditions improved, so did the lap times, with Leclerc lowering the benchmark to 1m 42.354s, despite brushing the wall on the entry to Turn 7, while Liam Lawson suffered a full 360-degree spin.

Verstappen was the first driver to break the 1m 42s barrier as drivers focused on qualifying simulations.

It was Norris who eventually set the benchmark time with a 1m 41.223s lap time in the final 15 minutes of the session. Piatri had to abort his lap after suffering from oversteer through Turn 4 and then running deep at Turn 1 on his next lap. Piastri set a competitive lap but was three-tenths behind Norris, with Verstappen and Hamilton slipping between the two title rivals.

Out in Q1
16) Franco Colapinto
17) Nico Hulkenberg
18) Pierre Gasly
19) Alex Albon
DQ Esteban Ocon

Piastri was delayed coming out of the garage as his front wing was being worked on. He eventually emerged from the pits with 14 minutes to go, on a set of medium compound tyres, like his teammate and both Red Bull cars, while everyone else was running the soft compound tyre.

Two yellow flags were already shown with 12 minutes left, as Hulkenberg locked up and nearly hit the wall, while Leclerc moved to the top of the timesheet.

The first red flag of the session was brought out as Alex Albon clipped the inside of the wall at Turn 1 and broke his front suspension, ruining a lot of flying laps in the process, especially for Piastri.

Antonelli was noted, investigated, but ruled no further action for a yellow flag infringement. 

Eleven minutes left on the clock, the session got back underway, with Gasly out on new soft tyres and Alonso on medium tyres. There was enough time for two timed laps.

Leclerc topped the timesheet with nine minutes on the clock with a 1m 41.982s lap time. Verstappen, Piastri and Norris were running their previous medium tyres, with Lawson and Russell on new mediums.

Antonelli was in trouble after losing his lap time due to track limits. But it was Hulkenberg who locked up and slid straight into the wall at Turn 4. He got going again, but the red flag was brought out.

With six minutes to go, Antonelli still had no time on the board. Piastri crossed the line just seconds before the red flag was brought out.

Sainz was the first back out on track on new softs, as were the Haas drivers.

Five minutes were left on the clock, with drivers having enough time to do a push, cool, push lap.

During the final few seconds of the clock, Gasly stopped in the runoff area at Turn 4, but it was his teammate who brought out the red flag, as Colapinto crashed into the walls when the yellow flags were out.

Franco Colapinto, Nico Hulkenberg, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon were all eliminated in the session.

Out In Q2
11) Fernando Alonso
12) Lewis Hamilton
13) Gabriel Bortoleto
14) Lance Stroll
15) Oliver Bearman

Barrier repairs delayed the start of Q2. When running got underway, Sainz was the first out on track on medium tyres with Alonso and Bearman close behind him.

Norris was out on used soft tyres, as were Leclerc and Hamilton.

Running didn't last long as Bearman touched the wall out of Turn 2 and brought the red flags out with 11:54 seconds on the clock.

Leclerc was out on track as running got back underway first, as the other drivers split between running new or old medium or soft compound tyres.

Leclerc was on a fast flying lap but briefly brought out the yellow flags, disrupting his teammate's lap in the process.

With four minutes to go, Stroll, Bortoleto, Alonso and Leclerc were the drivers in danger.

Hamilton ran out of time to complete another lap and ended up in the drop zone, being eliminated from the session along with Alonso, Bortoleto, Stroll, and Bearman.

Starting Top 10
1) Max Verstappen          1:41.117
2) Carlos Sainz                1:41.595
3) Liam Lawson               1:41.707
4) Kimi Antonelli               1:41.717
5) George Russell            1:42.070
6) Yuki Tsunoda                1:42.143
7) Lando Norris                 1:42.239
8) Isack Hadjar                 1:42.372
9) Oscar Piastri                  DNF
10) Charles Leclerc            DNF

In a chaotic session, it was only fitting that a chaotic Q3 was completed, with both Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri crashing into the wall and Lando Norris failing to produce a flying lap good enough for the top spot when it mattered the most.

It was Verstappen who took the opportunity and ended up on pole position for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Carlos Sainz in P2 and Liam Lawson in P3.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who starts on pole position in Baku: "A long qualifying to be honest with so many red flags so it was very difficult to basically get your lap together. "Most of the time your tyres are not really ready for it or again a red flag, especially with Q3 with a bit of rain, it was a very difficult session.

"In the final lap you just have to send it, I wasn’t even on the best tyres I wanted but because of the red flags, you basically run out of tyres.

"I’m very happy so far with how the weekend has gone because from FP1 we were not too bad and we just kept on improving a tiny amount and then we were there in qualifying and that is when it matters."

On the car: "We definitely were in there for pole, Q3 is always a bit messy for everyone, but I’m just happy as since Monza we are doing a better job and I hope we can continue in that way."

​On the race: "It’s a long race, you want to have a good start but even then we just need to do our own race and look after our tyres. "It’s still quite tough on our tyres around here because of the softer compounds and then we will see what happens."

Written by Anny Wooldridge

It was a tale of two teams on Friday in Baku, with a McLaren 1-2 in Free Practice One and a Ferrari 1-2 in Free Practice Two.

It was Lewis Hamilton who ultimately set the fastest lap time of the day with a 1m 41.293 seconds, just ahead of Leclerc.

McLaren's day started well with a 1-2 in FP1, but a power unit issue caused Piastri to miss a lot of FP1, and both drivers found the walls in FP2, with Norris taking a bad hit halfway through the session and having to remain in the pits for the rest of the session.

Top 10 Results
1) Lando Norris       1:42.704
2) Oscar Piastri           +0.310
3) Charles Leclerc       +0.552
4) George Russell       +0.553
5) Alex Albon               +0.859
6) Yuki Tsunoda           +1.034
7) Max Verstappen      +1.086
8) Carlos Sainz            +1.155
9) Liam Lawson           +1.199
10) Isack Hadjar          +1.271

Lando Norris set the pace during the first practice session of the weekend, ahead of championship leader Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc.

When the green light went out, drivers were quick to get out on track after the two-week break in the cloudy but dry Baku conditions.

Early in the session, Norris had to return to the pits to remove a component cover from his car, and Piastri was told to back off and avoid full load.

Gabriel Bortoleto showcased how slippery the track was with a deep turn into Turn 3, resulting in him going into the run-off area. Alex Albon also lost one of his mirrors during the session, and George Russel, who was at the track after missing media day due to illness, said he could smell burning in his car.

The first red flag of the session was shown after just 15 minutes due to an incident caused by Carlos Sainz running over the kerb and leaving a section of it loose.

Norris was at the top of the timesheet with a time of 1m 42.747s on the soft compound tyre, ahead of Russell, Leclerc and Verstappen.

The session resumed with 20 minutes left in the session after marshals repaired the kerb.

Norris continued to improve his lap times, while Piastri returned to the track after his team resolved his power unit issue. 

Lewis Hamilton clipped the wall on the entry to Turn 5 and returned to the pits with front wing damage. 

Piastri managed to set a decent lap time just three-tenths slower than Norris on his final running as Leclerc was just half a second adrift.

Lewis Hamilton topped the leaderboard in Free Practice Two, just 0.074 seconds ahead of his teammate Charles Leclerc, as both McLaren drivers struggled for pace after both hitting the wall.

Drivers were right on the limit for the whole session, with Liam Lawson running deep at the downhill left-hander of Turn 15, just as Hamilton did the same thing at Turn 7 in the opening moments of the session.

Piastri was back out on track after missing the majority of FP1 with a power unit issue and quickly set a lap time of 1m 43.307s, easily putting him at the top of the leaderboard in the opening stages of the session.

Norris was the fastest driver on track after the opening flurry of laps, with a 1m 42.199s lap time, ahead of Leclerc. But Leclerc quickly set a quicker lap, breaking the 1m 42s barrier. His teammate was close behind him.

At the halfway point, Norris's session took a turn for the worse when he hit the wall on the exit of Turn 4, leaving his left-rear suspension damaged, resulting in him having to limp back into the pits and being out for the rest of the session.

Piastri also had to limp back into the pits after hitting the Tecpro barrier at Turn 15.

Meanwhile, Leclerc moved to the top of the timesheet with a lap time of 1m 41.367s, with Ferrari engaging in an inter-team battle; Hamilton and Leclerc traded the top spot for the rest of the session.

Written by Anny Wooldridge

Formula 1 heads to Azerbaijan this weekend for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The big question on everyone's mind is, will McLaren seal the Constructors' Championship this weekend? With seven races left on the calendar, if they do seal the championship, that will be a historic moment for both Formula 1 and the team.

They will win the championship with a 1-2 result this weekend, or in any of the following situations:

• McLaren finished 2nd and 3rd and Ferrari don't finish 1st
• McLaren finished 3rd and 4th, with neither Ferrari drivers in the top two and Mercedes don't finish 1st and 2nd
• McLaren finsih 1st and 3rd
• McLaren finish 2nd and 4th with both Ferrari drivers finishing below 5th position (if Mercedes don't finsih 1st and 3rd)

Friday September 19

• 07:00: F2 Practice Session
• 09:30: Formula 1 Free Practice One
• 11:00: F2 Qualifying Session
• 13:00: Formula 1 Free Practice Two

Saturday September 20

• 09:30: Formula 1 Free Practice Three
• 11:15: F2 Sprint Race
• 13:00: Formula 1 Qualifying

Sunday September 21

• 08:00: F2 Race
• ​​12:00: Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Written by Anny Wooldridge

Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix over 19 seconds clear of Lando Norris and Championship leader Oscar Piastri.

In a race which saw a slow pit stop for McLaren end up in a switch around on track and a a DNF for both Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg who had to retire his car on the formation lap around the fastest circuit on the calendar in Monza.

​The majority of the drivers were running medium compound tyres, with Albon, Ocon, Stroll, Hadjar and Gasly all running hard compound tyres and Lawson on softs.

Racing stopped as soon as it started with drama for Nico Hulkenberg, who had to pit on the formation lap to retire his car.

When racing got underway, Verstappen held off Norris at the race start by cutting Turn 2. Leclerc overtook Piastri at the race start, but it didn't last long as Piastri moved around the outside of the Australian on the second Lesmo to take back P3.

Verstappen was told to give the position back to Norris, and Norris took the lead of the race. Leclerc and Piastri continued to fight with changes back and forth, with Leclerc getting ahead once more.

Bortoleto running in P6 was the fastest man on track in a straight line and put up a big fight against Russell, but the Brit managed to keep ahead of the Brazilian driver.

Verstappen, after giving the place back to Norris, sticks with him and continues to battle, with Leclerc dropping three seconds back from the fighting duo.

Verstappen retook the lead of the race from Norris around the outside of Turn 1, with Leclerc also cutting the corner at Turn 1.

Further back, Hamilton, on a fighting charge, overtook Alonso for P7, with Tsunoda being noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage over Hamilton in Turn 1 on the first lap.

Eventually, Piastri passes Leclerc for P3 at Turn 1, but ends up over three seconds behind Norris, who was running in P2.

Hamilton continued his charge, this time clearing Bortoleto, with Hamilton closing up to the back of Leclerc within the opening stages of the race.

Verstappen was running over 2.6 seconds ahead of Norris, maintaining a comfortable position as the race leader, with Piastri four seconds behind Norris and Leclerc now under pressure from Russell, who had caught up to him.

DRS trains were always going to be an issue around Monza and it didn't take long for Bortoleto to lead eight cars all within a second of each other and all with DRS.

Tsunoda dropped out of Alonso's DRS range, and the DRS effect was immediately apparent, with Antonelli passing him in Turn 1, running in P9.

Verstappen maintained his lead, creating a 5.6s gap between himself and the McLarens. Norris and Gasly both go wide on the exit of the second Lesmo and throw gravel onto the track.

Alonso and Bortoleto both enter the pits at the same time and Alonso takes the advantage with a quicker stop than the others and heads back out onto the track ahead of Bortoleto and Lawson, who was on his second stop of the race.

Leclerc managed to keep three seconds clear of Russell, with Hamilton closing in quickly on the Mercedes driver.

Alonso slows down and something seemed broken on the car, turns out it was the front right suspension that failed on the exit of Ascari, he headed back to the pits to retire the car.

Russell pits as the first of the front-runners, as McLaren discusses with Norris the option of extending and running softs at the end.

With an equal gap of six seconds up front between the first five cars, Albon was up into sixth place and showed good pace on the hard compound tyres.

Leclerc headed into the pits from fourth, wth a quick stop and a new set of hard compound tyres and rejoined the track ahead of Russell.

Verstappen reacts and Red Bull pits the front runner for a set of hard compound tyres, with Norris agreeing to do the opposite of the race leader.

Hamilton pitted on another smooth Ferrari pit stop with a 2.1s stop time, for a set of hard tyres.

Sainz and Bearman collide as Sainz attempted an overtake around the outside of the second chicane, both spinning but continuing to run, much to McLaren's annoyance, with a missed safety car chance.

Albon running in P10, clears Antonelli for P9 at the second chicane, putting him in net seventh, ahead of Ocon and Stroll, who have yet to pit.

Piastri finally pits for a set of soft compound tyres, hoping to run them to the end of the race. McLaren pitted the Australian first to prevent a situation where, if Norris had stopped first and a safety car appeared, he would fall behind the Australian.

Norris pitted after Piastri, but it was an incredibly slow stop with the front left tyre not going on properly and taking 5.9s. The slow stop allows Piastri to get ahead, and he drives off into the distance quickly, making a 1.7s lead over Norris.

Norris pushed hard to try to catch the championship leader before Piastri got the order from the pit wall to let Norris back through. Once he does, McLaren says they are free to race, with Verstappen out in front by 19s, followed by Norris and Piastri.

Verstappen sets the fastest lap time of the race so far on hard compound tyres and easily wins the Italian Grand Prix, followed by Norris in second and Piastri in third.

1) Max Verstappen
2) Lando Norris                +19.207
3) Oscar Piastri                +21.351
4) Charles Leclerc            +25.624
5) George Russell            +32.881
6) Lewis Hamilton            +37.449
7) Alex Albon                    +50.537
8) Gabriel Bortoleto          +58.484
9) Kimi Antonelli               +59.762
10) Isack Hadjar               +63.891
11) Carlos Sainz               +64.469
12) Oliver Bearman          +79.288
13) Yuki Tsunoda              +80.701
14) Liam Lawson              +82.351
15) Esteban Ocon            +1 Lap
​16) Pierre Gasly
17) Franco Colapinto 
18) Lance Stroll
DNF Fernando Alonso
​DNF Nico Hulkenberg

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen wins the Italian Grand Prix. He said: "It was a great day for us, we were flying and that the car for me was really enjoyable and I could manage the pace quite well throughout that first stint.

"We pitted at the right time and the hard tyres at the end you can push a bit more because they are more resilient.

"A fantastic execution by everyone and the whole team, I think the whole weekend we were on it and it’s super enjoyable to win here."

On the start: "I could see that the pace was good but I just needed to settle in, there was quite a lot of fighting going on but I could see the pace was there and quite quickly we were back in the lead."

​On chances to win in the future: "We will try for sure, we will go step by step and race by race, but for us this was an unbelievable weekend."

Written by Anny Wooldridge

Max Verstappen is on pole for the Italian Grand Prix after setting the fastest lap time in Formula 1 history around Monza. He will be lining up with Lando Norris beside him and Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc behind them.

Earlier in the day, Lando Norris topped Free Practice Three, with Charles Leclerc just 0.021 seconds behind him and Oscar Piastri in third.

Top Ten Results
1) Lando Norris           1m 19.331
2) Charles Leclerc             +0.021
3) Oscar Piastri                  +0.165
4) Max Verstappen             +0.167
5) George Russell              +0.184
6) Gabriel Bortoleto            +0.227
7) Lewis Hamilton               +0.267
8) Isack Hadjar                    +0.272
9) Kimi Antonelli                  +0.365
​10) Alex Albon                     +0.389

Lando Norris set the fastest lap time in the final practice session of the weekend, flying around the track and setting a lap time in the 1m 19s.

The session started slowly with it taking over ten minutes for all of the drivers to get out on track, with most just performing installation laps and scrubbing tyres.

For those who set lap times, they did so on the hard compound tyre, with just generally running until swapping to qualifying simulation runs.

Isack Hadjar was the first to go into the garage for a set of soft compound tyres, with the RB driver only managing a lap three-tenths slower than Tsunoda on the hard compound tyres.

Verstappen set a lap time in the top three on the soft compound tyre, with Leclerc slotting in a few tenths clear behind. Leclerc on medium compound tyres had a bit of oversteer through Parabolica.

Hamilton set a lap time worthy of second place on the medium compound tyre, two-tenths slower than Verstappen's benchmark time.

Qualifying run simulations started with 15 minutes to spare, with Norris setting a new benchmark with a lap time of 1m 19.331s. Piastri was in second place. Norris failed to improve with Piastri closing the gap.

Out in Q1
16) Isack Hadjar
17) Lance Stroll
18) Franco Colapinto
19) Pierre Gasly
20) Liam Lawson

Hulkenberg sets the first flying lap time of 1m19.950, with Russell coming in second on the medium compound tyre, followed by Bortoleto and Sainz.

This weekend is special for Lewis Hamilton with his first weekend in Monza with a wild crowd.

No driver wanted to be out in front breaking the air flow, with a slipstream worth an tenth or two around this track.

Sainz had his lap time deleted for track limits at Turn 7, just as the McLarens headed out onto the track with eleven minutes to go. Norris sets the fastest lap time of the session so far with a time of 1m19.611s.

With nine minutes to go, neither Williams car had a time on the board, with Albon having locked up and Sainz succumbing to track limits.

Russell put his Mercedes in the top spot with eight minutes to go on the medium compound tyre.

Sainz finally put a lap time on the board good enough for third, with just 0.865 seconds separating P1 from P20, with seven minutes to go.

Everyone headed into the pits before the last running with Gasly, Antonelli, Colapinto, Ocon and Lawson in the drop zone and Albon and Hadjar on the bubble.

Russell remained in the pits with the rest of the drivers, all out on track on a mixture of new and used soft compound tyres.

Isack Hadjar, Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto, Pierre Gasly and Liam Lawson were out during the session.

Out In Q2
11) Oliver Bearman
12) Nico Hulkenberg
13) Carlos Sainz
14) Alex Albon
15) Esteban Ocon

The start of Q2 was delayed as gravel was swept off the track. 

When the session started, the Williams drivers were the first out on the track with used soft compound tyres. With ten minutes to go, Verstappen, on new soft tyres, takes the top spot on the leaderboard, with Russell a tenth and a half behind in P2, followed by Leclerc.

Nine minutes were left on the clock, and Norris had yet to set a lap time, as he cut the corner and lost time due to track limits. Piastri pushed and ended up in third place.

Norris was all alone on the track with seven minutes to go, desperately trying to set a lap time, but now has no tow and ends up in P15. With five minutes to go in the session, Norris set a lap time good enough for seventh, keeping him out of the drop zone. However, with less than a second covering P1 and P14, the field was extremely tight.

Verstappen led, followed by Russell and Piastri, with three minutes to go. Meanwhile, Norris found himself sitting in P10 but received a tow from Piastri on his last flying lap and crossed the line in P5.

Ollie Bearman, Nico Hulkenberg, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Esteban Ocon were eliminated in the session.

Starting Top 10
1) Max Verstappen           1m 18.792
2) Lando Norris                1m 18.869
3) Oscar Piastri                 1m 18.982
4) Charles Leclerc             1m 19.007
5) Lewis Hamilton              1m 19.124
6) George Russell              1m 19.157
7) Kimi Antonelli                 1m 19.200
8) Gabriel Bortoleto            1m 19.390
9) Fernando Alonso            1m 19.424
10) Yuki Tsunoda               1m 19.519

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who will start on pole position at Monza: "I try but I think around here with the low downforce it’s always very difficult to nail the lap, under braking it's very easy to make mistakes.

"Q3 felt good and I'm happy with the laps and to be on pole here for us is also fantastic. The car has been working better the whole weekend and to be able to fight for pole, I'm very happy with that."

On if he thought it was possible: "It was tight, we were still lacking a tiny amount and we made some final changes which I think allowed me to push a bit more and that's exactly what you need in qualifying. For us, it's a great moment."

On the race: "Historically this season the race has always been a little bit more complicated for us, but we are going to give it everything we have.

​"That's the only thing we can do and then we will see what happens tomorrow."

Written by Anny Wooldridge

Free Practice One and Two saw two different drivers top the timesheet, with Lewis Hamilton the fastest in the first session and Lando Norris in the second.

Ferrari made a strong start to their home Grand Prix weekend with a one-two finish in FP1, and Leclerc finished second in FP2.

The sessions were filled with drivers running off track and gravel being spread around.

Top Ten Results
1) Lewis Hamilton          1:20.117
2) Charles Leclerc             +0.169
3) Carlos Sainz                  +0.533
4) Max Verstappen            +0.575
5) Kimi Antonelli                 +0.823
6) Lando Norris                  +0.904
7) Alex Albon                      +0.956
8) George Russell              +0.993
9) Fernando Alonso            +0.997
10) Isack Hadjar                 +1.041

Ferrari put their Zandvoort misery behind them with a great opening session in Monza with a 1-2 finish in Free Practice One.

The hour got underway under bright sunshine with Alex Dunne switching with Oscar Piastri for a rookie session and Paul Aron driving Franco Colapinto's Alpine.

Lando Norris was the first driver to take to the runoff area at the opening chicane, with many drivers struggling to keep their cars under control due to the tailwind into the braking zone.

Norris was the first driver to set a lap time, with a 1m 22.513s lap time, while Alex Albon quickly set a faster time of 1m 21.479s. Albon, running the hard compound tyre, set a quicker lap time with a 1m 21.073s.

Dunne was the first to put on a set of soft compound tyres, but only managed a lap time enough for 15th. Max Verstappen, also running on hard tyres, lowered the benchmark time by less than one-tenth.

Iscak Hadjar went off through Ascari and rejoined the track, but spread gravel across the track, bringing out a red flag.

Leclerc was on a flying lap with the Ferrari driver overtaking a Kick Sauber approaching the chicane when the red flags appeared. The matter was investigated further, but no further action was taken.

Leclerc posted a lap time of 1m 20.286s when the running resumed, with Hamilton quickly surpassing him with a lap time of 1m 20.117s, securing a one-two finish for Ferrari in the session.

Top Ten Results
1) Lando Norris              1:19.878
2) Charles Leclerc            +0.083
3) Carlos Sainz                 +0.096
4) Oscar Piastri                 +0.181
5) Lewis Hamilton             +0.192
6) Max Verstappen            +0.199
7) Alex Albon                     +0.301
8) Nico Hulkenberg           +0.363
9) Yuki Tsunoda                 +0.391
10) George Russell           +0.398

Lando Norris topped Free Practice Two, with the session getting underway at 5pm local time. 

All of the drivers emerged from the garage quickly at the start of the session, with Piastri getting back in his car and Franco Colapinto taking to the track for the first time this weekend.

Piastri had a cracked mirror but posted a 1m 21.212s lap time in the opening minutes. Norris completely lost one of his mirrors but was still able to lower the benchmark to a 1m 21.012s lap time both on medium compound tyres.

Pierre Gasly went too deep into the Ascari chicane, running through the gravel and scattering stones everywhere on the track. Antonelli lost control of his car through Lesmo 2, beaching it at the exit and brining out the red flag.

During the red flag McLaren were able to fix their mirrors.

Changes happened all the time at the top of the timesheet with drivers running a mix between medium and hard compound tyres. Piastri and Bortoleto clattered on the kerbs at the exit of Lesmo 1, with Albon having a mid-corner snap through Lesmo 1.

At the halfway spot, the switch was made to soft compound tyres, with Norris setting a 1m 19.878s lap time. He abandoned his first lap but set the time on his second.

Leclerc and Verstappen also experienced troubles with the soft compound tyres, going off track, and Verstappen reported that he had no grip and that his car was really jumpy.

At the end of the session, drivers focused on longer runs with Leclerc making improvements and Sainz slotting into third.

Written by Anny Wooldridge

Fresh from last weekend's return to racing at the Dutch Grand Prix, Formula One has departed Zandvoort and arrived at the iconic Monza circuit to complete the European part of the 2025 season.

This weekend, Formula One will wave goodbye to the European rounds in another brilliant year for the World Championship. Following a different Italian venue in Imola opening the European part of the 2025 Formula One World Championship, it will be Monza that closes it.

The "Temple of Speed" is often the nickname given to the infamous Monza circuit for the high speeds that are viewed in a variety of different championships, but none quicker than Formula One. Top speeds of 215 miles per hour (mph) are expected this weekend.

With this being an Italian racing venue, there will be a major spotlight on Ferrari, who are still searching for a first Grand Prix victory of 2025. It has been a torrid time for the Scuderia, with last time out at Zandvoort, the team registering a double retirement. 

Sir Lewis Hamilton is still in search for his first Grand Prix podium for Scuderia Ferrari, despite finishing two Sprint Races in the top three throughout 2025 - including victory in Shanghai, China.

It is Hamilton's first Italian Grand Prix at Monza, as a Ferrari driver, following his switch from Mercedes at the end of the 2024 season. He and teammate Charles Leclerc have shared great successes in the past, with Leclerc being victorious in last year's Grand Prix at Monza.

Hamilton, Leclerc and Ferrari are not the only parts of this weekend that the Tifosi have to be excited about. For the first time since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, there will be an Italian driver, with Andrea Kimi Antonelli having his first Monza Grand Prix in Formula One. Antonelli has already had a home event at Imola in May.

The drivers will be encountering the famous Monza circuit, which needs little introduction other than famous, fantastic and Ferrari. This circuit has been a staple to the Formula One calendar ever since the very first World Championship since 1950. An achievement that is only shared with Silverstone.

The Monza circuit has 11 turns with some famous names bearing these corners. The likes of the Curva Grande, Ascari and the Curva Alboreto (formerly Parabolica) make up this iconic race track. A race track with a lap distance of 5.793km.

Despite this being such a fast race track, there is only 53 laps to the Italian Grand Prix this weekend. Two DRS zones though make plenty of opportunity for overtaking for the drivers to try and execute in Sunday's race.

Elsewhere from the homecomings, a championship battle in 2025 has had the viewpoint change within a Grand Prix, following Lando Norris' retirement at Zandvoort - almost one week ago.

Norris had been building momentum and had won three out of the four races prior to the summer break. The gap was closing between he and his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who is the championship leader.

Piastri's victory at the Dutch Grand Prix and Norris' retirement means that the gap at the top of the Drivers' Championship is now 34 points. A lot of work to do for the Brit in the final nine rounds should extraordinary circumstances not arise.

The championship leader will have just two Free Practice sessions, instead of three, with the Australian making way for McLaren Devlopment driver Alex Dunne, who will participate in Free Practice 1.

Dunne is one of two young drivers participating in Free Practice 1 at Monza. Estonian driver Paul Aron is taking the place of Franco Colapinto's Alpine - 12 months on from the Argentine making his Formula One race debut at this circuit.

Free Practice 1 will start the Italian Grand Prix weekend on Friday afternoon with a 13:30 start local time, which is a 12:30pm start for UK viewers.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Lando Norris makes it three Free Practice sessions at Zandvoort, he has been fastest in across the Dutch Grand Prix, following him being quickest in the Saturday morning Free Practice 3 session.

Norris topped once again a McLaren 1-2 and the Papaya liveried team have picked up where they left off before the summer break in Budapest. His teammate Oscar Piastri was over two tenths behind him with a 1:08.972.

There are just nine points between the McLaren duo at the top of the World Drivers' Championship, with Piastri having the current championship lead. However, momentum is very much with Norris, with the Brit having won three of the last four races.

George Russell was third quickest for Mercedes on the C4 medium tyre and he was ahead of the Williams of Carlos Sainz in fourth, with home hero and reigning world champion Max Verstappen completing the top five.

Russell is off to see Stewards, after the session was concluded, for a pit lane incident between he and the Aston Martin of two-time world champion Fernando Alonso. The pair almost colliding but somehow managed to avoid one another.

A mixed session for Ferrari, who have been struggling to get up to speed around Zandvoort across the weekend with both cars running different rear wings. Charles Leclerc was sixth while Lewis Hamilton down in 14th.

However, McLaren are once again the drivers to beat and will be looking to lock out the front row once again in 2025 but it is Lando Norris with the upper hand so far.

Oscar Piastri takes the first Pole position of the second half of the season in Zandvoort after winning a closely fought contest with his teammate Lando Norris. 

A great session all round for the McLaren's sees them lock out the front row for tomorrow's race. 

As it happened
Q1
Green flag for today’s qualifying session and it is Yuki Tsunoda who is first out on track for Red Bull. 

The traffic in today’s session was a potential problem the teams were prepared to deal with so drivers were keen to get a time on the board early.

Oliver Bearman was the first driver to set a time putting in a 1:10.262 as a benchmark for the other drivers to beat.

It wasn’t long before it was indeed beaten by none other than Lewis Hamilton who went to the top of the times by just 0.038s! 

Leclerc slotted into third place but was four tenths off his teammate who was out in front, pace to find for the Monegasque driver but still a way to go in Q1.

Not long after Lance Stroll was off the track at Turn 13 and into the gravel - damaging his front wing in the process. He rejoins the track but heads straight to the pits to get repaired.

Max Verstappen was the next driver to take the top spot going three tenths of a second faster than Hamilton with a 1:09.754. However, the McLarens were now on flyers and with their pace this weekend it was likely they would dethrone the home hero.

And Lando Norris does just that! 1:09.469 for the Brit with his teammate Oscar Piastri just over a tenth of a second behind. 

Despite best efforts by the team to get the car back out on track, Stroll retires from the session and is out in Q1 in Zandvoort. His teammate however looking in great shape as Fernando Alonso was in P4 on the closing stages of Qualifying.

Piastri goes fastest at the last minute putting a tenth of a second between himself and his teammate. This is going to be a great battle! 

Chequered flag saw us lose our first five drivers:
16.Franco Colapinto
17.Nico Hulkenberg
18.Esteban Ocon
19.Ollie Bearman
20.Lance Stroll (NO TIME)


Q2
The drivers headed back out onto the track for Q2 of this Qualifying session and the two Ferrari’s were the first to get out on track with Leclerc putting the first time on the board with a 1:10.034.

Still plenty of development to come out on track with this first time being just under a second slower than the fastest time in Q1.

Plenty of movement in the leaderboard as the drivers start to put in there lap times but it is Verstappen who stands out with a lap time that is half a second quicker than the drivers near to him! 

The McLaren’s were both on laps though and it was Lando Norris yet again who finds an extra quarter of a second on the Dutchman to put in a 1:08.874 and goes fastest.

With the track ever changing it was a close fight in this Q2 session but it was Norris who was on top at the chequered flag - a close fight between the two McLaren drivers brewing! 

The drivers to exit in Q2:
11. Kimi Antonelli 
12. Yuki Tsunoda
13. Gabriel Bortoleto 
14. Pierre Gasly 
15. Alex Albon

Q3
12 minutes remained in the fight for Pole position and it was the two McLaren's that were first out on track to lay down their times. 

Oscar Piastri was the first to go onto provisional Pole with a 1:08.662 - just two thousandths of a second faster than his teammates previous lap record and the battle was well and truly on. 

Verstappen put his Red Bull in third early on which was a pleasant surprise for the Dutchman who wasn't very optimistic going into this Qualifying session. Having said that, he had work to do if he wanted to catch Piastri who was four tenths faster in the opening stages.

It came down to a battle in the final laps and it was impossible to call what would happen! 

After a toe-toe battle with his teammate throughtout the entire session, it was Piastri who pipped Norris to the post going just 0.012s faster to take Pole position for the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix.

It's the Aussie's first Pole since Spain and it will no doubt be a thrilling battle between the two McLaren's yet again tomorrow as they lock out the front row - something that they have become rather good at this season. 

It was Max Verstappen who made the home crowds roar today as he managed to put his Red Bull in P3 followed by Isack Hadjar who deserved to take a bow after an incredible qualifying that put the Frenchman in P4.

P5 went to George Russell, with the two Ferraris crossing the line behind him with Leclerc in P6 and Hamilton just behind in P7. 

Rounding out the top 10 we have Liam Lawson who makes it two for two in a great session for the Racing Bulls, followed by the Spanish duo of Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso in P9 and P10 respectively. 

It's lights out tomorrow for the Dutch Grand Prix - be sure to tune in!