F1 Today | Norris secures stunning pole and Antonelli officially confirmed
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Another busy day in the Formula 1 world is coming to an end, and your daily roundup of the day's biggest stories can be found right here on GPblog. Lando Norris stormed to pole for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The Brit will be joined on the front row by McLaren teammate Piastri as the pair look to continue closing the gap to Verstappen and Red Bull in both championships. Max Verstappen, on the other hand, struggled in qualifying and could only put his RB20 in seventh place on the grid. Elsewhere, Andrea 'Kimi' Antonelli was officially announced as a Mercedes driver for 2025.
Norris storms to back-to-back pole positions:
Lando Norris secured his second pole position in a row at the 'temple of speed' of Monza. The Brit's 1.19.327 was enough to take pole by just over a tenth from teammate Oscar Piastri. George Russell and Charles Leclerc line up in third and fourth on the second row of the grid, as Max Verstappen languishes down in seventh after another bad day for Red Bull. Both RB20s share the fourth row of the grid as Sergio Perez lines up in eighth. Franco Colapinto will start 18th in his first F1 race after making a mistake on his last flying lap on the exit of the second Lesmo corner. See the full results of qualifying by clicking this link.
Verstappen struggles in qualifying:
Saturday was a day to forget for reigning world champion Max Verstappen. The Dutchman is starting from a season-worst seventh place on the grid and has struggled with his Red Bull all weekend. Verstappen told GPblog and other media present after the session that he had 'never experienced that (something affecting balance) before.' His Red Bull team are sure to be working hard to improve the car for Sunday's race at the 'Temple of Speed'. Of course, Verstappen will be hoping to gain some positions in the race to limit the damage, as Norris is likely to gain ground on him in the world championship. However, it's F1, after all, and you never know what could happen on race day.
Antonelli officially confirmed as a Mercedes driver:
The worst-kept secret in the sport is finally out. 18-year-old Andrea 'Kimi' Antonelli will make his full-time debut in Formula 1 in 2025. The Italian starlet's new position was confirmed by Mercedes on Saturday morning. Antonelli drove the W15 in his first FP1 appearance on Friday but crashed early on into the session, meaning it wasn't the announcement weekend Mercedes were hoping for. Toto Wolff is taking a gamble by signing the rookie, who is currently driving in F2 with Prema but is certain that he is taking the right man to replace the outgoing Lewis Hamilton. Wolff told GPblog and others in Italy that he had already decided on Antonelli 'Five minutes after Lewis Hamilton told me that he was going to Ferrari.' Antonelli is the third rookie on the grid for 2025. Alpine's Jack Doohan and F2 teammate Oliver Bearman, who has signed a contract with Haas, will join the Italian in the field next year at their respective teams.
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