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F1’s Fastest Lap Ever? Max Verstappen Breaks Long-Standing Record

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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen captured pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, a surprising feat against the dominant McLaren cars.

In the process of qualifying first, Verstappen also managed to break another record, a seemingly regular occurrence for the great driver.

Verstappen achieved the fastest average speed over a lap with his pole position lap, breaking a record that will be entered in the Guinness World Records.

The record has been broken now six times over the 21st century, but it had stood for over 17 years.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen
Pole position qualifier Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates on arrival in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September…


Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images

This time, at the “Temple of Speed,” Verstappen reached unprecedented speeds, though he was not the only person to break the record on Saturday.

Initially, McLaren driver Lando Norris broke the record for the highest average speed at Monza, having secured provisional positional pole, timed at 1m18.869s; Norris traveled at an average speed of 264.423km/h (or 164.305 mph).

Then, Verstappen came through with an even faster time, a 1m18.792s lap. His average speed reached 264.681km/h (or 164.465 mph).

The record ended up getting broken twice by Norris, then again by Verstappen, giving the crowd in Italy a double-dose of history.

The achievement is all the more impressive considering the RB-21 is a tricky car to manage for the drivers. Liam Lawson, Yuki Tsunoda, and Verstappen have all reported issues with the handling of the car and its operating window.

Despite those issues, the four-time champion delivered a stellar lap and felt proud of the effort after the fact.

“I think around here with the low downforce, it’s always very difficult to nail the lap – under braking it’s easy to make mistakes also, but Q3 felt good,” he said.

“Happy with the laps, and of course, to be on pole here for us is fantastic. The car’s been working a lot better the whole weekend, and to be able to fight for pole, I’m very happy with that.

“It was tight. We were still lacking a tiny amount, made some final changes which I think allowed me to push a bit more, and that’s exactly what you need in Qualifying, so for us it’s a great moment.”

Who had the fastest F1 speeds before Verstappen?

Before Verstappen’s pole lap, the previous fastest F1 lap came in 2020 at the same track by Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes.

For less than a second, Norris had the record as well, but it was quickly taken by the Dutchman.

Italian Grand Prix Qualifying Results

  1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
  2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
  3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
  4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
  5. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
  6. George Russell (Mercedes)
  7. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
  8. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
  9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
  10. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
  11. Ollie Bearman (Haas)
  12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
  13. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
  14. Alex Albon (Williams)
  15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
  16. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
  17. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
  18. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
  19. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
  20. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

For more F1 news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.



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