Zürcher Nachrichten - Max power and never before seen speeds at the Italian Grand Prix

AFP sport looks back at the key moments of a record-breaking Formula One weekend in Monza.

Temple of record speed

Monza fully lived up to its rapid reputation over the weekend with Sunday's race the fastest ever in the history of F1, with Verstappen taking the chequered flag in one hour, 13 minutes and 24.325 seconds.

Nicknamed the "Temple of Speed", Monza was the scene of two significant records being broken, with Verstappen also clocking the fastest ever lap in the final seconds of qualifying on Saturday.

What was even more astonishing is that just moments before Lando Norris looked to have snatched pole with a lap which would also have been an all-time record had Verstappen not then beaten it.

A flying Dutchman

Verstappen put on an F1 clinic as he attacked Monza with a series of rapid laps and bold manoeuvres which showed why he has won the last four drivers' championships.

The 27-year-old had the better of second-placed Lando Norris in the record-breaking qualifying session and then showed bravery and skill with the daring overtake on lap four which decided Sunday's race.

He ended up finishing over 19 seconds ahead of Norris but was keen to downplay the chances of similarly dominant displays in the final eight races of the campaign.

"So it's not like suddenly now we're back, you know, it's not like we can fight them (McLaren) every single week," Verstappen told reporters.

"But the positive is that we seem to understand a little bit more what we need to do with the car to be more competitive. So I hope that this carries on into the coming rounds as well."

Verstappen still trails championship leader Oscar Piastri by 94 points, but he reminded everyone in F1 of what a ferocious competitor he is.

More Norris bad luck

Lando Norris cut McLaren teammate Piastri's lead at the top of the drivers' standings to 31 points but he almost ended up falling further behind after a disastrous pit stop in the final few laps looked like costing him second place.

Briton Norris, who was forced out of the race at Zandvoort with a late mechanical problem, was in second when after entering the box he was kept too long due to a fault with a wheel gun, allowing Piastri to overtake.

With Verstappen flying up the road and heading to certain victory, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella then ordered a position swap which he told reporters was within "the racing values that we have in mind".

Piastri said: "I think today it was a fair request. Lando qualified ahead, was ahead the whole race... I'm not going against the team."

Hamilton's battles continue

Lewis Hamilton is still waiting for his first race podium finish with Ferrari after a battling display on Sunday suggested that he is slowly getting to grips with the Scuderia's car.

The seven-time world champion started in 10th place after a five-place grid penalty carried over from last week's Dutch GP, but he forced his way into sixth with some impressive driving.

"I think we've built a lot on my confidence with the car.... Ultimately, that's driving kind of an alien driving style with the car that I'm not 100 percent comfortable with," Hamilton told reporters.

"But I think overall our performance was fairly good. I think we obviously don't have the pace of the cars much further ahead. So, I think even for top three, it's a tough path through."

Hamilton's teammate Charles Leclerc was less confident of a turnaround in a season which is yet to bring Ferrari a single GP win, saying that the Italians were "a little bit in the middle of nowhere".

A despondent Leclerc, who finished fourth, told reporters that he "didn't have a lot of confidence before today", not great news for a team waiting 17 years for a world title.

A.P.Huber--NZN