MONZA, Italy (AFP) — Lando Norris took pole position for the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday as the McLaren driver gave himself a great chance to further cut Max Verstappen’s Formula One championship lead.

Trailing by 70 points in the drivers’ standings, Norris clocked one minute, 19.327 seconds in a one-two with teammate Oscar Piastri, as Red Bull’s Verstappen finished nearly seven tenths of a second behind in seventh.

Briton Norris claimed his fourth pole of the season in a car which looks capable of a similar result as at last weekend’s Dutch GP, when he romped home to victory nearly 23 seconds ahead of the three-time champion Verstappen.

A dominating display from Norris and Piastri is great news for McLaren who are only 30 points behind Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.

George Russell will sit on the second row for Mercedes alongside Ferrari driver and home hope Charles Leclerc while Lewis Hamilton was one place and 0.509sec ahead of Verstappen in the second Mercedes.

Rookie Franco Colapinto will have a tough debut F1 race after replacing struggling Logan Sargeant for Williams.

The 21-year-old is the first Argentine driver to compete in F1 for over two decades but will start way back in 18th after being eliminated in Q1.