Lewis Hamilton was a little taken aback as title rival Max Verstappen suddenly became a P1 contender during Italian GP qualifying. Monza was expected to suit the Mercedes W12 with its high-speed nature, and that is indeed how it turned out on Friday during qualifying. Valtteri Bottas topped Q3, meaning he will lead the pack away for Saturday's sprint race, while Hamilton joins his team-mate on the front row. Verstappen though lines up P3, having found a chunk of time in Q3 following pace struggles in the prior sessions. Despite his efforts, Verstappen is not getting carried away and poured cold water on talk of challenging Mercedes in sprint qualifying, but Hamilton is readying himself for...
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