BBC Radio 5 Live

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Former Ferrari driver Eddie Irvine on BBC Radio 5 Live: "It's going to be tough for Ferrari but they always do better here than most places because they have a strong engine, and this is a strong engine circuit. It would be amazing if they get a one-two. It's going to be tough, the McLarens are super strong, we've seen it all year. Monza always throws up surprises so fingers crossed, the place will go crazy if it happens."

On driving at Monza with the tfosi cheering you on: "I never really thought about it, as a driver I just had to stay in the zone. Until the chequered flag came out, you're thinking about braking, turning the car, that's all you thought about. Once the chequered flag came down, you're either happy or you're not depending where you finish."

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Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, who will be starting in P7, speaking to Sky Sports: "I think I'm getting more and more confident every race and I felt like I extracted a lot from the car yesterday.

"Hopefully we have good race pace today and have a good result."

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McLaren's Lando Norris, who will be starting from second, speaking to Sky Sports: "I would very very much so [like to be on the podium] but only in one of the positions. Even if you're not on the top step, it's still pretty cool just to be there. The target is to win today so that's where I want to be."

On trying to get past pole sitter Max Verstappen: "To be honest I think everyone's straight-line speed is pretty intimidating to us, bar probably the Mercedes.

"It will be my best chance of victory off the line but it's still a long way, there are still overtaking opportunities and we can still do strategy things.

"I think we can still have better pace than the Red Bull today. The pace is going to be very strong today so I'm not expecting an easy race by any means."

On potential closing the gap in the championship: "Just winning is all I can think of and all I want to think of. Of course, there are consequences of a good result and a bad result, but it's the same as every other race.

"The best thing I can do is think about winning and think about executing a strong race."

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

[Max Verstappen] has two charging McLarens starting right behind him, Lando Norris, he needs to finish ahead of Oscar Piastri basically. He needs to keep his nose clean but so does Piastri because he is also in the title fight.

Mathematically, Max Verstappen can still win the championship but it is going to be difficult, a lot has to go wrong for the McLarens for him to have any chance of really doing it. So I would say, his closest challenges, Max, are going to be the two McLarens. But they've got something to lose, whereas Max really hasn't.

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So here's the lay of the land headed into today's race and how the top five in the drivers standings looks:

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) - 309 points

2. Lando Norris (McLaren) - 275 points

3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) - 205 points

4. George Russell (Mercedes) - 184 points

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) - 151 points

Oscar Piastri has a commanding lead but his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris will be hoping it's not unassailable and that he can chip away at his 34-point lead.

With nine races left, including today, Piastri is looking pretty good but surely Lando's race is not yet run.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Here's how you can follow the race today other than our live text commentary.

Harry Benjamin, Alice Powell and Andrew Benson are all set to take you through today's action.

As well as listening to coverage at the top of this page, you can listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and smart speakers.

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter at Monza on BBC Radio 5 Live

It is a bit unusual [Max Verstappen on pole at Monza], he's only had a couple of poles so far this season and actually had two wins. So he went fastest yesterday and set the fastest average lap time of anyone, ever in Formula 1 history. So he did it in some style.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Monza

Image source, Getty Images

The lap with which Max Verstappen set a new all-time Formula 1 record on his way to pole position at the Italian Grand Prix surpassed the performance of the cars still considered the fastest in the sport's history.

Both Verstappen and McLaren's Lando Norris beat the previous record, set by Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes at the same race in 2020.

Those cars were designed to a different set of rules and generally hold the lap records for most circuits.

Norris was the first to beat Hamilton's average of 164.286mph with his lap of one minute 18.869 seconds, which is 164.323mph. Verstappen then crossed the line a few seconds later and lowered the mark to 1:18.792 (164.466mph).

You can read more about Verstappen's record-breaking exploits here.

Alice Powell
British racing driver on BBC Radio 5 Live

[Lando Norris] has fallen behind, obviously he was very unlucky to get that DNF at Zandvoort. He lost 18 points to Oscar Piastri because of that DNF. He's got to beat Oscar. Oscar has got Charles Leclerc starting right behind him.

The atmosphere here in Monza is electric, the Tifosi cheering on the Ferraris is incredible. He [Leclerc] is going to have the crowd behind him. Ferrari were looking quite handy, they just didn't quite have the pace in qualifying yesterday. Charles Leclerc won from fourth on the grid here last year. He's going to be trying to charge forward and he'll probably have at the back of his mind, he knows there's a lot at stake for the McLarens.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Monza

Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll will be investigated after the race for alleged practice-start infringements upon leaving the pit lane.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Monza

The Italian Grand Prix looks like being a locked-on one-stop race, barring safety cars and the like, which can end up doing more stops. Despite the long straights, overtaking is difficult because of the relatively small effect of the DRS overtaking aid - the smaller the wing, the less downforce, the less the speed offset of having DRS.

Additionally, because of the small number of corners, and the expected relatively low degradation, an undercut - stopping first to gain time on a rival on fresh tyres - is less effective than at a track with more corners. To pull off an effective undercut - as Fernando Alonso did to win here for Ferrari in 2010 - requires a driver to be within a second of the car in front, which is no easy task.

A factor that could open up the race is that, while the optimum strategy is on the medium and hard-compound tyres, the soft is expected to be a usable race tyre. So some might start on it; others might run long for a late blast on it.

The McLaren has the slowest top speed of the front-running cars as it has the biggest wing, but its deficit is not so big that it cannot be cancelled out and more by DRS.

A little further back, Fernando Alonso - outstanding in getting the high-drag, low-top speed Aston Martin into the top 10 in qualifying - faces a tricky race trying not to lose track position and drop out of the points.

A pit stop takes about 25 seconds under green-flag conditions, 15 under the safety car.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes rookie Kimi Antonelli, who starts sixth, speaking to Sky Sports: "It was pretty good [building momentum over the weekend]. It was a shame because I started well in FP1 and I had good momentum and then in FP2, I ended up losing all of it because I went off so early.

"It felt like a new start yesterday morning in FP3, but I am happy with how I progressed during the session. It's a shame because I felt I had a bit more to give but we will try to do our best today."

Image source, PA Media

A reminder, in case you weren't aware, that Lewis Hamilton will start his first race at Monza for Ferrari from P10 despite qualifying in fifth on Saturday.

The seven-time champion was given a penalty for not slowing sufficiently for yellow flags on the reconnaissance laps to the grid before Sunday's Dutch Grand Prix.

Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc both crashed out at Zandvoort but the Briton's penalty was not decided until after the race.

Always the optimist, in the lead-up to today's race, Hamilton said that the penalty would give him more to fight for.

Charles Leclerc has some impressive pedigree at Monza. The Ferrari driver has won twice at the temple of speed - most recently in 2024.

But with a bunched-up line-up in practice and qualifying, combined with the McLarens typically hitting some form as the weekend's progressed in addition to Max Verstappen's stunning record-breaking and pole-setting lap, what would represent a successful afternoon's work for the Monegasque driver?

Leclerc is starting from P4 - but can he work his way into a podium for today's race?

Should he achieve that feat, it would be some contrast after his DNF just seven days previously at the Dutch Grand Prix.

Image source, Getty Images

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent at Monza

Red Bull's Max Verstappen snatched pole position for the Italian Grand Prix from Lando Norris with the fastest lap in Formula 1 history.

The Dutchman's time of one minute 18.792 seconds beat the lap set by Lewis Hamilton at Monza in 2020 for Mercedes by 0.095secs - at an average speed of 164.484mph.

Norris had just leapt to the top of the times after a difficult first run left him seventh, but Verstappen pipped him by 0.077 seconds for his first pole since the British Grand Prix in July.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri, leading Norris by 34 points in their championship battle, was third fastest, ahead of the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

But the seven-time champion has a five-place penalty and will start the grand prix at Monza 10th.

That promotes Mercedes' George Russell to fifth, ahead of team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda.

11. Ollie Bearman (Haas)

12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

13. Carlos Sainz (Williams)

14. Alex Albon (Williams)

15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)

16. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

17. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)

18. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)

Pit: Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

Pit: Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

Just 18 cars will start from the grid for today's Grand Prix.

The Alpine of Pierre Gasly and Racing Bulls' Isack Hadjar will start from the pit lane due to power unit changes.

Here's how the top 10 drivers line up for today's race:

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Lando Norris (McLaren)

3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

5. George Russell (Mercedes)

6. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)

7. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

9. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

10. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)

BBC Sport's Harry Benjamin and commentator Alice Powell pick their five things to look out for before today's race.

Harry Benjamin, Jennie Gow and British racing driver Alice Powell reflect on yesterday's Italian Grand Prix qualifying.

We hear from the top three and discuss Max Verstappen's fastest lap in Formula 1 history. Plus, how would Ferrari perform on home soil, as Lewis Hamilton looks to overcome a five-place grid.

How do you see today's race going? Can Max Verstappen utilise his pole advantage to haul his Red Bull to victory?

Or is pole position overrated at Monza and will Lando Norris register his first win at Monza - having come close in 2021 when his then McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo won - to claw the gap to Oscar Piastri?

Let us know using #bbcf1 on X or email f1@bbc.co.uk