How Verstappen surpassed fastest F1 cars in history

Italian Grand Prix

Venue: Monza Date: 7 September Race start: 14:00 BST on Sunday

Coverage: Live commentary of race on BBC Radio 5 Live; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app

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).

It came about through a confluence of circumstances.

The current cars have less drag than those in 2020, so are faster on the straights, and at Monza cars spend longer at full throttle than anywhere else.

On top of that, Monza was resurfaced before last year's race, and the new surface has more grip than the old, worn-out one on which Hamilton set the previous record.

Verstappen said: "Honestly, I didn't even think about that when I crossed the line, but it's nice. It didn't feel too bad. The cars have been fun.

"They are pretty decent in the high speed (corners). They're quite quick in a straight line.

"Of course, the low speed (corners), that's where we lose out compared to the previous generation (of cars). And yeah, on some tracks you can do these lap records now.

"Also, the new Tarmac helps around here, kerbing (too). Like, the kerbs opened up a little bit.

"I think the 2020 Mercedes is still quicker if you would put it on the track now, but it's been good. At some tracks it's more fun than others."

Verstappen's time is the latest in a long line of fastest-ever laps, many set at Monza. Before Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen held the record with his pole for Ferrari from 2018.

That beat the previous record that had stood for 14 years - a lap Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya set in a Williams with a V10 BMW engine in 2004 at an average speed of 162.95mph.

Some in F1 still get misty-eyed over the sound of those V10 engines, which were naturally aspirated, so the noise was not reduced by turbos or hybrid systems, or both as now, and revved to 20,000rpm.

This is partly what is behind the current push off-track from FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem for a return to naturally aspirated engines - on which there has been a development this weekend in Italy.

Montoya first returned the record to Monza in 2002. Before that, the fastest ever lap was an iconic performance from Keke Rosberg in a Williams at the 1985 British Grand Prix, the last race on a long-lived Silverstone layout, which was the first to break the 160mph barrier at 160.938mph.

Remarkably, the Finn, the 1982 world champion, performed that lap on a rear tyre that was developing a slow puncture.

It is unlikely Verstappen's record will be broken for some time. Next year sees the introduction of new chassis and engine rules and the cars are expected to be slower than currently by about a couple of seconds a lap - although they may well be faster on the straights.

Verstappen has not won since the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in May.

One might have expected the four-time champion to be pessimistic of turning this into a win, as the McLaren has generally had a much bigger advantage in races this year than in qualifying, because it is so good on its tyres.

But Verstappen was relatively optimistic after qualfiying.

"I don't sit here and think it is going to be easy to be in front of McLaren," he said. "The whole season has shown that.

"This season we have had a few good qualifyings but in the race we always seem to struggle a little bit compared to them.

"I am going to give it a good go. Friday, my long run was nice. I'm not sure it is going to be enough but if we can do something similar and they don't improve too much then I have a feeling that maybe we have a chance.

"To stay here will be tough but we will see what we can do."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella explained the technical reasons why Verstappen might be more competitive over a race distance this weekend than previously.

Stella explained that the McLaren was the fastest car in the corners but was losing time on the straights in qualifying.

"In racing, the corners become quite a bit longer, because you brake earlier, you go later on throttle, so the grip-limited area extends, and this would make our car just naturally more competitive," he said.

"However, from what we have seen in terms of lap times in practice, if we take the lap times that Verstappen was able to do, they were very comparable to ours. I think he has done a whole long run in 1.23s, which is very fast, very competitive.

"We have seen good lap times for Ferrari, good lap times for Mercedes.

"The Tarmac is very high grip after the resurface last year. I think there won't be necessarily much degradation, and it won't be the natural characteristic of McLaren being very good when the grip is low.

"I think the field will be much more compact, not only in qualifying like we have seen today, but also in the race."