LANDO NORRIS and his McLaren team kept the pressure on Max Verstappen after a thrilling qualifier at Imola.

World champion, Verstappen, took pole but he was pressed to the wire by Oscar Piastri who was just 0.074 seconds slower than the Dutchman.

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Norris, fresh off his win in Miami, will start the race in third as McLaren continued their epic revival with both cars a fraction off pole position.

The 24-year-old said: “P3 is not a bad job at all. Within a tenth both of us for P1. Tiny margins but for us as a team we have had a great weekend.

“Oscar did a great job and so did Max. Exciting. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

“We are getting closer. To be ahead of Ferrari is also a nice result for us. It’s going to be close, it’s going to be a good race tomorrow.

“Hopefully it’s an exciting one. Tough, especially when the lap times are so tight. A lot of it is down to Lap One, strategy and the pit stops. It’s going to be a tough race.”

Verstappen added: “It has been a difficult weekend so far, even this morning. Incredibly happy to be on pole here. I didn’t expect that.

“We made some final changes before Qualifying and they seemed to make it feel better. I could push harder.

“This track is unbelievable. To be on the limit here in Qualifying, close to the gravel, I touched the gravel in the last corner. The adrenaline is very, very high.”

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It was another miserable run for Mercedes, who saw George Russell finish in sixth and Lewis Hamilton in eighth as they were eclipsed by their engine customer McLaren.

Sergio Perez’s nightmare continued as he slumped out of Q2, again failing to come close to his Red Bull oppo Max Verstappen.

To rub salt in the wound, Red Bull’s B-team drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda from Racing Bull both made it into the top ten.

Meanwhile Fernando Alonso suffered a woeful day as he went off track at the Tamburello leaving him eliminated in Q1 and could only qualify in last place in his Aston Martin.

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