{"id":20917,"date":"2026-09-06T10:47:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T10:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=20917"},"modified":"2026-09-06T10:47:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T10:47:11","slug":"max-verstappen-rewrote-f1-history-at-monza-with-a-118-792-lap-and-set-the-fastest-average-speed-ever-now-he-starts-from-p5-at-italian-gp-2026-racing-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=20917","title":{"rendered":"Max Verstappen rewrote F1 history at Monza with a 1:18.792 lap and set the fastest average speed ever, now he starts from P5 at Italian GP 2026 | Racing News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-133833053,imgsize-817637,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/nam-9.jpg\" alt=\"Max Verstappen rewrote F1 history at Monza with a 1:18.792 lap and set the fastest average speed ever, now he starts from P5 at Italian GP 2026\" title=\"Max Verstappen (Image: F1)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Max Verstappen (Image: F1)\">Max Verstappen (Image: F1)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Monza has earned its nickname as the \u201cTemple of Speed\u201d, and Max Verstappen produced one of the most extraordinary demonstrations of that speed at the Italian Grand Prix in 2025.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"1\"\/>The Red Bull driver left Monza with not one, but two remarkable F1 speed records, the fastest qualifying lap in Formula 1 history by average speed and the fastest full-distance Grand Prix ever recorded.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3><b>Verstappen\u2019s record-breaking qualifying lap<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/>The first record came in qualifying. With pole position still up for grabs in Q3, Verstappen delivered a sensational 1:18.792 on his final flying lap. The time was just 0.077 seconds quicker than Lando Norris, who had briefly moved to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:18.869.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"8\"\/>The real significance of Verstappen&#8217;s lap, however, was its average speed. He completed Monza&#8217;s 5.793km circuit at an astonishing 264.682 km\/h (164.466 mph), making it the fastest lap ever recorded in F1 by average speed.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>Verstappen&#8217;s lap narrowly surpassed the previous benchmark set by Lewis Hamilton at Monza in 2020. Hamilton had recorded a 1:18.887 lap at an average speed of 264.362 km\/h.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"cdatainfo   id-r-component \" data-pos=\"15\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Driver<\/th>\n<th align=\"right\">Year<\/th>\n<th align=\"right\">Lap Time<\/th>\n<th align=\"right\">Average Speed<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Max Verstappen<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><strong>2025<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><strong>1:18.792<\/strong><\/td>\n<td align=\"right\"><strong>264.682 km\/h<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lewis Hamilton<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\">2020<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\">1:18.887<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\">264.362 km\/h<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\">2018<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\">1:19.119<\/td>\n<td align=\"right\">263.587 km\/h<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>The achievement was particularly impressive because Monza requires teams to run extremely low-downforce setups. Drivers need maximum straight-line speed while still having enough stability to attack the circuit&#8217;s heavy braking zones.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"18\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3><b>The fastest Grand Prix in F1 history<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>Verstappen wasn&#8217;t finished. After taking pole, he converted it into victory on Sunday, winning the 53-lap Italian Grand Prix in 1:13:24.325. More importantly, he averaged 250.706 km\/h (155.791 mph) across the entire race.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>That made the 2025 Italian Grand Prix the fastest full-distance race in Formula 1 history by average speed, eclipsing another long-standing Monza record. The previous benchmark belonged to Michael Schumacher, who won the 2003 Italian Grand Prix with an average speed of 247.585 km\/h. Schumacher completed that race in 1:14:19.838.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>Verstappen therefore broke Schumacher&#8217;s 22-year-old record by almost 3.1 km\/h.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3><b>From pole to fifth in 2026<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>The picture is very different at the 2026 Italian Grand Prix. Verstappen could not repeat his 2025 qualifying heroics on Saturday. He posted a 1:22.070 in Q3, which put him sixth on the initial qualifying classification. After Oscar Piastri was handed a three-place grid penalty, Verstappen moved up to fifth on the starting grid.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>Pierre Gasly stunned the field by taking his maiden F1 pole for Alpine with a 1:21.786, while George Russell qualified second. <!-- -->Ferrari&#8217;s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton occupy the second row, leaving Verstappen to start behind them.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>That means the contrast is striking: 12 months ago, Verstappen was breaking the all-time average-speed record at Monza from pole; this year, he starts fifth as Gasly leads the field away.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"40\"\/>Yet Verstappen&#8217;s record remains one of the most remarkable achievements associated with the circuit.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/racing\/top-stories\/max-verstappen-rewrote-f1-history-at-monza-with-a-118-792-lap-and-set-the-fastest-average-speed-ever-now-he-starts-from-p5-at-italian-gp-2026\/articleshow\/133832708.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Max Verstappen (Image: F1) Monza has earned its nickname as the \u201cTemple of Speed\u201d, and Max Verstappen produced one of the most extraordinary demonstrations of that speed at the Italian Grand Prix in 2025.The Red Bull driver left Monza with not one, but two remarkable F1 speed records, the fastest qualifying lap in Formula 1 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Max Verstappen (Image: F1) Monza has earned its nickname as the \u201cTemple of Speed\u201d, and Max Verstappen produced one of the most extraordinary demonstrations of that speed at the Italian Grand Prix in 2025.The Red Bull driver left Monza with not one, but two remarkable F1 speed records, the fastest qualifying lap in Formula 1 [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":2,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":3,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/nam-9.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}