'Immediately picked up a problem' – Verstappen rues Red Bull issue in Italian GP Qualifying

Max Verstappen has confirmed that he "immediately picked up a problem" at the start of Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix that limited the Red Bull driver to only fifth on the grid.

The four-time World Champion was less than three tenths behind surprise polesitter Pierre Gasly ahead of Sunday's 53-lap race at Monza, and also had no tow from a car in front on his final effort in Q3.

The Dutchman had complained about a "broken" rear axle earlier in proceedings, admitting after Qualifying that it had limited what was possible.

"I think FP3 was actually quite decent for us. We made a really good step overnight, but unfortunately going into Qualifying on my first lap I immediately picked up a problem on the rear axle, which we have already a lot during the season," said Verstappen.

"It happens at different phases on the weekend, unfortunately it happened in Qualifying so you just jump around a lot more, the car is not good on the kerbs anymore, the bumps, and it's just costing performance on a track where it is of course super close."

When asked if he could challenge for a podium, Verstappen added: "If we can fix it then yes, I think the car will be in a better window.

"Is that enough for a podium? I don't know. We'd like to race with a car that is 100%, that would be nice."

Red Bull team mate Liam Lawson, still standing in for the injured Isack Hadjar, failed to reach Q3 after only setting the 13th quickest time, with the New Zealander set to start at the back of the grid after power unit changes.

Knowing that he would not feature in the main battle for pole, much of Lawson's focus was on long runs and he only received a tow from Verstappen for his final Q2 effort.

But being blocked at the first chicane by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, with the Australian handed a grid penalty, prevented Lawson from advancing and ultimately helping Verstappen.

"We had quite good speed yesterday and then today, we've lost some performance. In general, the goal was to obviously try and help Max in Q3 and I never got there, so it's not what we planned for, but I think our Qualifying was a bit compromised anyway," he said.

"The weekend in general has just been focused on the race anyway because we knew we were taking the penalty.

"It's not ideal, we didn't put that much focus on just the pure one-lap speed, but outside of that, obviously getting blocked in Turn 1 doesn't help.

"I spent the whole of Qualifying in clean air until that last lap as well, so I hadn't even driven behind a car before. Wasn't ideal."