F1 Italian GP live commentary and updates – qualifying

Russell goes P1 with 1m19.414s. Looks like he's made the medium-tyre tactic work!

Antonelli is still lapping on that set of mediums, Russell has gone into the pits and come back out again on the same set. The young Italian is currently P13 and dropping every time someone else puts in a quick lap. He's very much in danger.

Scratch that – Fernando Alonso goes P2, the laptimes tumble, Antonelli is P15 and the situation is becoming critical.

Yes, Antonelli's flying lap is 1m20.151 – not enough of an improvement.

Leclerc's time as king of the castle was bound to end as soon as the McLarens came out – and, lo, it has come to pass as Norris goes quickest with 1m19.611s. Piastri P2 with 1m19.711s.

P4 for Verstappen on that first run, 1m19.812s. A scrappy lap but just 0.201s off Norris.

Charles Leclerc fastest for now, 1m19.801s. Russell and Antonelli do 1m19.973s and 1m20.205s. That's good for P4 and P5 for now. They will have enough life in those tyres for another push lap for sure - the question is how much will the track ramp up later in Q1? And has Antonelli done enough for now? He's 0.4s off P1 and that is perilous for the cut-off once everyone has had a couple of runs.

Russell and Antonelli out on mediums while everybody else is lapping on softs.

Monza echoes to the cheer of the crowd as Sir Lewis Hamilton peels out of the pitlane in his 1970s-themed Ferrari.

Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images

WE'RE OFF!

Cars filing out of the pitlane. Don't forget, as we narrow down towards Q3, that Lewis Hamilton has a five place grid penalty carried over from Zandvoort. There is speculation that he may be called upon to give team-mate Leclerc a tow.

Less than 10 minutes to go before the green light and we're in that febrile period for the TV broadcasters where they've run through all their talking points, and have to resort to claiming that so-and-so isn't going to be able to go out in qualifying because some mechanics are still working on the back of the car.

In other news, you may have heard sundry paddock blowhards speculating about Yuki Tsunoda's immediate and near future. Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies has definitively ruled out an immediate swap between Yuki and Isack Hadjar. Next year? Decision not imminent. 

WELCOME BACK TO MONZA

And remember we're coming up to 4pm local time so don't even think of ordering a cappuccino – just don't, right?

When we last left our F1 protagonists, Lando Norris had topped an FP3 session in which the entire field was separated by less than a second.

Although Charles Leclerc looked tasty on his final flier, stopping the clocks just milliseconds aft of Norris, subsequent analysis of his on-boards revealed he picked up a handy tow from a Haas on the main straight at the start of his lap.

We won't tell the people asking for his autograph!

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images