Red Bull grabbed their best qualifying result of this season at the Italian Grand Prix but it's bittersweet as both cars will be starting near the back of the grid after being handed grid penalties for power unit and gearbox changes.

The team has struggled throughout the year and was not able to catch up with the leaders especially in qualifying, but on a soggy Saturday at Monza, they were able to make use of the tricky conditions in the best way possible.

Max Verstappen was able to beat his teammate and claim second, looking as if he could become F1's youngest pole sitter at one stage, and the young Dutchman is remaining positive after being satisfied with the outcome.

"It was quite a good qualifying, everything was working well," said Verstappen. "In Q3 I was maybe not as happy as I was in Q1 and Q2, I was sliding round more, especially in the last sector.

"The final lap was really okay, I heard I was on pole, my engineer was telling me sector times and I said, 'Stop, just tell me what Lewis is doing', and he was going purple.

"At the end of the day, to be second here with the package we have means we did a very good job, it was nice again to drive in the wet."

Verstappen’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo had an opposite run in the qualifications as he struggled to find pace in the first two sessions before improving in Q3. However, the Australian was not totally impressed expecting a better outcome from the car under such conditions.

"In Q1 and Q2 I was nowhere; if you heard my radio, I wasn't too impressed with the level of grip," he said. "I was struggling with everything, it just felt like the tyres… it was as if we didn't have blankets on, they were cold and slippery.

"We got into Q3, so we were not nowhere, but normally for our competitiveness in the wet, we were just struggling. In Q3 on extremes on the out lap I had a lot more grip than Q1 and Q2, it was a different car in Q3, I think we topped it, [but] Lewis and Max came through with a charge at the end.

"It was alright in the end, a good recovery, and it's nice to be up here on Saturday, [but] obviously we're a bit way back tomorrow."