Verstappen cruises to Monza victory ahead of controversial McLaren team orders
- Meghana Sree
- Sep 7
- 7 min read
Max Verstappen took his third win of the season at the Italian Grand Prix in a lights-to-flag victory, followed by Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri who awkwardly swapped positions late in the race after a slow stop for Norris.
Continuing the European leg of the season, Formula One made its 16th stop of the calendar in Monza for the 75th running of the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Max Verstappen converted pole to victory in what is now officially the fastest race in F1 history, while controversial team orders decided the fate of second and third-placed Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
No doubt an event that will be heavily debated and dissected in the context of the championship, here's how the rapid race played out.
Race Report
Before the lights could even go out, Nico Hülkenberg was ordered to retire the car, suffering a hydraulics failure.
Back on the grid, the top thirteen were all on mediums, and further back several cars had bolted on hards for the first stint, while Liam Lawson was the sole driver on softs with the alternate strategy.
With Isack Hadjar and Pierre Gasly starting from the pit lane on new Power Units, Verstappen led 18 cars from the grid from the electric pole position he grabbed on Saturday.
The 472 meter-run to Turn 1 saw Verstappen attempt to hang on to the lead as Norris inched past, but the McLaren driver was pushed off by the Dutchman onto the grass. Just behind these two rivals, Charles Leclerc had managed to jump Piastri for third.
Leclerc and Piastri’s battle continued into the first Lesmo, the Australian driver with a clinical overtake through the corner to retake his position, but his brilliant race-craft came undone as Leclerc snatched P3 once again.
Meanwhile, the Verstappen-Norris Lap 1 incident was under review by Race Control. Red Bull responded by ordering Verstappen to give the position back to Norris to avoid incurring a penalty.
Towards the back of the top 10, rising rookie Gabriel Bortoleto had made a place up to sixth. He was quickly joined by Lewis Hamilton in seventh after a rapid opening lap to make amends for the grid penalty that forced him to start 10th.
Verstappen retook the lead from Norris through the first chicane on Lap 4, while the two-car tussle between Leclerc and Piastri continued – the championship leader barging past Leclerc once again.
Home hero Kimi Antonelli had a less eventful start of the race, dropping behind four positions, while his teammate George Russell was now in company with Hamilton after the seven-time champion slipped past Bortoleto too.
By Lap 8, the top five remained as they were at the starting grid despite the frenzy of overtakes that had caused excitement over the opening laps.
Further back, Esteban Ocon collected a five-second penalty for forcing Lance Stroll off the track at the second chicane earlier in the race.
Closing in on 15 completed laps, Verstappen remained the race leader with a buffer of three seconds to Norris, pumping in the fastest time after fastest time.
The battle for third had lost steam too, with Leclerc’s drop of pace in fourth quickly making him no match for Piastri. The Ferrari driver was now falling prey to Russell, setting up a close battle for fourth instead.
The Ferrari’s straight-line speed advantage over the Mercedes gave Leclerc more breathing space out of the corners, but Russell remained hot on his heels through the famous chicanes, attempting to force the 2024 Monza winner into a mistake.
Meanwhile action had calmed down further back from Bortoleto in seventh till Stroll in 15th, a steady DRS train forming between the two drivers.
In the lead, Verstappen continued to eke out his advantage, while the two McLarens also had a considerable buffer between them – delaying the battle for second despite Norris dipping his rear wheels into the gravel.
Antonelli was the first to break out of the DRS train, slipping past Yuki Tsunoda on Lap 18 for ninth. Ollie Bearman triggered the race’s early pit stops, as Tsunoda immediately jumped into the pits to respond but couldn’t keep the Haas driver behind.
Bortoleto and Alonso had a scrap out of the pits too, Alonso edging out his protégé and taking 15th to meet Lawson on track after the Racing Bulls driver had swapped his softs for hard tyres early in the race.
Alonso’s heroics came undone as the Spaniard suffered a front-right suspension failure following a bumpy exit out of the Ascari complex, taking the Aston Martin driver out of running while he was in contention for points.
With 30 laps to go, the top three remained intact – Verstappen had built a six-second lead while Piastri was a further six seconds behind second-placed Norris.
Meanwhile in eighth and ninth, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon on different strategies were ordered to swap positions, as Sainz complained of his medium tyres falling off.
At the very bottom of the pack, Tsunoda and Lawson in the sister team came to odds at the second chicane, not presenting a good look for the Japanese driver whose teammate was cruising ahead in the lead.
Up front, Russell was the first of the top five to peel into the pits, immediately taking the fastest lap from Verstappen with the fresher compound.
The Alpines were having a more anonymous race, sliding up to 10th and 11th with Gasly in the lead after the cars ahead had pitted.
On Lap 34 Leclerc took a tidy pit stop after a not so tidy entry into the pit lane trying to scrub off the speed, and rejoined the field in sixth behind Albon but importantly for him, two places ahead of Russell.
After 37 laps on the medium tyre Verstappen finally pitted from the lead, coming out behind Piastri in third while both McLarens elected to keep running, unlike Hamilton who also took his first stop following the Dutchman.
A near race-defining moment came on Lap 41, with contact between Sainz and Bearman into the second chicane inviting no more than a momentary yellow flag as both cars quickly recovered, undoubtedly to the chagrin of McLaren who would’ve hoped for a lucky Safety Car to ditch their 43-lap-old mediums. Bearman later collected a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
With 10 laps to go, the McLarens, Ocon, Stroll and Gasly remained the only cars yet to complete the mandatory stop.
At this stage, Piastri reignited his pace, chasing down Norris and bringing the gap to three seconds, while it was increasingly looking like both cars would take softs for the final stint.
Piastri was the first to blink, taking the softest compound ahead of Norris who pitted the next lap to promote Verstappen back to the lead of the race.
Much to Norris and Mclaren’s chagrin, a costly 5.9-second stop swiftly wiped away any advantage he had over Piastri, taking the Australian to second and inadvertently swapping positions on track despite the team's many deliberations on which driver to pit first.
Awkward team orders were immediately issued to repair damage, as Piastri was reminded of his maiden F1 win in Hungary 2024 over the radio to persuade him to relinquish second to Norris, prompting a cheeky radio message from Verstappen who questioned the decision.
The last lap saw a five-second penalty for Antonelli after crossing track limits and erratically driving against Albon, while the Thai driver had managed to climb seven places after starting down in 14th.
The Dutchman meanwhile went “No risk, full push” to the chequered flag and despite having quipped that he couldn’t win any more races this season, Verstappen cruised to a third Monza victory followed by Norris, Piastri, Leclerc and Russell to complete the top five.
Hamilton recovered to sixth from tenth, followed by Albon and the rookie trio of Bortoleto, Antonelli, and Hadjar to round out the points; the Racing Bulls driver executing a massive recovery from the pit lane to 10th.
Full results can be found here.
Championship Standings
After Zandvoort's misfortune, it was set to be another unlucky race for Norris with his frustrating 5.9-second stop, but team orders and a compliant Piastri means that the Briton finished ahead of the championship leader, allowing him to bring the gap down to 31 points.
Further down, Hülkenberg's DNS lifts Hadjar to ninth in the standings.
Over in the Constructors' championship, just 20 points separate second-placed Ferrari from Mercedes: setting us up nicely for another Ferrari vs Mercedes showdown late in the season.
Key Quotes
Regarding the unlucky slow pit stop, Norris stated: "No idea [with the pit stop] but I guess every now and then we make mistakes as a team, and today was one of them.
"I did everything I could today, I couldn't do a lot more. I tried to fight with Max but he came out on top and deserved it."
Piastri shared similar thoughts on his race, adding: "We were staying out for Safety Cars if there were any, but Max got back into our pit window and the little incident at the end but it is okay.
"Plenty to learn, happy going forwards and we'll try and be better next weekend."
Taking a hard-earned win amidst the McLaren's dominant romp, Verstappen shared: "A great day for us. Lap 1 was a bit unlucky but after that we were flying.
"The car was really enjoyable, I could manage the pace and we pitted at the right time. Just fantastic execution by everyone.
"Step by step, race by race but this was for us an unbelievable weekend."
Up Next
After a week’s rest, F1 will return from 19th to 21st September, heading to the Baku City Circuit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Comments