Verstappen charges to Italian GP win over Norris and Piastri

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen converted pole position into victory during Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, leading home McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri after a dramatic start and end to proceedings at Monza.

Verstappen and Norris went wheel-to-wheel almost immediately when the lights went out, getting close to each other down the start/finish straight before the Dutchman skipped the first chicane to keep the lead.

Although Verstappen gave up the position to Norris at the start of the second lap to avoid a potential penalty, he was soon back on his rival’s tail and took only a couple more tours to reclaim P1 and surge clear.

From there, Verstappen appeared to have everything under control, managing the gap back to both McLarens across their opening stints, pitting earlier than Norris and Piastri to strengthen that advantage and then cruising to the chequered flag.

While Verstappen’s run to the finish was relatively serene, amid repeated messages from the Red Bull pit wall to avoid any unnecessary risks, drama developed at McLaren when a slow pit stop for Norris allowed team mate Piastri through for second.

Given the unusual circumstances, McLaren asked Piastri to move aside for Norris, after which they would be free to race. It was an instruction the championship leader initially questioned, but ultimately obeyed, thanks to a well-orchestrated swap.

Piastri settled for third, meaning his points margin over Norris came down from 34 to 31, with Charles Leclerc a few seconds further back in the lead Ferrari – the Tifosi’s dreams of a home win, or even a podium, not materialising this year.

George Russell delivered another strong drive aboard his Mercedes to finish where he started in fifth, while Lewis Hamilton recovered from his five-place grid penalty to cross the line sixth and at least give the Scuderia a solid double points finish.

After a tough Qualifying session, Alex Albon earned Williams some important points in the midfield fight with a fine recovery to seventh, followed by Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who served a five-second time penalty for driving erratically.

Isack Hadjar was another Sunday star as he turned his pit lane start into 10th, leading home Carlos Sainz’s Williams and Ollie Bearman’s Haas (who banged wheels at the Roggia chicane late on), the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda and Racing Bulls team mate Liam Lawson.

Esteban Ocon was another penalised driver – after he was deemed to have forced Lance Stroll wide early in the race – en route to 15th position, with Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto taking 16th and 17th respectively on a quiet afternoon for Alpine.

Aston Martin at one point had both cars in the points-paying positions, but their afternoon turned sour with a late slump for Stroll and an apparent suspension failure for Fernando Alonso, while Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg failed to start due to a hydraulics problem.

AS IT HAPPENED

After a thrilling Qualifying session around the historic Temple of Speed, which saw Verstappen brilliantly pull a lap out of the bag to pip McLaren pair Norris and Piastri, drivers and teams reconvened for Sunday’s main event: the Italian Grand Prix.

Two changes to the grid were confirmed in the hours before the race, with both Hadjar (who had qualified 16th) and Gasly (in 19th) being sent to the pit lane for taking on a host of new power unit elements beyond their respective allocations for the season.

As such, Stroll, Colapinto and Lawson all gained spots towards the back of the pack, while further up, Hamilton’s pre-event five-place grid penalty meant he fell from fifth to 10th and promoted Russell, Antonelli, Bortoleto, Alonso and Tsunoda.

With the race start approaching, attention turned to tyre choices for what Pirelli were expecting to be a straightforward one-stop race. As blankets came off, it was revealed that the majority of the field had opted for medium rubber, while Albon, Ocon, Stroll, Hadjar and Gasly took hards and Lawson went aggressive on softs.

When the lights went out, with Hulkenberg absent after being told to pit and retire his car, Norris jumped off the line to immediately put pressure on Verstappen – the Red Bull man squeezing his McLaren rival onto the grass as they charged towards the first chicane.

Under braking for Turn 1, Norris had a look up the inside of Verstappen’s car and the pair went wheel-to-wheel again, only for the reigning World Champion to skip the chicane and maintain the lead. “What’s this idiot doing?” Norris shouted over the radio. “He put me in the grass and cut the corner.”

There was more drama just behind when Piastri initially lost out to Leclerc, a move that prompted huge cheers from the Tifosi in the grandstands and on the grass banks, before the Australian fought back with a stunning pass around the outside of Lesmo 1.

Heading onto Lap 2, Verstappen appeared to back off down the start/finish straight to let Norris through and avoid a possible penalty, which allowed Piastri to have a look at the Red Bull before getting caught in a Turn 1 bottleneck and being overtaken by Leclerc again.

Verstappen maintained his composure and quickly returned to the rear of Norris’ McLaren, enjoying a smooth exit out of the Parabolica, tucking into the slipstream for the start of Lap 4 and then smartly passing Norris around the outside of the first chicane.

As Verstappen set about consolidating P1, Leclerc and Piastri continued to battle it out for third place. “Leclerc is all over the place under braking; I had to avoid him,” reported Piastri after a couple of close calls, before finally reclaiming the spot into Turn 1 on Lap 6.

In fifth, Russell was doing well to maintain his starting position and keep Leclerc on his toes, while Hamilton had already charged his way from 10th to sixth, moving past Bortoleto, Alonso, Tsunoda and Antonelli, who had endured a difficult start.

Elsewhere, Ocon was given a five-second penalty for forcing Stroll off track in a wheel-to-wheel moment at the Roggia chicane. “There was no space,” Ocon argued in a message to the Haas pit wall, with his efforts to challenge for the points being dented.

After his decisive early-race pass, Verstappen lit up the timing screens to post fastest lap after fastest lap and build a comfortable advantage at the head of the pack – the gap between him and Norris reaching five seconds by Lap 18 (aided by the latter running wide at Lesmo 2).

Bearman was the first man to pit for fresh rubber on Lap 19, triggering a flurry of midfield stops over the next couple of tours, with drivers either moving from mediums to hards or hards to mediums, apart from Lawson on his alternate soft-to-hard approach.

One of the highlights of this sequence was a head-to-head fight between Bortoleto and his manager Alonso, after the Kick Sauber entered the pit lane just ahead of the Aston Martin but left it just behind, thanks to some slick work from the Silverstone-based team.

That hard work was undone just a few moments later, though, when Alonso’s car clattered the kerbs exiting the Ascari chicane and suffered an apparent suspension failure. “This is unbelievable,” lamented the two-time World Champion while he limped back to the pits.

As the race reached its halfway mark, Russell became the first of the front-runners to pit from fifth, releasing Hamilton, Antonelli, Albon and Sainz – the Williams duo making progress and swapping places following some back-and-forth over the radio.

McLaren, meanwhile, were thinking about the options and whether they could pounce on a potential Safety Car. Piastri was asked if he could go 15 laps longer than originally planned. “I think so, yes,” came his response. Norris was then asked about extending and fitting a soft tyre towards the end. “We might as well continue,” he said.

A few drivers had drawn the attention of the stewards at this point; Sainz for failing to follow the Race Director’s escape road instructions at the Roggia chicane; Antonelli due to repeated track limits violations; and Lawson and Tsunoda for some midfield wheel-banging.

On Lap 33, Verstappen found himself leading Norris by six seconds, with the same margin separating the two McLarens, before Leclerc added another front-running stop to the mix by pitting from fourth and seemingly protecting against an undercut from Russell.

Emerging from the pits a few seconds ahead of Russell, Leclerc was not so sure, commenting over the radio: “If we are not under threat, why did we stop now?” He nonetheless made good use of his fresh tyres and began to pump in some rapid lap times.

On Lap 37, race leader Verstappen decided that enough was enough and swapped his medium tyres for hards, releasing Norris and Piastri into the lead as McLaren bided their time – Norris repeating that he would be happy to go for softs to the finish.

As the papaya cars continued to circulate, there were more fireworks in the midfield when Bearman and Sainz collided at the Roggia chicane. “He just turned in in front of me like I wasn’t there,” reported the Haas rookie over the airwaves.

Then, on Lap 45, with just eight tours to go, McLaren finally decided to bring their cars in. Intriguingly, it was Piastri who stopped first. “As long as he doesn’t undercut,” said Norris. “There will be no undercut,” the Briton was promised.

However, after Piastri’s smooth switch to softs, it was not such a pleasant experience for Norris on Lap 46, with a sticky tyre costing him valuable time. As he rejoined the track, Piastri surged ahead and moved into second place, giving McLaren a late-race headache.

McLaren were quick to act and order a swap of positions – referencing last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, where Norris belatedly gave back the lead to Piastri after gaining it in the pit lane. In return, the two cars would be free to race to the finish.

After some questions over the radio, Piastri agreed and let Norris through, but while the “free to race” message duly followed, he did not have enough pace in hand to retaliate, confirming the top three positions as they were ahead of those pit stops.

While the F1 paddock digested Verstappen’s return to the top step and McLaren’s team orders, Leclerc crossed the line to take fourth for Ferrari, followed by Russell’s Mercedes and team mate Hamilton, who recovered well from his grid penalty.

Albon, Bortoleto, Antonelli and Hadjar completed the points, with Antonelli given a five-second penalty for driving erratically and forcing Albon onto the grass, as Sainz and Bearman just missed out on a reward in the wake of their coming together.

Tsunoda, Lawson, Ocon and the two Alpines were next up, with the late-stopping Stroll tumbling down the order, Alonso watching from the sidelines after his suspension trouble and Hulkenberg unable to even make the start due to his formation lap gremlins.

Key quote

“It was a great day for us,” said Verstappen. “Of course Lap 1 was a bit unlucky, but after that we were flying, and that was for me really enjoyable. We managed the pace quite well throughout that first stint, and I think we pitted at the right time, and with the hard tyres at the end you can push a bit more – they’re a bit more resilient. Fantastic execution by everyone from the whole team. I think the whole weekend we were on it and it’s super enjoyable to win here.”

What’s next

F1 will head from Monza to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix over the weekend of September 19-21. Head to the RACE HUB to find out how you can follow the action.