Verstappen dominates Italian GP as McLaren deny Piastri P2

The Dutchman’s first victory since Imola ended McLaren’s stranglehold at the front and kept his title defence alive by the slimmest of margins. In the process,

Verstappen also set a new benchmark for the fastest F1 race in history, completed in just under 73 minutes.

Yet much of the post-race debate centred on McLaren’s intra-team drama, with Norris reclaiming second place from Piastri after team intervention.

Norris had held P2 for most of the race, until a slow pit stop allowed Piastri to leapfrog his teammate.

McLaren then gave Norris the option to pit first for a late switch to softs, but the Briton declined, leaving Piastri to stop first.

A slick two-second service vaulted the Australian ahead when Norris lost four seconds in his stop the following lap with a front tyre issue.

Just one lap later, McLaren ordered Piastri to hand the place back, referencing a similar call that swung last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix in Norris’ favour.

Piastri reluctantly obliged, and though told he was free to race his teammate to the flag, he could not recover the position and crossed the line third.

The call by McLaren even left race-winner Verstappen surprised. Upon hearing that Piastri had been ordered to let Norris through, he quipped over team radio: “Ha! Just because he had a slow stop?”

The result trimmed Piastri’s championship deficit to 31 points.

Speaking afterwards, Piastri said little about the incident, referring to it as simply a “little incident” when asked about it.

The 24-year-old added that there was plenty to learn heading into the next race in Azerbaijan.

”We would of loved the performance to be a bit better,” he said. “There’s a lot of things to learn from this weekend.”

Norris, who appeared to receive boos on the podium, also avoided comment on the team order, instead turning praise toward Verstappen.

“I did everything I could today,” he said. “I couldn’t do a lot more.

“We had a good race, he [Verstappen] came out on top and he deserved it.”

Verstappen, meanwhile, was delighted to return to the top step after nine races away.

“It was a great day for us,” he said. “Lap one was a bit unlucky, but after that we were flying.

“The car was enjoyable. I could manage the pace real well.

“We pitted at the right time…just a fantastic execution by the whole team. The whole weekend we were on it.”

“This was an unbelievable weekend.”

Verstappen had lost the lead from pole at the start of the race, running straight on at the first corner in a tight scrap with Norris.

He was told by Red Bull to give the position back later in the lap, but the swap proved short-lived, with the Dutchman reclaiming first place three laps later.

From there he only surrendered the lead during pit stops, cruising to his 66th career victory.

Behind the podium finishers, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and sixth respectively, split by Mercedes’ George Russell, giving the home crowd something to cheer.

Leclerc engaged in a fierce early battle with Piastri, briefly getting ahead into the first chicane. But Piastri responded with a stunning move around the outside at Lesmo 1 to retake the place.

Leclerc struck back again a lap later, only for Piastri to dive back through into Turn 1 on lap six and pull clear.

Hamilton meanwhile delivered a strong drive from tenth on the grid to finish sixth, his best result since the British Grand Prix.

Alex Albon secured back-to-back points finishes for Williams in seventh, while Gabriel Bortoleto converted his strong qualifying pace into eighth.

His Sauber teammate Nico Hulkenberg, however, failed to even start the race — called in to retire on the formation lap with his first DNF of 2025.

He was joined on the sidelines by Fernando Alonso, who retired with a suspension failure on lap 25. They were the only two retirements.

Kimi Antonelli crossed the line eighth but was demoted to ninth after a five-second penalty for erratic driving in an incident with Albon, finishing just ahead of the impressive Isack Hadjar, who charged from the back of the grid to snatch the final point.

Hadjar’s teammate Liam Lawson endured a tougher afternoon, locked in battle with Yuki Tsunoda for much of the race.

The pair even collided at one stage, leaving Tsunoda furious, and Lawson eventually finished 14th — one spot behind the Red Bull driver.

Carlos Sainz and Ollie Bearman also clashed late on, colliding into the second chicane and both spinning off before rejoining.

Bearman was deemed at fault and given a 10-second penalty, with the pair finishing just outside the points in 11th and 12th.

Esteban Ocon was another driver penalised, receiving five seconds for forcing Lance Stroll off track at the same corner in the early stages.

With McLaren’s team orders once again the flashpoint, focus now shifts to Baku in two weeks’ time, where the championship battle resumes.