Red Bull’s Max Verstappen wins Formula One Italian Grand Prix from pole ahead of McLaren duo

MONZA – Max Verstappen slowed McLaren’s Formula One dominance on Sept 7 with a phenomenal display of driving on his way to victory at the Italian Grand Prix, the fastest-ever race in the sport’s history.

The race duration was officially timed at 1hr 13min 24.325sec, and an average speed of 250.706kmh around the “Temple of Speed”.

Starting from pole, the reigning world champion completed a magical weekend at Monza, which included the fastest lap ever in F1 in qualifying on Sept 6, by schooling McLaren pair Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at Monza.

The Dutchman has little chance of securing a fifth straight drivers’ title, as his tally of 230 points still trails championship leader Piastri by 94 points with the Australian finishing third.

“It was really enjoyable,” said Verstappen. “I think we pitted at the right time and with the hard tyres at the end, you can push a bit more... It was a fantastic execution by everyone.

“I think the whole weekend we were all in. It was super enjoyable to win here.”

Piastri leads the drivers’ standings by 31 points from Norris, who finished second and would have ended third behind his teammate due to an awful pit stop, had McLaren not enforced a position swop between the pair.

“I always know it’s going to be a good fight with Max and it was,” said Norris.

“But just not the speed today, not the pace of Max and the Red Bull. But it was still fun, still a good race.”

Charles Leclerc, the winner in 2024 and the last driver to win at Monza from pole position back in 2019, could not take a podium spot for the massed ranks of Ferrari fans in the stands, the Monegasque finishing fourth.

Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton gave it his best shot after a five-place grid penalty had him bumped back to 10th at the start, charging up to sixth thanks to some spectacular driving early in the race.

But the seven-time F1 champion could not push past his former Mercedes teammate George Russell and was left with another underwhelming result in his first Monza GP with Ferrari.

Verstappen’s victory, which hinged on a bold overtaking move against Norris on lap 4, was just the third of a season dominated by the McLaren cars which have blown away the competition by winning all but four races.

But a second win in Italy in 2025, after triumphing in the last Emilia-Romagna GP back in May, caps a historic weekend for the 27-year-old.

Verstappen was forced to allow Norris into first place after a frantic start in which he appeared to forced his British rival off the track.

That move caused Norris to call Verstappen an “idiot” over the team radio, but he was soon back behind the Dutchman, who took control of the race by passing the Briton with a daring move at the chicane on lap 4.

From there Verstappen sped off into the distance, developing a gap of around six seconds over Norris by the time he pitted to switch from medium to hard tyres on lap 38.

Verstappen lost only two places in the pits and soon closed the gap again on the two McLarens who left it very late to pit, with Norris not heading into the box until lap 47 of the 53-lap race.

That slow pit stop left Norris third, bringing back memories of the mechanical failure at the previous weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, which cost him 18 points in his title battle with Piastri.

But with the race effectively won by Verstappen, at that point McLaren ordered Piastri to let Norris pass so that another case of bad luck did not cost him.

It was a gesture which caused Verstappen to chuckle on the Red Bull team radio as he was left to cruise around the track on his way to a hugely impressive victory.

Verstappen chipped in over the car radio when told about the swop by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase: “Ha! Just because he had a slow stop?” said the Dutch driver with affected incredulity.
AFP, REUTERS