Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix, with a dominant run at Monza for Red Bull. Having fought a frenetic scrap on the opening laps, during which he lost and regained the lead, the Dutchman went on to pound out a lead and control it to the flag.
Verstappen beat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri into second and third in a race defined by McLaren once again imposing team orders on their drivers in the closing stages which proved controversial.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth for Ferrari, with Lewis Hamilton putting in a credible run at his debut in Monza for the Scuderia, moving from 10th to sixth, and George Russell taking fifth for Mercedes.
For Norris, who had taken the lead from Verstappen on the second lap but could not hold off the world champion when the Dutchman piled on the pressure, the Briton’s most vital task of beating his team-mate Piastri was the least he required.
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Having dropped to 34 points behind the Australian after being forced to retire in Zandvoort, Norris has now reduced the deficit to 31, with eight races remaining. However, it came only after he had ceded a place to Piastri through a slow pit stop which the championship leader was instructed to give back. If the title is decided by fewer than three points, it may prove to be a moment the Australian will regret.
The victory is a huge spur for Verstappen, his first since Imola in May and only his third this season, demonstrating a feisty refusal to be cowed by both driver and team, as Red Bull have very much been on the back foot against McLaren this season.
It is also the first GP victory for the new principal Laurent Mekies as the team enter a new era in the wake of the dismissal of Christian Horner. Mekies could not have hoped for a better outcome than a win against the odds after just four races in charge.
What was a somewhat processional affair, once Verstappen had the lead and exhibited complete control, was given a dramatic edge as the two title protagonists once more played the team game on track.
The opening was frenetic as Norris made a quick start and was squeezed wide on to the grass by Verstappen as he looked to go up the inside of turn one, where he had his nose in front and Verstappen had to cut the corner to maintain his lead.
Verstappen was duly told to give the place back and did so at the start of the second lap, allowing Norris through which bunched up Piastri and Leclerc behind him, from which the Monegasque driver pounced to position himself in third place. Glorious stuff indeed and Verstappen was also far from out of it, as he was all over Norris. By the opening of lap four he too threw himself at the McLaren into turn one and edged past to retake the lead.
Leclerc held on bravely but with the McLaren quicker, Piastri too reclaimed third, outside turn one, on lap six.
Hamilton was also on a charge, moving from 10th to sixth by lap seven, each pass greeted with a roar from the crowd, at which point the leaders at least had settled somewhat, the gaps just over the two-second mark.
Verstappen swiftly found his groove delivering a series of fastest laps to put almost four seconds on Norris by lap 13 and the order was very much established as neither McLaren could make a dent in Verstappen’s lead, which by the halfway point was over six seconds.
With the race a one-stopper, McLaren opted to keep Norris and Piastri out longer to see if they could gain a free stop under the safety car and finish the race on the quicker, soft tyres.
There was, however, no safety car intervention and although Piastri narrowed the gap to his team-mate Norris remained with a sufficient advantage as McLaren pitted Piastri on lap 45. He took a clean stop for the soft tyres and Norris followed him in a lap later but the stop was slow and Norris emerged behind Piastri. He had a problem with securing the front-left wheel and it was hugely costly.
Verstappen was long gone, 18 seconds clear, but McLaren issued team orders to Piastri to give the place back to Norris because he had gained by stopping first, a decision they had taken to cover off Leclerc. The team told their driver that it was similar to the scenario in Hungary last year when Norris gave Piastri back the lead after he had gained it through stopping first from behind his team-mate.
Piastri remarkably and magnanimously took the decision on the chin, albeit while pointedly noting: “I mean, we said a slow pit stop was part of racing, I don’t get it.” Before he gave Norris the place back with four laps to go. “I think we did the right thing,” Piastri’s engineer Tom Stallard told him.
It was the final act of the race then, as Verstappen swept to victory but there will doubtless be a long debate in the McLaren motorhome as the sun sets in Monza on Sunday night. – Guardian
