Hello, welcome to the wrap-up of stories from the Italian Grand Prix, a race where Max Verstappen reminded us why he is a four-time champion with a win from pole. But could there be friction between the two McLarens, and a positive weekend for Lewis Hamilton?
Weekend Recap
FP1 saw Lewis Hamilton lead a Ferrari one-two with a 20.177 on the soft tyre, going just over a tenth and a half faster than his teammate Charles Leclerc. Leclerc was just under four-tenths faster than his former teammate Carlos Sainz. Sainz was, however, over half a second off the outright pace set by Hamilton as he went four hundredths ahead of Max Verstappen.
FP2 saw Lando Norris top the times with a 19.878 just under eight and a half hundredths ahead of Leclerc. Leclerc was just under a tenth faster than his former teammate Carlos Sainz, who once again showed decent pace for Williams at Monza. Though on his first run on the soft tyres, the Monacan complained he had “no grip at all” left him in tenth.
FP3 was again topped by Norris with a 19.351 as he went two hundredths ahead of Charles Leclerc. Norris set his fastest time towards the end of the session to put himself fastest and split the McLarens after going a tenth and a half ahead of Oscar Piastri. Max Verstappen put his Red Bull fourth two thousandths behind Piastri.
Qualifying saw Verstappen beat Norris by just over three-quarters of a tenth to take pole. The Red Bull driver set an 18.792, a new track record which had moments earlier been set by Norris, to deny McLaren a front row lockout in one of the closest qualifying sessions of the season. Norris was over a tenth faster than his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and had taken provisional pole before being pushed into second during the final moments of Q3.
Verstappen went onto win the race, finishing nineteen seconds ahead of the two McLarens, as the Red Bull driver set a new record for the fastest full-distance Grand Prix in the sports history. The Dutchman converted pole at the start, though he was forced to give the place to Lando Norris after forcing him off through the first chicane.
Verstappen won the early duel on lap four despite McLaren’s dominance this season, which proved key in allowing him to take his fourth win of the season and his first since Imola in May. When Piastri had stopped with eight laps to go but when Norris came in a lap later, his stop was four seconds longer thanks to a faulty wheel gun. That put him behind Piastri, but the team ordered the championship leader to relinquish the position, arguing that it was “a bit like Hungary last year”.
That was a reference to Norris letting Piastri by to take his first win after team strategy reversed their positions for tactical reasons. Piastri said he disagreed but followed the order anyway.
McLaren
After topping second practice, Lando Norris said the field was “a bit close for my liking,” he topped the session by just under eight and a half hundredths ahead of Leclerc. He went into this weekend off the back of a retirement in Zandvoort, which allowed teammate Oscar Piastri to open a thirty-four point lead.
The Briton said, “I just need to make the gap a bit bigger to make things a bit more comfortable.”
Norris and Piastri were among several drivers to have moments as they tested the limits at the high-speed and historic Monza circuit. Norris had a big slide at the second chicane, known as Roggia, and Piastri had his own moment, running a little wide and kicking up the gravel at the second Lesmo.
He said, “This is the complete opposite downforce to Zandvoort. Zandvoort, we were easily quickest and it felt pretty amazing. Here is quite the opposite. Not a surprise, probably what we were expecting, but we don’t perform quite to the same level in these low-downforce conditions as when we are at high-downforce. The competitors catch up and it looks a bit close and makes our life a bit trickier. But we’re still in a reasonable place.”
Piastri was just under two tenths off Norris, despite setting his best time on his second lap on the soft tyres, when they would be past their best, after making a small error and running slightly wide on his first attempt.
Piastri said, “Today has been a good day. Not doing P1, I had a bit of catching up to do in P2. I feel like I hit the ground running. The car felt pretty good. I maybe got the set-up wrong on the softs and the second lap was pretty decent considering it was the second lap on the tyres.”
Looking at practice, I think that they were again looking to be a good all-arounder going into the remainder of this season, as it’s a very different circuit to Zandvoort and should help them in Baku next weekend. But Ferrari look to be their nearest challenger with Leclerc eight hundredths off in FP2.
Going into the race after being out-qualified by Verstappen by just over three-quarters of a tenth, Norris believed it would be a “big challenge” to pass the four-time champion. Although McLaren has had an impressive showing so far this season, winning twelve half grands prix scheduled this season, Norris was not surprised by Verstappen’s pace.
He said, “No, no, no. Max has been quicker this weekend, and it’s never a surprise with Max. It was quite a session for me, just up and down and too many mistakes here and there, but to pull it all together on the last lap was… I was pretty happy. I’m happy with P2.”
Norris added: “I always give my result depending on how I drove today. So I feel like I didn’t do the best of jobs, but to end up P2, I was so happy with. So let’s say good things and bad things. P2 is still not a bad position to be off the line. And I mean, I want to be ahead of everyone, that includes my championship contenders and Oscar. It’s a good position for tomorrow, and I’m excited for the race.”
I think Norris is right when Red Bull has had the car in Suzuka and Imola, McLaren has had to fight hard for the wins, Verstappen we know, is making the difference for Red Bull. But we know McLaren’s strength has been in the race and we saw that in the long runs on Friday, however, Red Bull and Ferrari were looking closer on race runs in FP2.
One of the big talking points from this race will be McLaren decision to swap Norris and Piastri in the closing stages, which team principal Andrea Stella says was a matter of “fairness” and “consistency of principles”.
The whole situation had been created after Norris suffered a slow stop which saw him drop behind Piastri. Though Stella says the decision were within the ‘paypa rules’ designed to give both drivers a fair chance of fighting for the championship. He added that the decision to pit Piastri first was done with the intent of preserving position, and that pursuing this with the switchback was in “the team interest”.
Stella explained, “I think that the pitstop situation is not only a matter of fairness, it’s a matter of consistency with our principles. Wherever the championship goes, what’s important is that the championship runs within the principles and the racing values that we have at McLaren and that we have created together with our drivers.”
“The situation whereby we swap the drivers is not only related to the pitstop, and it is useful that I clarify this, it’s also related to the fact that we wanted to sequence the pitstop of the two cars by stopping Oscar first and then Lando. So we pursued the team interest, and to capitalise as much as possible on this interest, we needed to go first with Oscar, then with Lando, but the clear intent was this is not going to deliver a swap of positions.”
I have enjoyed how the team has been open throughout this season and have adapted the rules, explaining why decisions have been made in certain ways. But Stella pointed out it didn’t mean they would change.
Ferrari
Lewis Hamilton returns to Italy for his first race at Monza as a Ferrari driver following a mixed season. Though the seven-time champion is tied on five wins with Michael Schumacher, the temple of speed has brought mixed fortunes for him in 2019, but this is also where he has regularly retired
Following last weekend’s race he said, “There’s obviously a huge amount of pressure on us as a team. More so for me now because I haven’t had a good season. Next week we’ll just try to absorb all the energy from the fans.”
This won’t be Hamilton’s first grand prix in Italy as a Ferrari driver, as the Imola round took place in back in May; he finished fourth at the time. However, Leclerc was keen to point out his new teammate was still going to be “shocked” by the Monza atmosphere.
Still waiting for his first Ferrari Grand Prix podium after fifteen races in motorsport’s most famous red, Hamilton admitted his first year at Maranello had been an “emotional rollercoaster” and proved more “volatile in terms of the feeling” than he envisaged.
Hamilton had one of his strongest qualifying’s of the season going fifth fastest in Q3 just under two hundredths behind his teammate Charles Leclerc, though his five-place grid penalty dropped him to tenth. However the team appeared to miss an opportunity as Leclerc put himself on the second row beside Oscar Piastri, who qualified third.
Instead of asking his seven-time champion teammate to provide the Monegasque with a tow to potentially boost him up the grid, the team decided against it, letting the drivers fight for themselves.
Asked whether it should have been a conversation point, Hamilton rejected the idea. Saying, “Do I feel that they should have? No, it’s not something I ever did in any of my other teams, and I’m sacrificing one of the drivers, and I’ve already got a five-place penalty, so points-wise I needed to be as high as I could.”
Reflecting on the weekend, he added, “I think the progress from last weekend and then carried that through this week. So I’ve been relatively happy with the car, the progress from P1, the car felt great. I think that’s where it felt the best and then we went into P2, we made changes into qualifying, and I think it was the most we could get from it. We’ve got a good top speed, so I’m hoping that I can try to make up some ground.”
After finishing sixth, Hamilton believed he could have finished ahead of Russell. Fifth was a decent result for the Englishman in the race given he had a five-place grid penalty from last weekend.
Hamilton started tenth and had to make his way past the Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda on the opening lap, followed by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin and Gabriel Bortoleto’s Sauber to reach sixth place behind Mercedes’ George Russell on the seventh lap. Russell was where he became effectively stuck, as Ferrari didn’t get the undercut and lost time behind Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll, as they extended their stints.
He said after the race, “I think overall our performance was fairly decent. We obviously don’t have the pace of the cars much further ahead, so competing for the top three is off the cards for a while, but we keep pushing and trying to extract more. This weekend built a lot on my confidence with the car, [but] definitely I’m still not 100% comfortable in the car.”
I think that was a decent result and one of the best results we have seen from Hamilton this season, but I still think it would have been difficult to fight for victory with Verstappen and the McLaren’s. I hope what we see the team continue on this upwards trend we have seen in the last two weeks.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen has declared that the battle with sister team Racing Bulls “shouldn’t be happening.” Last weekend, the Dutchman spent much of the race fighting for third with Isack Hadjar, though Lando Norris’s late retirement meant both drivers finished on the podium.
Despite finishing the race on soft tyres when the McLarens ran on hard rubber, Verstappen’s fastest lap was six and a half tenth slower than race winner Oscar Piastri’s. “McLaren is on another level. I don’t even compare myself with that.”
Verstappen told Viaplay, “Of course, happy to be on the podium, but in terms of speed, it wasn’t good. I think it was purely down to qualifying that I was third in the race, because in terms of speed it really wasn’t there.”
Despite finishing the race on soft tyres when the McLarens ran on hard rubber, Verstappen’s fastest lap was six and a half tenths slower than race winner Oscar Piastri’s. “McLaren is on another level, I don’t even compare myself with that,?”
Following practice advisor Helmut Marko believed that the team was in contention for victory, that was despite the circuit appearing not looking favourble on paper. Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda took sixth and ninth with respective two-tenth and four-tenth deficits to FP2 pacesetter Lando Norris.
Marko hailed “an incredible increase compared to last year,” Verstappen and Perez were nine tenths off in the same session, and added: “We hope to fight with some others for the win.”
However he did add the caveat that being in the fight depended whether McLaren made a significant step and show up with something extra in qualifying. He also believed that Ferrari were doing glory runs on Friday and Williams was lacking consistency, with ‘up-and-down’ long runs.
Marko admitted that despite Verstappen’s “very impressive” long run, Red Bull had “still a lot to do” regarding qualifying pace, but said the team was “very, very satisfied”, particularly in terms of tyre wear.
“We only need more traction on the soft tyre, but that I think we can achieve without changing the wing position,” Marko explained.
Key to the team’s progress was learning the lessons from its 2024 struggle at the Italian track in terms of set-up – “we have a different philosophy now” – and widening the operating window of the RB21. “Yuki, when the car is more predictable, is quite close to Max,” Marko pointed out.
Mercedes
Kimi Antoneli says his repeat of his spin from FP1 last year early on during FP2, was because he simply “pushed a bit too hard.” The Italian spun out early on in the early evening session when he lost control of his car at the Second Lesmo becoming beached in the gravel.
Talking through the moment, which followed a similar off during FP1 at Zandvoort last time out, Antonelli said: “I mean, I just pushed a bit too hard for the grip in the moment. It was a shame. The day was looking good; I had a good FP1 and then the start of FP2 was looking strong.
“My confidence is still high, just obviously tomorrow I will have to do a bit of a different programme [in FP3]. We’ll try to be ready for anything. I felt pretty confident [before that]. We were moving in the right direction with the set-up. Obviously it’s a shame to miss laps, but on my side I’ll try to get ready and to deliver the best job tomorrow.”
Looking ahead to qualifying, he expected it to be close with four tenths covering the top ten, but says he was hoping the “amazing” home atmosphere could spur him on to a strong result in what looks set to be another ultra-close session.
Alpine
Pierre Gasly has signed a contract extension with Alpine until the end of 2028. The Frenchman joined the Renault-owned team at the start of 2023 so far he has scored two podiums for the team.
Despite the uncertainty around the second seat this season the announcement signals faith in Gasly from executive director and acting team principal Flavio Briatore, who was not at the team when the driver initially joined.
Briatore said: “Since I returned to the team, I have always stated how important it is to build and grow the competitiveness of the Alpine F1 team. We’re well prepared for the new era of F1, beginning in 2026, and now we have our lead driver confirmed to bring us well into the future.”
“Pierre has been an immense asset for the team during this challenging period. I have been very impressed with his attitude, dedication and talent and we look forward to continuing this project together for a long time.”
Gasly said: “I’m thrilled to commit my long-term future to Alpine. As a Frenchman, especially, driving for a French car company, makes me feel very proud. Since I joined in 2023, I have always felt that this team is the right place to be for the future.”
Gasly joined Alpine from Red Bull’s second team, then called Alpha Tauri, for who he won the Italian Grand Prix in 2020. But the team have not decided on who will be his teammate having replaced Jack Doohan from Imola onwards with franco Colapinto.
Haas
Oliver Bearman is in danger of a race ban after he picked up two more penalty points for colliding into Carlos Sainz at the Italian Grand Prix. Bearman and Sainz were fighting for fourteenth but made contact at the second chicane, with both drivers going into a spin and managing to carry on.
The Haas driver was deemed at fault and given a ten-second time penalty which made no difference to his finishing position of twelfth, but has been handed two penalty points on his super licence which puts him on ten, If a driver reaches twelfth points over a year period, they are banned for the following race. Points will not drop off Bearman’s super licence until 4th November.
The stewards decided “(Sainz) attempted to overtake (Bearman) on the outside into Turn Four and had its front axle ahead of the front axle of (Bearman) at the apex, thereby earning the right to the racing line.”
“The driver of (Bearman) defended his position on the inside instead of giving up the position and caused the collision. The Stewards determine that the driver of (Bearman) is predominantly at fault and therefore the standard penalty for such incidents is applied.”
Racing Bulls
Isack Hadjar says it would be “easier” to step up to Red Bull’s senior team for the start of F1’s rules revolution in 2026 than has been the case, as speculation intensifies that he is in line for promotion next season.
The Frenchman’s solid rookie season took another solid step five days ago in Zandvoort, where he took his first podium. That made him the fourth driver in Racing Bulls various names over the last two decades to stand on the podium.
With Yuki Tsunoda, who finished ninth at Zandvoort, continuing to face an uncertain future as Max Verstappen’s teammate, Hadjar is clearly the alternative candidate were Red Bull to make a change ahead of the 2026 season.
Hadjar told reporters at Monza, “At the start of the year, you were asking me if I was feeling ready to jump in the Red Bull this year, and the answer is still ‘no’. I don’t see the point of doing that right now.”
“But ’26 is a different question because it’s a brand-new start for the team, there won’t be this talk of a ‘second car thing’. This won’t be a thing because it’s a brand-new car for everyone. You actually will be in a phase where you need to direct the car into the right direction, so I think this is actually interesting.”
Hadjar believes that moving to the senior team would be “way easier” to manage because of the reset in the regulations and it will be a new car for everyone
Williams
Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were encouraged following Friday practices believing the team “were in a good place.” In both sessions Sainz was third with Albon seventh best of the rest behind the McLaren’s, Ferrari’s and Max Verstappen.
In FP2 Sainz was less than one-tenth slower than Lando Norris, the Spaniard’s best lap had come at the second time of asking on the soft tyre. Sainz told reporters, “The pace is there, we were quick. On long runs, short runs, the balance felt in a decent window but there’s a couple of corners and the soft tyre that we need to sort out.”
“We manage to sort this out and I can get myself a bit more comfortable in the car then hopefully there’s even more to come. Promising pace as I said, now I just need to make sure I feel more comfortable on the first lap on softs when you put the first lap on the tyre and also a bit in a couple of corners where I’m still lacking a bit. But all in all, with all those things, good pace.”
Albon also believed that consistency and not speed will be Williams’ biggest challenge this weekend if the team is to collect a big haul of points. But believed they had a lot of work to do to find the sweet spot and getting the tyres in the right window would be tricky.
In qualifying both Sainz and Albon struggled to convert the strong practice form into a Q3 appearance qualifying thirteenth and fourteenth respectively. Both were encouraged on Friday however the downward trend began in FP3 which was less successful for the team, but qualifying was a struggle for both drivers as they failed to progress to Q3.
Albon explained, “I think the car is still quick. The same car in qualifying, the same car we had in FP2 and FP1. It’s tyres. It’s been tyres all year and it’s tyres again today. I think this time we just, you know, most tracks there’s maybe one of us that can get it just in the window. This weekend I think we’ve tried absolutely everything in terms of out-laps, prep laps and can never get it to work.”
The Thai-British driver continued, explaining how the difference in formats between practice sessions and qualifying is affecting tyre preparation due to the drivers not being able to get their tyres into their window of operation.
“What you see in free practice is you see us do push laps, try to get on the first lap, it’s never ready on the first lap. You do two cool-down laps, you go again, the tyre gets hotter, it starts to work a bit more, it feels good. In qualifying, you have the minimum delta times you have to respect. You’re basically forced into making it the first lap and we can’t seem to get that tyre to bite.”
The tyres can be sensitive we know that and teams can sometime struggle to get the most out of the car, Monza we know in my view is where you can be more exposed in terms of weakness as speed is so important here.
The drivers were wary of these issues going into the weekend, with Albon admitting to the media that Williams “need to be, in many ways, even more on it than other teams when it comes to our garage pitlane exits, our out-laps, some of these kind of things.”
Results Summary
Pole Position |
Max Verstappen Red Bull – Honda RBPT 01:18.792 |
|||||
Podium |
||||||
Po |
Name |
Nat |
Team |
Time |
Points |
|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull – Honda RBPT | 01:13:24.325 | 25 | |
| 2 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren – Mercedes | +00:19.207 | 18 | |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | AUS | McLaren – Mercedes | +00:21.351 | 15 | |
| Fastest
Lap |
Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren – Mercedes | 01:20.901 | ||
Championship Standings
Drivers’ Championship |
Constructors Championship |
|||
Po |
Name |
Points |
Constructor |
Points |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | 324 | McLaren – Mercedes | 617 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | 293 | Ferrari | 280 |
| 3 | Max Verstappen | 230 | Mercedes | 260 |
| 4 | George Russell | 194 | Red Bull – Honda RBPT | 239 |
| 5 | Charles Leclerc | 163 | Williams – Mercedes | 86 |
