Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix after a thrilling battle with Lando Norris, who managed to overcome a McLaren error that left Oscar Piastri annoyed
Max Verstappen cruised to a commanding victory at the Italian Grand Prix, turning his pole position into a triumphant podium finish.
Meanwhile, over at McLaren, Oscar Piastri was left unhappy after an accidental undercut forced him to give up a position to team-mate Lando Norris, leading to an uncomfortable situation.
Verstappen lost control of the race following a clash with Norris at Turn One on the first lap. The pole-sitter nudged him onto the grass as they approached the corner, and then maintained the lead by hitting the rumble strips after the McLaren driver attempted an overtake from the inside.
Behind them, Piastri was pushed back to fourth place by Leclerc. The McLaren and Ferrari drivers swapped positions several times before the championship leader pulled away, leaving the defending race winner to battle it out with George Russell for fourth place.
From that point, Verstappen took control in the lead. The current world champion established a six-point lead over Norris, although he was lucky not to lose this when Fernando Alonso experienced a suspension failure in sector three.
Despite this, the Aston Martin driver managed to limp back to the pit lane.
With the top five cars spread out, McLaren had no choice but to extend their stint on medium tyres in an attempt to put pressure on Verstappen at the front of the pack.
McLaren eventually had to pit after running long in the hope of Verstappen’s dominance being disrupted. But it almost ended ugly as Piastri was told by the team to return second place to Norris after a pit stop mistake saw the Brit lose four seconds and track position.
Verstappen crossed the line with a 20 second gap to record the fastest F1 race in history.
Italian Grand Prix results
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
7. Alex Albon (Williams)
8. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
9. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
10. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
11. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
12. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
13. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
14. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
16. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
17. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
DNF – Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
DNF – Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
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