Red Bull's Dutch world champion Max Verstappen overcame the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to claim only his third victory of the season, dominating the Italian Grand Prix, the sixteenth round of the Formula One World Championship, on Sunday at the Monterrey Circuit.
The four-time world champion started the pole position he secured on Saturday with the fastest time ever in the championship's history and held it from start to finish, except for a brief period when he was asked to let Norris pass him due to the Dutchman going off the track. However, he quickly regained the lead on his way to his 66th career victory.
Verstappen finished the race nearly 20 seconds ahead of the McLaren duo, while the Ferrari drivers of Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Lewis Hamilton of Britain finished fourth and sixth in front of the Scuderia crowd, with fellow British Mercedes driver George Russell in between.
Verstappen thus returned to the top of the podium for the first time since Round 7, when he also won the Italian Grand Prix at Imola. However, this victory had little impact on the overall standings, which Piastri leads with 324 points, ahead of teammate Norris (293) and the Red Bull driver (230).
The Dutchman said immediately after the race, "The car was really fun to drive, and I was able to control my speed, and we pitted at the right time... It was a great performance from everyone. I think we were all excited throughout the weekend. It was a lot of fun to win here."
In the constructors' category, it will be almost impossible to deny McLaren a second consecutive title. The British team strengthened its lead, increasing its tally from 584 points to 617 with second and third place finishes, far ahead of Ferrari (280), Mercedes (260), and Red Bull (239).
- A tough start, but... -
Verstappen maintained his pole position at the start, but pushed Norris off the track and then stayed ahead of him after he went off the track, forcing him to make way for the Briton to overtake him to avoid a penalty. Leclerc, meanwhile, managed to pass Piastri.
However, the Dutchman reclaimed the lead on lap four after passing Norris, and Piastri followed suit on lap six, passing Leclerc after a fierce battle between the two drivers.
Verstappen had cleared the two-second gap over Norris by the eighth of the 53 laps of the race, while Leclerc battled Russell for third place after the Mercedes driver had closed his gap to less than half a second on the Monegasque by lap ten.
But the Ferrari driver held firm against the Briton, while Verstappen flew into the lead and extended his lead over Norris to more than four seconds by lap fifteen.
The positions remained unchanged for the leading drivers, with Verstappen ahead of Norris, Piastri, Leclerc, Russell, and the second Ferrari driver, Hamilton, who finished fifth in qualifying but was dropped five places due to a grid penalty he received in the previous race at Zandvoort.
Russell was the first of the leading drivers to change their tires on lap 28, while Verstappen remained on the track despite the obvious wear on his front tires, as did his pursuers Norris and Piastri. Leclerc pitted on lap 34 and swapped from the medium to the hard tires.
Verstappen pitted on lap 38, using the hard tire, just like Hamilton, who had stopped on lap 39. The McLaren duo remained on the track in the first two positions provisionally, with the clear intention of switching to the soft tire to try to overtake Verstappen at the end of the race.
Piastri loses second place by team decision
However, they paid the price for their late entry, as Verstappen was much faster than them, allowing him to maintain a comfortable lead after Piastri made his pit stop first on lap 46, followed by Norris on the following lap.
However, due to his late pit stop, Norris lost second place to his teammate, Piastri, who was nearly 18 seconds behind Verstappen with five laps remaining.
In a surprising decision, McLaren asked Piastri to allow Norris to pass him, and he did so on lap 49. However, he was later granted permission to challenge his teammate again, as the latter had lost second place due to a technical error, not a track error.
In the end, Verstappen crossed the finish line 19.207 seconds ahead of Norris and 21.351 seconds ahead of Piastri, who was unable to reclaim second place after losing it by team decision.
Commenting on the race, Norris said, "I knew it would be a tough battle with Max, and it was," adding, "But today we weren't as fast or as strong as Max and the Red Bull. Still, it was a fun and good race."
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