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Autosport
Autosport

F1 Italian GP: Verstappen romps to victory, Norris second after McLaren swaps positions

Max Verstappen produced a vintage display of dominance at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix with a commanding win over Lando Norris, who was at the centre of a McLaren team orders kerfuffle following a slow pitstop.

Norris, who had given up his place in the McLaren pitstop queue to team-mate Oscar Piastri after the two went long into the race on medium tyres, and he then suffered with a slow stop - prompting McLaren to restore the previous order when Piastri slinked past into second.

For a time, Norris had led the race after fighting with polesitter Verstappen off the line. Verstappen had been asked to give up the lead to Norris as the McLaren driver felt he was ushered towards grass into Turn 1, but ultimately held the inside line. As Verstappen preserved the lead by skipping across the first chicane, he duly ceded control to Norris at the start of the next lap.

However, Verstappen remained within DRS range of Norris, and got a run at the start of lap four to return the favour into the opening corner. From there, Norris very quickly fell out of the one-second buffer as Verstappen began to put together a series of quick laps to build a break over the field.

The Dutchman continued to stretch the gap over Norris over the subsequent 30 laps, cultivating a six-second lead and maintaining the bulk of that as Norris tried to find a way back into the mix.

Verstappen made his sole stop at the end of the 37th lap to trade his aged mediums for a set of hards, while McLaren attempted to go longer in an effort to goal-hang for a safety car and take softs late on.

Lando Norris, McLaren, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Mark Thompson - Getty Images)

However, this plan did not appear to be forthcoming; Norris offered team-mate Piastri the chance to stop first for softs on lap 45, which proved to be an awkward call as the Briton then endured a slow stop on lap 46.

McLaren then elected to reverse the positions, noting last year's Budapest race in its message to Piastri, who offered some resistance but duly obliged in letting Norris pass.

The decision to go long helped Verstappen extend his net lead, as he was given full licence to crack open his advantage on the hard tyres, ending with a 19.2s advantage over Norris.

With Norris ahead of Piastri, McLaren drivers flanked Verstappen on the podium after their switch of position, ahead of Charles Leclerc, who had successfully converted his fourth-placed grid position.

Leclerc had got past Piastri at the start of the race, although had been dispatched again by the Australian on that opening lap as he streaked back past at the first Lesmo. The Monegasque got back past on the following tour, forcing Piastri to take a more patient approach - and he duly repassed Leclerc on the sixth lap.

George Russell was fifth over Lewis Hamilton, who recovered to sixth after dealing with a five-place grid penalty for a yellow flag infringement last week at Zandvoort.

Alex Albon went long and claimed seventh, as Gabriel Bortoleto was bumped up to eighth as Andrea Kimi Antonelli was given a five-second penalty for driving erratically. Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 over Carlos Sainz, who suffered a Turn 4 prang with Ollie Bearman to prompt a collision - both drivers quickly got going again.

F1 Italian GP results

   
1
 - 
5
   
   
1
 - 
2
   
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval km/h Pits Points Retirement Chassis Engine
1 Netherlands M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1 53

-

    1 25   Red Bull Red Bull
2 United Kingdom L. Norris McLaren 4 53

+19.207

19.207

19.207   1 18   McLaren Mercedes
3 Australia O. Piastri McLaren 81 53

+21.351

21.351

2.144   1 15   McLaren Mercedes
4 Monaco C. Leclerc Ferrari 16 53

+25.624

25.624

4.273   1 12   Ferrari Ferrari
5 United Kingdom G. Russell Mercedes 63 53

+32.881

32.881

7.257   1 10   Mercedes Mercedes
6 United Kingdom L. Hamilton Ferrari 44 53

+37.449

37.449

4.568   1 8   Ferrari Ferrari
7 Thailand A. Albon Williams 23 53

+50.537

50.537

13.088   1 6   Williams Mercedes
8 Brazil G. Bortoleto Sauber 5 53

+58.484

58.484

7.947   1 4   Sauber Ferrari
9 Italy A. Antonelli Mercedes 12 53

+59.762

59.762

1.278   1 2   Mercedes Mercedes
10 France I. Hadjar RB 6 53

+1'03.891

1'03.891

4.129   1 1   RB Honda
11 Spain C. Sainz Williams 55 53

+1'04.469

1'04.469

0.578   1     Williams Mercedes
12 United Kingdom O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87 53

+1'19.288

1'19.288

14.819   1     Haas Ferrari
13 Japan Y. Tsunoda Red Bull Racing 22 53

+1'20.701

1'20.701

1.413   1     Red Bull Red Bull
14 New Zealand L. Lawson RB 30 53

+1'22.351

1'22.351

1.650   1     RB Honda
15 France E. Ocon Haas F1 Team 31 52

1 lap

    1     Haas Ferrari
16 France P. Gasly Alpine 10 52

1 lap

    1     Alpine Renault
17 Argentina F. Colapinto Alpine 43 52

1 lap

    1     Alpine Renault
18 Canada L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18 52

1 lap

    1     Aston Martin Mercedes
dnf Spain F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14 24

 

    2   Suspension Aston Martin Mercedes
dnf Germany N. Hulkenberg Sauber 27 0

 

        Retirement Sauber Ferrari
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