Mighty McLaren was no match for Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver delivered a dominant performance, one of vintage Verstappen quality, to win Sunday at the iconic Monza circuit. That was simply lovely, wasn’t it?
The papaya pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri settled for second and third, respectively.
Verstappen was practically perfect this weekend, and he needed to be to upend McLaren. Norris set the fastest lap time ever in Formula 1 history during qualifying until Verstappen turned in one better to pip his off-track padel partner for pole position.
Verstappen’s only hiccup came right after the start when he cut the corner to maintain the lead at Variante del Rettifilo (when in Rome Monza, you can’t just call it Turn 1 or Turn 2).
Verstappen conceded the lead to Norris upon request from his team, as it’s likely race officials would have reached the same conclusion (or worse) after reviewing the incident.
It was a smart decision, too, allowing Verstappen to get back to business quicker, as he did on Lap 4 to slingshot past Norris and into the lead again.
From there, it wasn’t long before Verstappen disappeared in the distance.
Rather than pit midway and switch from medium to hard tires, McLaren opted to hold out for a potential safety car (that never came) and change to softs during the closing laps of the race. It just didn’t work out. Verstappen’s lead was insurmountable, as he crossed the finish line 19.207 seconds ahead of Norris.
It was the third win of the season for Verstappen and the third win of his career at Monza. Verstappen also became the first to win at the track from pole position since Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in 2019.
After Verstappen quashed a move to Mercedes earlier in the summer, a future at Ferrari is now making the rumour mill. The siren’s call is loud and lucrative, but Sunday should serve as a reminder that Red Bull is where Verstappen belongs and where he has the best chance at winning again. Besides, Verstappen just has to look at former world champions Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and now Lewis Hamilton to see what that future would be like at Ferrari.
Papaya’s rules
McLaren created its own controversy (again) as the team called Piastri into the pits before Norris to cover off the threat from Leclerc in fourth. A delay with the front left tire held up Norris in the box, allowing Piastri to pass his teammate on Lap 48. Oops.
Flashback to Hungary last year, where the roles were reversed as Norris took the lead from Piastri. McLaren had to beg Norris to swap positions back, allowing Piastri to earn his maiden GP victory in Formula 1.
There were no issues this time. Piastri might not have agreed with it, but he handed the place back on the following lap and was then free to race his teammate.
Although Verstappen had a laugh about it on his team radio — “Ha! Just because he had a slow stop?” — considering the gaffe wasn’t Norris’s fault and was the team’s mistake, swapping positions was for the best to maintain harmony.
Norris trimmed Piastri’s lead in the drivers’ championship from 34 points to 31, which is still a significant gap at the moment.
Would things have been different if it had been for the lead? Or what if Norris hadn’t had a DNF due to a mechanical issue last week and the championship chase was closer? Or what if it was like Hungary and Norris was being asked to hand the place back to Piastri?
Team orders are unfortunately part of the sport and banning them just leads to teams finding loopholes. Life, uh, finds a way.
For McLaren’s sake, hopefully, none of those other scenarios come to light later this season and force them into another Hungary nightmare scenario.
One thing’s for sure: Verstappen wouldn’t have switched back.
McLaren has also built a 337-point lead over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship and could clinch its second straight title as early as the next time out in Baku at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s fight with Mercedes, not McLaren
If there’s one thing Ferrari is good at, it’s instilling high hopes into its fan base. The tifosi were out in full force at Monza, as is tradition, and optimistic after Hamilton and Leclerc topped the speed charts during Friday’s opening practice.
You can probably guess where this is going.
Hamilton was already facing an uphill battle as he was carrying a five-place grid penalty for failing to slow down under double yellow flags during last week’s Dutch GP. The seven-time world champion started 10th, and it was “Hammer Time” early as he cut through the field up into sixth, which is where he finished the race. Not stellar, but a positive direction nonetheless.
Leclerc, who qualified fourth, had his moments at the start, flirting with a potential podium position, but was ultimately shut out from the celebrations. The defending race winner was in a spirited tango with Piastri as the two swapped third place back and forth on the opening couple of laps.
Piastri accused Leclerc on the team radio of moving while braking, a huge no-no that could have resulted in a penalty if he was found at fault. That became a moot point as Piastri slipped past Leclerc on Lap 6 and broke free of the clutch of the Ferrari.
Leclerc remained a worry, leading to Piastri getting pit priority, but the Ferrari finished just over four seconds back of the McLaren.
Although Ferrari took McLaren down to the final race of the season last year in the fight for the constructors’ championship, its battle is with Mercedes to hold onto second place. George Russell, sandwiched between the Ferraris, finished fifth for the Silver Arrows while teammate Kimi Antonelli crossed the line eighth but was classified ninth after receiving a five-second time penalty for forcing Alex Albon off the track.
That gives Ferrari a 20-point buffer in the standings, with Red Bull also an additional 21 points back in fourth place.
Rookie watch
Hats off to Isack Hadjar. After scoring his first career podium last week at the Dutch GP, it looked like it would be a big comedown this weekend. The 20-year-old Racing Bulls rookie was eliminated in the first session of qualifying and was forced to start from the pit lane due to a power unit change.
Incredibly, Hadjar managed to crack the top 10, finishing 10th to take the final points-paying position. That lone point also bumped Hadjar ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg for ninth in the drivers’ standings.
Next up for Hadjar: fellow rookie Antonelli in eighth place.
Pit stops
• There was a big comedown for Aston Martin, though. After back-to-back double points races, neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll cracked the top 10 this time. Alonso bowed out after Lap 24 due to a suspension issue — cue the calls that the Spaniard is the unluckiest driver ever — while a lengthy pit stop sent Stroll to the back of the pack in 18th. While Alonso lamented on the team radio that it was “unbelievable,” maybe he shouldn’t have run over the curb. Just a suggestion.
• The meme is alive: Haas driver Esteban Ocon received a five-second time penalty for forcing Stroll off the track early in the race. Between Ocon’s penalty and Verstappen’s performance, maybe it is 2023 all over again.
• The “temple of speed” lived up to its billing. Sunday was the fastest race in F1 history as Verstappen crossed the line at one hour, 13 minutes. So much for F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali’s suggestion earlier this week about shortening the races because of, you know, the short attention spans of younger fans. Maybe just have more tracks like Monza?
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