Piastri primed for another Italian Job

Monza was the scene 12 months ago, Oscar Piastri was not going to play second fiddle to Lando Norris, so what will unfold with the title on the line tonight?

The all McLaren fight for the F1 championship heads to the Italian Grand Prix tonight, where Piastri and Norris will have an extra element to deal with.

Not only do they have themselves to worry about, but Max Verstappen is back to his best, having taken the fastest-ever pole position.

Norris holds the high ground, joining the Red Bull reigning champion on the front row, while Piastri will be looking to make some early moves from third.

But the Aussie can turn to last year as inspiration, where he also started behind Norris, but ambushed the Brit and stunned his teammate with a thrilling move around the outside at the Seconda Variante.

Despite being beaten to pole by the slippery Red Bull, Piastri still carries plenty of belief the papaya cars will excel over a race length as they have all year.

Oscar Piastri stuns Lando Norris around the outside at the start of teh 2024 Italian GP. Photo by Sam Bagnall / LAT Images

“I think reasonably confident,” Piastri said. 

“It is generally a strength of ours, but it didn’t look night and day above everyone else yesterday. So let’s wait and see. 

“It’s a track where slipstreams make a big difference and the start can be pretty chaotic, so I think there’s going to be a few factors at play apart from just pure pace.

“I don’t think it’s a big surprise that it’s much closer here. 

“Was Max at the top of my list of our competitors going into this weekend? I thought maybe Ferrari would be closer, but that’s based off last year.

“Generally, when the competition’s got close, Max has normally been the one that’s been the closest, so I don’t think it’s a massive surprise, but compared to last year it is a little bit.”

McLaren was usurped to pole by a rapid Verstappen.

Piastri started Q3 well by beating Norris by three tenths on the opening run.

The Aussie was then the first of the contenders to throw his final punch, but fell 0.059s short of Verstappen, who then improved.

This pushed Piastri 0.190s adrift with Norris also a late improver to secure a front-row start.

Piastri admitted it was not easy to find the limit across the three segments of qualifying where the Aussie found himself as low as 10th.

“Turn 1 was a little bit average, but the rest of the lap felt pretty tidy,” Piastri recalled of his 1:18.982. 

“I feel like I executed a pretty good session, built up to it a little bit at the start and found my feet, but I think it’s just been incredibly tight this weekend. 

“I feel like Q1 was a little bit of a struggle, but then Q2 and Q3 I was pretty comfortable. 

“It was a solid lap without being amazing, but I think it’s been clear for us anyway that the competition’s been much tighter this weekend, and also with some unexpected teams and cars. 

“So it’s not a huge shock for us, but I felt like I managed it pretty well, just ultimately lacking a little bit at the end.”

Lights out for the 2025 Italian Grand Prix is 23.00 AEST.

Image: McLaren

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here.