Verstappen dominates as McLaren orders cost Piastri

It felt like 2023 again as Max Verstappen dominated the Italian Grand Prix, but the focus is on McLaren after a contentious call cost Oscar Piastri.

Despite some thrilling battles across the opening stages, Verstappen was in a league of his own, taking a huge 20s triumph, his first in eight races.

With no stoppages, it was the fastest F1 race ever in 1h13m24.325s at an average speed of 155.791 mph, breaking a record held by Michael Schumacher at the same circuit in 2003.

However, the biggest topic of debate will surround the McLaren teammates in what could be one of the more telling flashpoints of the evolving title fight.

Lando Norris finished second ahead of Piastri to cut the deficit to 31 points, but not without controversy.

McLaren ran long and pitted Piastri a lap before Norris after the #4 side of the garage elected to run the overcut.

But the call backfired when a slow left-front tyre change allowed Piastri to seize second.

Fearing more frustration from Norris after the car let him down in Zandvoort, McLaren requested Piastri to let his teammate back through.

The Australian obliged, but not without clear frustration, forcing him to settle for third.

Time will tell if this will have a major impact on the championship battle, but some could wonder about McLaren’s consistency, given it did not request a similar switch in Silverstone.

Charles Leclerc fell 4s short of a podium for Ferrari ahead of George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton put on a show in his first Italian Grand Prix in red rising from 10^th to sixth.

Only 17 cars lined up on the grid after Hulkenberg received the heartbreaking radio call to retire his Sauber during the formation lap, meanwhile, Hadjar and Gasly started from the pits.

It was an even launch for all four on the front row despite Norris finding the grass during the charge down to the opening chicane.

Verstappen and Norris went side by side into Turn 1, but both struggled to make it through, with the Red Bull cutting the left-hander and the McLaren just kept two wheels on the kerb.

The short cut gave the #1 some nice breathing space, and Red Bull requested him to give back the position to Norris and did so at the end of the opening lap.

Verstappen only needed four laps to launch another assault on Norris, and the McLaren driver could do little as the Dutchman outbraked him on the outside.

It proved to be a knockout blow as the reigning champion pumped out the fastest laps to pull more than 6s clear.

Behind them, Piastri and Leclerc, with the Tifosi behind him, put on a stunning show for third.

Leclerc managed to wrestle the position at the start, but the Australian responded impressively.

The Aussie made the rare move of soaring around the outside during the opening tour of the quick Lesmos, only for Leclerc to return the favour with an equally epic move at Curva Grande.

After some more squabbles at the opening chicane, eventually Piastri proved too strong with a well judged move on Lap 6.

While the home crowd were disappointed to see the Monegasque lose the podium place, their new hero was also putting on a show.

Hamilton quickly recovered almost all of the positions lost from his grid penalty as he soared from 10^th to sixth within the first 10 laps.

One of his victims was Antonelli, who struggled at the start of his first home race, and slumped from sixth to 10^th.

He was caught in the middle of a DRS train that formed behind seventh-placed Bortoleto with Alonso and Tsunoda right behind.

As the leaders kept it clean during the thrilling opening stages, it was not the same further back as Ocon received a 5s penalty for forcing Stroll off at Turn 4 and the Haas driver was furious.

After losing ninth to Antonelli, Tsunoda started the chain of pit stops by switching to the Hards on Lap 19.

However, the undercut did not work as Alonso and Bortoleto emerged well ahead of the Red Bull, which clashed with his predecessor Lawson in a fiery moment at Turn 4.

The two-time champion’s smarts on pit entry enabled the Aston Martin driver to jump the Sauber youngster he also manages in the lane.

However, his good work was undone by a front-right suspension failure over the kerbs coming out of Ascari, which forced him into an “unbelievable” retirement and losing a points finish.

The Hard tyre was not producing the speed many hoped with the overcut on the lasting Mediums proving more beneficial.

As a result, the leaders stayed out, with Russell the only member of the top five to blink on Lap 28.

Ferrari waited until Lap 34 to react with Leclerc boxing and gaining an extra 2s on his Mercedes rival as a result.

Hamilton waited another five laps and not only had a 5s deficit to Russell but needed to overcome both Ocon and Stroll to catch him.

Sainz and Bearman tripped over each other in a contest for 14^th. The pair went side by side into the Seconda Variante with the Spaniard on the outside, but closed in on the Brit with contact, spinning the pair in symphony.

The sister Williams was having a much better race with a long first stint powering Albon from 14th to seventh, having overcome Antonelli in a tight battle where the Thai driver found the grass going through Curva Grande.

Red Bull and McLaren played chicken until Lap 38 when Verstappen switched to Hards.

With Verstappen looking ominous after building a 5s advantage, McLaren switched strategies by extending and taking he aggressive option with Softs.

Piastri pitted first as late as Lap 45 with Norris boxing the following lap after he and the engineer elected for the overcut.

But the decision backfired horrifically as a slow front-left tyre change gifted second to Piastri.

The Australian emerged 1.5s clear of Norris, but McLaren used the Hungary 2024 argument to convince him to kindly pull aside and re-establish the status quo.

Despite allowing his teammate through, Piastri made his view very clear: “We said a slow pit stop was part of racing, and I don’t get what has changed here.”

Meanwhile, Verstappen was literally laughing about McLaren’s predicament as he crossed the line by a huge 19s.

His 66^th win was his first in eight starts when F1 was last in Italy at Imola.

A fortnight wait follows before the championship is back in Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 19-21.

image: Red Bull Content Pool

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