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F1 Review: Max Verstappen Masterful in Italian GP Win; McLarens Finish 2-3 After Team Order Drama

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Max Verstappen started on the pole, and after a brief battle with Lando Norris, overtook the McLaren on lap 4 and never looked back, and if he did, likely didn’t see anyone, on his way to a dominant win in the Pirelli Italian Grand Prix on Sunday (September 7th). It was the Red Bull master’s third win of the year, and first since Imola in Round 7.

“It was a great day for us,” Verstappen said. “We were flying. The car for me was really enjoyable. I could manage the pace quite well throughout that first stint. We pitted at the right time, and then with the hard tires at the en,d you can just push a bit more.

“Just fantastic execution by everyone, by the whole team. I think the whole weekend we were on it — super-enjoyable to win here.”

Norris was a distant second and had to sweat out a team order command to keep that position after a very slow pit stop late in the race. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who was given the team order, was third.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who delighted the Italian throng by winning last year’s race, took fourth, ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton finished sixth, which was good enough for the Brit not to request his own driver replacement. Haas’ Esteban Ocon was seventh, followed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in eighth. Williams Racing’s Alex Albon finished ninth, and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was 10th.

In the driver standings, Piastri lost three points from his lead and now leads Norris by 31 points, 324 to 293. Verstappen holds third with 230. 

McLaren’s lead in the constructors standings increased by 13 points, and McLaren leads is now 617 to 280 over Ferrari. Mercedes is third with 260.

The Race

Before the formation lap was even complete, Nico Hülkenberg was forced to retire his Sauber. And with two cars starting from the pits, that left 17 cars on the starting grid.

Norris got a good jump on the start and was possibly edged into the grass by Verstappen, and briefly took the lead into Turn 1. Verstappen cut the corner to reclaim the lead, but was ordered by stewards to give the spot back. Leclerc slipped by Piastri and took third.

Verstappen gave the place back on lap two, and Norris went by as Verstappen fought off Piastri to maintain second. Norris’ lead was short-lived, and the ease with which Verstappen blew by him was a precursor to the race outcome.

Verstappen attacked into Turn 1 on lap four and reclaimed the lead over Norris, and quickly opened up a one-second lead. Piastri overtook Leclerc for third a lap later as Verstappen widened his lead over Norris to nearly two seconds. It appeared Verstappen’s Red Bull had found something it had been lacking for most of the season.

For Norris and his championship hopes, a win and a third for Piastri would be vastly better than a second-place finish and a third for Piastri. So seeing Verstappen extend his lead to three seconds by lap 10 was particularly discouraging.  

Verstappen seemed to be a man on a mission and continued to open up his lead, now nearing four seconds. There was no reason to think that McLaren’s pace advantage would have vanished over the span of a week, so one would think Norris was laying back, conserving tires, and planning a late charge. Right?   

Verstappen continued to set a series of fastest laps, and with 35 laps left, there looked to be no let up from the Dutchman. Barring a safety car or some wildly unexpected turn, the race was in Verstappen’s pocket. 

Verstappen’s huge lead meant Red Bull could wait and force McLaren into making their pit stops first, allowing Red Bull to react accordingly. Tsunoda pitted on lap 20 for hard tires, possibly to give Red Bull a preview of how hards would perform on the Red Bull. 

On lap 25, Alonso’s Aston Martin slowed dramatically, suffering a suspension failure. Luckily for Verstappen, Alonso was able to limp back to the pits, negating the need for a safety car.

Verstappen’s massive lead had steadied at just over six seconds, and his Red Bull’s dominance had sucked any drama out of the race. McLaren began to discuss alternative strategies to increase their chances of attacking Verstappen. Piastri and Norris were asked if they could extend their first stints to finish the race on a set of medium or soft tires.

Verstappen’s Red Bull started to show signs of tire blistering, and Norris was able to chip a little off Verstappen’s lead briefly. And Verstappen chipped it right back to put the margin at 6.2 seconds at the end of lap 32.

Leclerc was the first of the frontrunners to pit, and came in on lap 34 for a quick stop for hard tires. Leclerc emerged well ahead of George Russell, who he was racing for likely fourth place.

With 18 laps remaining, Verstappen and the McLarens had yet to pit, and although Norris had taken a slight lead, it would take something dramatic for the McLarens to even challenge. McLaren favored soft tires for Norris, and Norris agreed, assuming it was the opposite of Verstappen’s strategy.

Verstappen pitted on lap 37 for hard tires and emerged in third place. The ball was in Norris’s court now, and the soft tire looked to be the option. But with Verstappen now the fastest car on the track on hard tires, it really didn’t matter what McLaren did—there was no catching Verstappen.

Bearman and Sainz collided on lap 41, although both were able to continue, and again, a safety car was avoided. Bearman was later given a 10-second penalty for causing a collision. And for the second straight race, Sainz found himself in the middle of a race incident that led to someone receiving a 10-second penalty. Maybe he’ll detect a pattern. 

With 10 laps remaining, the order was Norris, Piastri, Verstappen, Leclerc, Russell, Hamilton, Ocon, Stroll, Antonelli, and Albon.

With the win conceded to Verstappen, Norris’ goal now was to maintain second place and pick up a few points on Piastri in the championship race. 

Piastri pitted on lap 46 for soft tires, with Norris following suit a lap later, also for softs. But a slow stop, due to issues with the front left, cost Norris dearly, and he returned to the track behind Piastri. McLaren found themselves in another team order situation, and McLaren quickly ordered Piastri to let Norris through. Norris went by his teammate on the front straight on lap 49, and the two were then free to race.

Verstappen was a good 20 seconds ahead of the McLaren drama and likely wondered if he’d ever have a teammate close enough to his equal for Verstappen to even picture himself in a Red Bull team order situation (side note: Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, was running 14th at this point).

Verstappen took the checkered flag, over 19 seconds ahead of Norris, who trimmed three points off of third-place Piastri’s championship lead. 

The Good

Thank you, McLaren, for adding some drama to a race that altogether lacked it after four exciting early laps. Norris’ late pit stop was slowed by a left-front tire that was initially not secured by the crew member wielding the wheel gun. In such a technically-advanced sport, it was odd to see another crew member simply tap the other on the shoulder and casually tell him, “Hey, you missed a spot.”

McLaren didn’t take long to order Piastri to give the spot back to Norris (their reasoning can be found on page 1,499 of the “Papaya Rules” handbook), and it was absolutely the right call, especially given Norris’ advice beforehand to pit Piastri first to protect third place from Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Piastri sounded a little dejected that he had to concede, but once he reviews the circumstances, he’ll see that it was the right thing to do. And I think we can all agree that leaving the Italian Grand Prix with a 31-point lead and your good reputation intact outweighs leaving the Italian Grand Prix as a whiny douchebag with a 34-point championship lead. 

Verstappen can feign incredulity at McLaren’s decisions, but he can’t deny that he would demand the same more favorable treatment were he in the same situation with Red Bull.

And, it wasn’t Norris’ fault that his team totally botched his pit stop, just as it wasn’t his fault that his car couldn’t make it until the end of the Dutch Grand Prix.

I’m sure McLaren’s Zak Brown will fully explain the team’s decision in the clear, concise, and totally understandable double-speak that Brown is a master at delivering.

And also a big thank you to Max Verstappen for providing the early drama in the race with his battles with Norris. Of course, Verstappen, after five laps, said “Enough drama” and launched his Red Bull so far ahead that the outcome was never remotely in question after that. And thank you, Max, for completing the race in an F1 record one hour and 13 minutes and limiting the time fans and viewers had to sit through such an uncompetitive competition.

The Bad

One thing is clear: no one can challenge Lando Norris’ pace…….in Free Practice. Norris dominated the final two practice sessions but lost out on pole to Max Verstappen. It was a similar result to Norris’ performance in Zandvoort,  Norris often saves his best for too soon. For now, Norris may have to wait before we can call him “World Champion.” In the meantime, however, he should be satisfied with the title of “King of Free Practice.”

That being said, had Norris won the pole, he still wouldn’t have been able to hold off Verstappen. 

Ferrari looked primed to challenge for the pole after two promising early practice sessions. But then reality hit, and reality hits Ferrari harder than most. In this case, reality hit Ferrari like a ton of bricks, and a ton of bricks is what Ferrari seemed to be carrying in FP3 and qualifying, when their pace just disappeared into thin air. 

On Friday (September 5th), it looked like Ferrari could challenge for the pole. After qualifying on Saturday (September 6th), it looked like Ferrari couldn’t even challenge for a podium. And they didn’t, finishing P4 and P6, which in this Ferrari era is sadly considered success.

The Bittersweet

Eight-time Formula 1 race winner Daniel Ricciardo confirmed he is retiring from racing and announced he is partnering with Ford to be a Global Ford Racing Ambassador. A “GFRA” is not something I expected Ricciardo to become; “GFRA” is something I would expect the Aussie to ingest, at a rave, or a desert musical festival, or maybe in the comfort of his hot tub, which I assume is filled with koalas.

As a driver with one of the largest personalities in the history of F1, the “Honey Badger” will be missed, especially at a time when personality in F1 is almost exclusively defined by Max Verstappen’s radio profanity.

Do the smart thing, Sky Sports, rescue Danny Ric from this ill-defined “global ambassador” role and hire Ricciardo for your F1 coverage. Ricciardo could do literally anything at an F1 race, and it would be entertaining. If need be, you can let him keep the “ambassador” title; just call him the “Ambassador Of The Unexpected.” 

Someone willing to drink champagne from his own sweaty shoe has the capacity to go to any length to entertain. Let’s be honest, Ricciardo is an entertainer first and a driver second, and is often considered the “crown prince of clown prince-ing.” Give Ricciardo a microphone and a cameraman, and the leeway to say “Let me hear you party people in the house” whenever and wherever he chooses, and turn this man loose at an F1 race.   

Grid Walk Moment

Nico Rosberg joined Martin Brundle for the Monza “Grid Walk,” and the two make a great media tag team. That is, when they’re not talking over each other.

The Sky Sports pair bumped into former Ferrari driver and longtime Michael Schumacher pageboy Eddie Irvine. They made a little small talk instead of asking the hard questions, like, for example, “Can you put yourself in Lewis Hamilton’s shoes and tell us what it’s like to drive for Ferrari and never win anything of significance?” 

The Driver

It would be a travesty to award “Driver Of The Race” to anyone other than Max Verstappen. Verstappen was more than just dominant at Monza; he was so dominant that he made McLaren rethink just how dominant they think they have been. 

Verstappen looked squarely at Norris and Piastri and said, “Eat my dust.” Strong words indeed, but McLaren looked right back at Verstappen, pointed to the drivers and constructors standings, and said, “Eat ours.” 

The Results (Pirelli Italian Grand Prix, Autodromo Nazionale Monza)

POS.NO.DRIVERTEAMLAPSTIME / RETIREDPTS.
11Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing531:13:24.32525
24Lando NorrisMcLaren53+19.207s18
381Oscar PiastriMcLaren53+21.351s15
416Charles LeclercFerrari53+25.624s12
563George RussellMercedes53+32.881s10
644Lewis HamiltonFerrari53+37.449s8
723Alexander AlbonWilliams53+50.537s6
85Gabriel BortoletoKick Sauber53+58.484s4
912Kimi AntonelliMercedes53+59.762s2
106Isack HadjarRacing Bulls53+63.891s1
1155Carlos SainzWilliams53+64.469s0
1287Oliver BearmanHaas53+79.288s0
1322Yuki TsunodaRed Bull Racing53+80.701s0
1430Liam LawsonRacing Bulls53+82.351s0
1531Esteban OconHaas52+1 lap0
1610Pierre GaslyAlpine52+1 lap0
1743Franco ColapintoAlpine52+1 lap0
1818Lance StrollAston Martin52+1 lap0
NC14Fernando AlonsoAston Martin24DNF0
NC27Nico HulkenbergKick Sauber0DNS0

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