Max Verstappen returned to winning ways in the 2025 Italian Grand Prix, but it will be McLaren making the headlines once again. The reigning constructors' champions lost the race last year due to a strategic blunder, and their decision-making came under scrutiny on Sunday. A slow pit stop for Lando Norris had McLaren invoke team orders for Oscar Piastri to cede position to his title rival, inciting fans with their heavy-handed approach.

This was not McLaren's weekend in Qualifying, either. Verstappen snatched P1 with the fastest-ever pole position and started ahead of Norris from the front row. The two went wheel-to-wheel off the line, with Verstappen pushing the Briton to the grass. Norris held firm, though, taking the inside at the Rettifilo chicane to be ahead, but Verstappen cut the corner to retain the lead.

Already off to a controversial start, the radio messages inevitably followed. Norris called Verstappen an idiot, and Red Bull told their driver to give the position back to avoid a penalty. Further frustration came in the sister McLaren of Piastri, who fell behind Charles Leclerc in the opening corners. The Australian, however, fought back with a bold move around the outside of the first Lesmo to regain P3. But the positions would soon shift once more.

A four-car scrap into Rettifilo had Verstappen dutifully returning the lead to Norris as Leclerc battled by Piastri once more. Any thoughts that Verstappen only had single-lap pace to outqualify the McLarens but would lose out in the long runs soon fell away. He kept glued to Norris' rear wing as the leading pair opened a gap to Leclerc. A good run out of Parabolica started Lap 4 with another lead change, this time for good. Verstappen took to the outside to outbrake Norris and take P1, and soon opened a gap to the British hopeful.

While Norris fell back, his teammate fought forward. Leclerc's early speed quickly faded, much to the Tifosi's disappointment, and Piastri eased alongside with DRS down the pit straight. The Aussie was back in the podium positions by Lap 6, but already 3.5s adrift of Norris as he struggled to make an impression in the race.

Though Leclerc's cameo in the front was brief, the Italian fans still had the second Ferrari to cheer on. Lewis Hamilton enjoyed his first Monza weekend in scarlet, but had to undo a five-place grid penalty picked up from the Dutch GP. He gave the Tifosi plenty to cheer in the opening laps by taking positions on the opening lap and then overtaking Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto to reach P6.

The race finally settled down as the Pirelli tyres proved highly durable. A mixture of Medium and Hard compounds throughout the grid saw most drivers getting past the halfway mark before stopping. Verstappen became the first of the podium contenders to swap tyres on Lap 38, taking a set of Hards to reach the end. The McLarens eventually followed suit eight laps later, possibly hoping for a Safety Car to aid them. But it was not the leading McLaren of Norris who stopped first.

Piastri peeled in to switch to the Softs for the remaining eight laps, and would benefit from the Pirelli's extra grip before Norris. The team confirmed to Norris that Piastri wouldn't undercut to pass him, and they were just covering off Leclerc, who stopped earlier. That, however, proved a false promise. Norris stopped later, but a wheel gun issue on his front left had him stationary in the pit lane for critical extra seconds before he was left to return to the track.

That pit lane time loss handed Piastri P2, who sped by on the straight. Initially told that he was free to race Norris on the exit, Piastri was then instructed to return the position after the pit stop error. A brief argument about slow stops being part of racing followed, but Piastri complied and let Norris through with five laps remaining. He didn't have the late-race speed to go wheel-to-wheel after, and he might one day rue the six-point swing in favour of his only challenger to the 2025 crown.

Booing from the crowd under the podium expressed their thoughts on the team orders, and even Verstappen laughed over the radio when he learned of the situation. It leaves Piastri still in the championship lead, but by 31 points instead of 37. McLaren will head to the Azerbaijan GP in a fortnight under scrutiny for their strategic choices as F1 2025 enters its final third. For Italy, though, Verstappen is the one smiling and has another record to his name; he won the fastest race in F1 history, completed in just 1 hour and 13 minutes

Lando Norris suffered a championship-altering retirement as Formula One resumed its season with the Dutch Grand Prix. The British title hopeful ended his race slumped in the Zandvoort dunes after an old-school engine failure forced him to retire from P2. Teammate and championship rival Oscar Piastri won the race, extending his advantage to 34 points as F1 counts down to its season finale.

The two McLaren men lined up alongside each other on the front row. Norris had looked the form driver all weekend, but failed to stop Piastri from taking pole position by just 0.012s. That proved critical in the opening metres, too, with Max Verstappen attacking on his home circuit.

With a threat of rain in the air, Verstappen opted for Pirelli's Soft compound tyre. Although best suited for Qualifying, the strategic gamble hoped a switch to Intermediates, as some weather forecasts suggested, would assist. The light rain never justified grooved tyres, but Verstappen still had the benefit of the softer compound, using his extra grip to launch past the Medium-equipped Norris at the Turn 1 entry point.

Norris managed to fight back past Verstappen on the run out of the corner as he battled to retain P2. The two went close on the approach to the banked Turn 3, and the reigning champion edged past despite a fishtailing moment. Norris stuck to the Red Bull's rear wing over the remainder of the lap, but passing is always tricky at Zandvoort, and he had to bide his time.

Without any heavy rain arriving, the advantage soon swung back to Norris. Verstappen's fading Softs cost him as Norris' yellow-walled Pirellis kept their grip. A sweeping move around the outside of Turn 1 leapfrogged Norris back ahead to resume his chase of Piastri, who was alone out front.

Although the drizzle didn't change any strategies, there was a casualty of the lower grip conditions. Lewis Hamilton had a surprise error at Turn 3 and found the barriers. Seemingly caught out by the slippery paint, the seven-time champion smashed into the tyre wall to retire from the race and trigger a Safety Car. It will sting Hamilton, too, after he entered the summer break calling himself 'useless' for his performances in 2025.

The slowdown allowed pit stops without the order changing much. Ironically, Hamilton's Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was the primary one to lose out, having stopped just before the crash to let George Russell jump ahead. Piastri was unopposed as racing resumed, with Norris, then Verstappen, giving chase. The high-qualifying Isack Hadjar followed Verstappen, just ahead of the Russell-Leclerc battle. It was behind this leading half-dozen drivers where the next drama came.

Liam Lawson and Carlos Sainz got too close for comfort on the restart, and the two collided at Turn 1. A puncture for Lawson and a broken front wing for Sainz saw them drop to the back of the grid. The stewards punished Sainz for his role in the incident, leaving the Spaniard fuming in the cockpit. Williams teammate Alex Albon benefited from the incident, however, building on an earlier dream start that had him advance five positions on the opening lap.

More car-to-car contact followed a brief Virtual Safety Car period to clear the resulting debris, but this time without any major damage. Leclerc retook the lost position from Russell with a brave move at Turn 11. Taking to the kerbs a little, Leclerc elected for the outside line that turns into the inside by Turn 12 to muscle past the Mercedes and up into P5.

Some bodywork damage after the move slowed Russell down enough to see Mercedes invoke team orders as Andrea Kimi Antonelli closed in behind. The Italian rookie began the chase of Leclerc, and eventually undercut the Ferrari to get close. It wasn't enough to gain track position, though, and Antonelli instead tried to pass on the circuit. A lunge on the low route around Turn 3 ended with his Mercedes spinning Leclerc around to end his race and leave Ferrari without any remaining cars.

Another Safety Car period followed, as did a 10-second penalty for Antonelli. A mixture of Pirelli tyres on the remaining cars saw a flurry of midfield activity in the final 15 laps. The most notable change came at the front, however. Norris reported fumes in his cockpit as the lap counter reached 65. He soon pulled over at the side of the road as smoke billowed from his engine to cause one final Safety Car slowdown.

While the cameras picked up a dejected Norris and Leclerc sitting on the side of the circuit, jubilation erupted at Racing Bulls. Norris' retirement advanced Hadjar from P4 to P3, putting the French-Algerian into a podium position. Piastri took the win from a stop-start Sunday, with Verstappen P2, but it was Hadjar celebrating hardest. A standout weekend from Hadjar will put further pressure on Yuki Tsunoda, who again languished behind Verstappen. Could Hadjar be a Red Bull driver by 2026?

The Italian GP is next as F1 bounces back from its summer break with a doubleheader event. It's the Temple of Speed, and a race that sees high strain on engines. Leclerc delighted the home fans by winning there last year after Ferrari outstrategised McLaren. Repeating that feat will be a tall order this year, though. Perhaps the tifosi can pray for another engine failure to hit the papaya team?

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