Max Verstappen hails Red Bull breakthrough as F1 rivals put on notice after Italian GP

Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix from pole while McLaren made headlines for a controversial decision to make Oscar Piastri let F1 title rival Lando Norris by late on

One day after he officially became the fastest man in Formula 1 history, Max Verstappen spearheaded the sport’s shortest ever race. It took the Dutchman just one hour, 13 minutes and 23 seconds to reach the chequered flag.

The latest Italian Grand Prix was completed almost a full minute quicker than the 2003 Monza race which saw Michael Schumacher fly to victory. Verstappen broke the track record to beat both McLarens to pole on Saturday but, 24 hours later, lost the lead straight away.

Lando Norris got the better start but went onto the grass, the Brit accusing the four-time champion of pushing him off track. He was only more irate when Verstappen then cut the first corner chicane, prompting the McLaren man to blast his “idiot” rival over the radio.

Red Bull, knowing a penalty was coming, ordered their driver to give up the lead. But he took it back just a few laps in as Verstappen made full use of his car’s greater top speed down the long Monza straights. And from there he never looked back, only briefly losing the lead again when he pitted before the McLarens.

It was Verstappen’s first win since May and saw him move back to within 100 points of championship leader Oscar Piastri. He knows he still has virtually no hope of winning the title for the fifth consecutive year, but sounded more upbeat about what the rest of the season might hold as he hinted at a Red Bull breakthrough.

He said: “Throughout this season we have been all over the shop, but now we finally seem to have found a direction which suits the car. So I hope that, from now on, it will be a little more consistent.”

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McLaren gambled on a late safety car but, when it didn’t come, they pitted their drivers to leave Verstappen with little else to do than cruise to the finish line. And he reacted with some amusement when told over the radio about what had happened behind him with a few laps to go.

Norris told McLaren to pit Piastri first, to see off the threat from Charles Leclerc in fourth. But he paid the price for his generosity as a six-second change of tyres saw him emerge behind his title rival.

It looked set to be another blow to his chances, until the order came for Piastri to move aside. He complained, but complied – prompting laughter from Verstappen ahead who certainly would not have done the same in that position.

But Piastri, perhaps trying to buy extra goodwill with his team for the rest of their intra-squad title fight, said after the race: “The decision to swap back was fair. Lando was ahead of me for the whole race, so I don’t have any issues with that.”

Norris took a combative approach with any reporter who questioned the decision after the race, claiming it was “pretty stupid” to do so. He added: “I don’t want to win this way, but we do what we think is correct as a team. No matter what your opinions are, we’ll stick to doing it our way.”

Leclerc finished fourth ahead of George Russell while Lewis Hamilton battled back from 10th on the grid to finish his Ferrari debut at Monza sixth. The seven-time champion smiled: “After the grid penalty, to get back to sixth and to have a solid drive like that in front of the Tifosi, it’s unbelievable.”