Italian Grand Prix talking points: Verstappen conjures magic at Monza and McLaren strategy could prove costly

Verstappen fine weekend ends in race victory while Hamilton and Leclerc fail to deliver for Ferrari in front of home fans

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  Red Bull driver Max Verstappen celebrates on the podium after winning the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, on September 7, 2025. AFP

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  Red Bull's Max Verstappen on the podium after winning the Italian Grand Prix alongside second-place McLaren's Lando Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri. Reuters

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  Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates after winning the Italian GP. Reuters

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  Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands crosses the finish line to win the Italian Grand Prix. AP

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  Red Bull's Dutch driver Max Verstappen leading the race at Monza. AFP

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  Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, who finished fourth, ahead of Oscar Piastri of Ferrari during the race at Monza. AFP

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  Ferrari's Charles Leclerc during the race. AFP

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  McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in battle during the race. Reuters

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  Alpine driver Franco Colapinto goes off the track during the Italian GP. AP

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  McLaren's Lando Norris ahead of Max Verstappen's Red Bull at Monza. Getty Images

They call it the Temple of Speed, the Italians know it as La Pista Magica. Monza is one of Formula One’s oldest circuits, a track steeped in history and home to Italian motorsport. Here, the cars spend longer at full throttle than anywhere else, and the tifosi line the parkland grandstands in red, willing their drivers on.

This year’s qualifying delivered the magic. Max Verstappen produced the fastest lap in Formula One history that underlined Monza’s reputation as the ultimate test of power and precision.

The resurfacing carried out before last season added to the drama, the fresh tarmac providing grip far beyond the worn-out asphalt on which Lewis Hamilton had once set the record.

It was a fitting scene for the last European race of 2025’s F1 calendar. Here are the best storylines from the weekend:

Verstappen delivers the magic

Just as the world stopped predicting a Red Bull win, Verstappen produced a reminder of why he is still the sport’s benchmark. At Monza he not only delivered pole with the fastest qualifying lap by average speed in Formula One history – a rapid 1 mins, 18.792 secs – but converted it into his first grand prix victory since Imola in May, snapping a nine-race drought.

Red Bull’s resurgence came from a shift in how they now approach high speed circuits. For the first time with this generation of car, they unveiled a genuine low-downforce rear wing. It had already hinted at its potential in Spa’s Sprint, but at Monza it became decisive. Coupled with a new floor, the hard lessons of last season, and a change in setup, the car finally came alive. “We’ve learned so much more about how to set up this car,” Verstappen said afterwards.

The start was frenzied. Verstappen launched from pole but Lando Norris surged alongside into Turn 1, his nose briefly in front before being squeezed onto the grass. Verstappen braked too late, cut the chicane, and clung to the lead – only to be told to hand it back at the start of Lap 2. Norris duly took over but it didn’t last. By Lap 4, Verstappen was back on the attack, reclaiming the lead with authority. From there he found his rhythm and was almost four seconds clear by Lap 13.

The final winning margin, more than 19 seconds, underlined once again that no one is better at squeezing performance and capitalising on every advantage.

For Laurent Mekies, still settling into the role after Christian Horner’s departure, this was his most emphatic result yet. For Verstappen, it was more personal – just his third win of the season, but one that completed the Italian double. Imola in May, Monza in September. A reminder that his talent can never be ignored.

Mclaren’s controversial decision making

Andrea Stella had been clear before the weekend that Monza would not play to McLaren’s strengths. The resurfaced track offered high grip, reducing tyre wear, dulling one of the car’s usual advantages. Quickest through the corners but losing out on the straights, McLaren would have to rely on strategy and execution rather than raw pace.

What unfolded instead was another example of the team becoming entangled in the Norris–Piastri rivalry. For Norris, the objective was simple: keep his championship hopes alive by clawing back ground after falling 34 points behind Oscar Piastri in the drivers' standings. By finishing second at Monza, he did cut the deficit, but only by three points, and only after a moment that polarised opinion.

McLaren had gambled on running long, holding both cars out in the hope of a safety car that never came. That meant a late switch to soft tyres, with Piastri called in first on Lap 45. Norris followed a lap later but lost valuable seconds with a slow change on the front-left. He emerged behind his teammate, seemingly beaten by misfortune rather than speed.

The pit wall, however, saw it differently. To prevent the order being decided by their error, they invoked precedent. Just as Norris had yielded to Piastri in Hungary last year after gaining an advantage through pit sequencing, so Piastri was asked to do the same now. The Australian complied, handing the place back with four laps remaining, though not before voicing his frustration: “I mean, we said a slow pit stop was part of racing, I don’t get it.”

Speaking to Sky Sports afterwards, Piastri toed the line. “The decision to swap back was fair. Lando was ahead of me the whole race. I don’t have any issues with that,” he said. He had previously noted that he needs the team fully behind him in a title fight but will his decision to be so obedient come back to haunt him?

Ferrari fail to capitalise on home advantage

Lewis Hamilton’s ability to draw strength from the fans had some pundits wondering if he might deliver something special at Monza. Despite carrying a grid penalty, could he mark his first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver with a memorable performance at the Scuderia’s home race?

Qualifying suggested Ferrari were competitive but not quite where they wanted to be. Charles Leclerc briefly held second in Q3 before slipping to fourth as his competition demonstrated excellent pace. Hamilton qualified just behind but dropped to 10th after a five-place penalty from Zandvoort, but fans were left wondering why Ferrari chose not to use the Englishman to provide Leclerc with a tow down Monza’s long straights, a decision that sparked lots of debate.

On Sunday, Leclerc made a strong start, muscling past Piastri for third before overheating his tyres and losing ground. Though he later recovered his pace, he didn’t have enough time and came home in fourth. "They just had more pace than I did. I tried things that were not in the car and so I lost the rear multiple times and that meant I couldn't hope for much better unfortunately."

Hamilton’s race was all about recovery but things are looking up for the seven-time world champion. From 10th on the grid, he surged forward, passing Fernando Alonso and Gabriel Bortoleto to climb into sixth. He spent the rest of the afternoon chasing George Russell but was unable to find a way through, eventually finishing in sixth place. “We possibly could have got fifth if we had maybe undercut Mercedes, but we just missed it,” he reflected. Still, it was his best result since Silverstone.

Ferrari ended Monza with both cars in the top six. A respectable outcome, though still short of the fairytale result the tifosi had hoped for.

Hadjar picks up a point

After claiming his maiden F1 podium at Zandvoort a week earlier, Isack Hadjar arrived at Monza with lower expectations. A full power unit change on his Racing Bull car meant he would start from the pit lane regardless of qualifying, so when a messy out-lap behind Carlos Sainz left him eliminated in Q1, it hardly mattered. “Even if I was putting it on pole I wouldn’t care because I’m starting from the back,” he admitted.

Hadjar was realistic about his chances. “If I’m starting in the top 10, we have a shot at points. But we can’t overtake 10 cars on pure pace and with a good strategy. It doesn’t happen,” he insisted on Saturday.

Yet on Sunday, it did. From last place, Hadjar delivered a mature drive, making full use of the hard tyres in clean air and benefitting from a well-timed one-stop strategy. By managing his pace and avoiding traffic, he steadily climbed the order, pulling himself into contention for the final points places.

By the chequered flag, Hadjar had converted a pit-lane start into 10th place, scoring another point for Racing Bulls and backing up his breakthrough result in Zandvoort with another strong finish.

“I’m obviously very happy as I think we achieved the maximum we could have done today,” he said. “I really enjoyed it; the car was fast out there, and our strategy was well-executed. Before the race, I thought we’d get stuck in a DRS train, but instead we made the most of the hard tyres in free air.”