Verstappen ends winless streak with flawless performance at Monza

Max Verstappen ended his winless streak by taking the checkered flag at the Italian Grand Prix, capitalizing on a historic pole position to control the race from start to finish at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. The Red Bull Racing driver crossed the finish line with a 19.207-second advantage over Lando Norris, who reclaimed second place after a position swap orchestrated by McLaren in the closing laps.

The victory breaks a winless streak that stretched back to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, returning Verstappen to the top step of the podium after five consecutive wins for McLaren between Austria and the Netherlands.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

Verstappen breaks speed records in qualifying and race

The Dutchman set a new lap record at Monza during qualifying with a time of 1:18.792, marking the 45th pole position of his Formula 1 career. Sunday's race became the fastest Grand Prix in the history of the world championship, with Verstappen leading 50 of the 53 laps completed.

The initial battle between Verstappen and Norris set the tone for the race. After the Briton pressured him exiting the first chicane, Verstappen went off the track to maintain the advantage. "What is this idiot doing?", Norris protested over the radio. "He put me on the grass and cut the corner."

Verstappen returned the position at the start of the second lap to avoid a penalty, but regained the lead just two laps later with an outside move into the first chicane. From that point on, the 27-year-old driver built a lead that was never threatened again.

Position swap generates controversy at McLaren

The main controversy arose in the McLaren pit when a slow pit stop for Norris on lap 46 allowed Oscar Piastri to overtake him and take second place. The papaya team immediately ordered the Australian to give back the position, recalling the precedent set at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix.

"It's what we decided as a team beforehand," Norris explained after the race. Piastri, who initially questioned the decision over the radio, eventually agreed to the swap. "Clearly there were valid reasons for the swap. Lando qualified ahead and was ahead the whole race, so I understand it," commented the Australian.

The swap reduced Piastri's advantage over Norris in the constructors' championship from 34 to 31 points, maintaining McLaren's internal battle for leadership.

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Hamilton experiences tifosi passion in the red shirt

Lewis Hamilton lived his first experience at Monza as a Ferrari driver, recovering from a five-place grid penalty to finish sixth. The 40-year-old Briton charged from tenth place into the points on the opening lap, passing Gabriel Bortoleto, Fernando Alonso, Yuki Tsunoda, and Kimi Antonelli.

Charles Leclerc completed a solid performance for Ferrari by finishing fourth, though far from repeating his 2024 victory on tifosi territory. "I'm disappointed but not surprised," commented the Monegasque about his fourth place in qualifying.

The Italian team ran with a special livery to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Niki Lauda's 1975 championship, while fans enjoyed displays of the 1995 Ferrari 412 T2 driven by Jean Alesi and the 312B of Jacky Ickx.

Mercedes struggles with tire choice and penalties

Mercedes faced difficulties throughout the weekend, starting with a wrong tire choice in qualifying. George Russell maintained his starting fifth position until the end after a failed attempt to pass Leclerc in the early laps, consistently losing time on the straights.

Kimi Antonelli received a five-second penalty for erratic driving during his battle with Alexander Albon, dropping to ninth place behind rookie Gabriel Bortoleto of Kick Sauber. The Italian thus completed a difficult weekend in his second home race of the season.

Alexander Albon scored valuable points for Williams with a seventh place after a recovery from further back on the grid. Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 after starting from the pit lane due to power unit changes.

Fernando Alonso suffered a suspension failure while battling his protégé Bortoleto, retiring on lap 24. "This is unbelievable," lamented the Spaniard as he limped back to the pits.

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Results - Italian Grand Prix 2025

Formula 1 returns in two weeks with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the Baku street circuit.