Max Verstappen dominates the Grand Prix from Italy after an exciting initial phase as in the best time and depends on the otherwise superior McLaren cars. Between the World Cup rivals Oscar Piatri and Lando Norris, everything in Monza is actually clear, only the team’s strategy shakes the balance of power.
In your sport.de-Debrief explain F1 expert Christian Danner and RTL data analyst Steffen Kosuch, why McLaren was unusual in terms of pit stops and why the announcement to Ocar Piatri, to make room, was only fair.
Unexpectedly, but all the more clearly Max Verstappen in the full throttle temple of Monza won his third win of the season and won the Grand Prix of Italy. Nobody had expected that the Dutch in the Red Bull would distance McLaren competition by almost 20 seconds.
It only became critical for Verstappen after the start. Because of the long journey to the first curve, the Polesetter was involved in a fight against the Papaya racers.
Since Verstappen abbreviated in the harassment and only held up in front of the jostling Norris, he had to hand in the lead directly to the British after the first round. The correction followed only three rounds later when the defending champion Norris swallowed again.
McLaren could not go with the Pace Verstappens, the Red Bull man constantly settled in the royal park. Only a longer stint briefly flushed McLaren again, which turned again after the pit stops.
Strategists from McLaren hoped for Safety Car
Between the McLaren rivals around the driver’s World Cup, everything in Monza actually seemed clear: Norris was a little faster than Piatri, who fought Charles Leclerc in the early stages and was only the direct pursuer of his garage neighbor from round six.
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Although the podium places seemed cemented, McLaren tried everything to somehow come before Verstappen. In order to benefit from a possible safety car, the strategists hesitated the pit stop so long that the McLaren pilot runs the risk of being overtaken by Leclerc, who had changed his tires earlier.
McLaren not corrected Norris’ failed pit stop
This danger was logically greater for the Piatri driving behind Norris – that’s why McLaren first brought the Australian into the box. This is actually not common, usually the front driver has the advantage in the strategy and is the first to serve to service.
Since Norris’ had enough lead, this strategy was supposedly not a problem. Supposed! Because Norris’ stop a round after Piatri did not work according to plan – so the Englishman became the victim of the “undercut” and fell behind his stable rival.
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The case was reminiscent of Hungary in 2024 (at that time it was the other way around) – and certainly not in the spirit of the team. Because if you already ask a driver to do without your right of the first pit stop, it should not have any disadvantage and lose a position.
McLaren asked Piatri to drop behind Norris again, which was logical. The World Cup leaders obeyed without too much complaint. Piatri was no longer able to attack his teammates in the remaining rounds. The podium was cemented again.
It is important to emphasize at this point: McLaren did not correct the slow stop from Norris, but its disadvantage of the turned pit stop order!
Behind the top 3, Leclerc, George Russell in Mercedes and Ferrari star Lewis Hamilton fought for the places. This was followed by Alex Albon (Williams) and Sauber-Rokie Gabriel Bortoleto with again strong performances.
Kimi Antonelli did not get his best day at the home GP, after various duels and a five-second penalty with ninth place secured two World Cup points. A strong race showed Isack Hadjar again: started out of the box, he drove the last counter.