Italian GP 2025: Verstappen wins, McLaren swap Piastri and Norris

Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from pole position, 19.207 seconds ahead of Lando Norris. It was his third win of 2025 and his first since Imola in May, and at 1h13m24s it was the fastest Grand Prix ever run. Oscar Piastri finished third, but only because McLaren told him to give second place back to Norris in the closing laps.

How Verstappen won at Monza

Saturday set it up. Verstappen's 1:18.792 beat Norris by 0.077 seconds and, at an average of 264.682 km/h, it was the fastest lap in Formula 1 history by average speed. The start was messier. Norris got alongside into the first chicane and ended up with two wheels on the grass, Verstappen went across the kerbs, and Red Bull had him hand the lead back at the end of lap 1 to avoid a penalty.

He took it back with DRS into Turn 1 on lap 4 and was not seen again. The mediums lasted much longer than anyone expected, so the front runners stayed out. Verstappen stopped for hards with 15 laps to go, rejoined behind two McLarens that had yet to pit, and was back in front as soon as they did.

Piastri, Norris and the slow pit stop

Norris led the McLaren pair, but the team brought Piastri in first, for softs on lap 46. Norris followed a lap later and lost around four seconds with a slow front-left wheel change, which put him out behind his team-mate. On lap 49 Piastri was asked to let him through. He argued on the radio that slow stops are part of racing, then moved over, and finished 2.1 seconds behind.

On F1 Duels that is a Norris race win, on top of his qualifying win. It levels their head-to-head at 8–8 on Saturdays and 8–8 on Sundays. Without the swap, Piastri would lead the race column 9–7. The order was McLaren's call, but our count only reads the finishing order.

Hamilton vs Leclerc and the other duels

Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton qualified fifth, one place behind Charles Leclerc, but started tenth: a five-place penalty carried over from Zandvoort for not slowing enough under yellow flags on his way to the grid. He climbed to sixth. Leclerc finished fourth, with Russell and Hamilton behind him for most of the afternoon, and now leads Hamilton vs Leclerc 12–2 in races in our count.

Mercedes. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli were split by 0.043 seconds in qualifying, and Russell again came out on top. He finished fifth. Antonelli crossed the line eighth, but a five-second penalty for his driving while defending against Alex Albon dropped him behind Gabriel Bortoleto. Their duel reads 15–1 in qualifying and 12–0 in races.

Racing Bulls. A week after his first podium, Isack Hadjar went out in Q1 and started from the pit lane after a power unit change. He finished tenth. Liam Lawson banged wheels with Yuki Tsunoda and came home 14th, so Hadjar now leads Hadjar vs Lawson 8–3 in races.

Two duels did not count. Fernando Alonso retired from eighth with a suspension failure at the exit of Ascari, and Nico Hülkenberg's Sauber was called into the pits at the end of the formation lap. Bortoleto, with no team-mate to beat, took eighth.

What it means for the title

Piastri leaves Monza on 324 points and Norris on 293. The gap is 31, down from 34, and the swap was worth three of those points. Verstappen is third on 230, 94 behind. Every verdict from the weekend is on the Italian GP duels page.