Max Verstappen claimed a dominant victory in the temple of speed by over 19 seconds from Lando Norris. The start of the race wasn’t as straightforward for the world champion as he would have hoped. He had to give back the lead after he cut the first corner at the start to maintain the lead. However, he overtook the McLaren within a few laps. After that, it was clear sailing as he claimed his 3^rd victory in Monza. The Red Bull driver will hope that he can continue with the same performance going into Baku, which is also a low-downforce track.

The McLarens didn’t have an answer to the pace of Verstappen, who was constantly pulling ahead in the race. But, in a typical McLaren fashion, they caused unnecessary complications between their drivers, more on that later. The Ferraris also looked quite competitive with Russell in the mix as always.

The race start was the most exciting part of the Monza Grand Prix, with the top drivers executing some spectacular overtakes and displaying exceptional racecraft. The latter part of the race wasn’t that interesting, but you’d expect that in the Italian Grand Prix. Let’s look into the key takeaways from the race.

Verstappen of the old in the 2025 Italian GP

The reigning world champion pulled out a performance reminiscent of his championship years. After putting in an impressive lap in qualifying on Saturday, it looked like the McLarens would come after him in the race. However, this was quite the opposite, with the Dutch driver completely dominating the race. Throughout the race, he looked untouchable except for a safety car or something out of his control.

Will this win pave the way for a championship fightback? The answer is not straightforward, as some races will suit the Red Bull, but some might not. However, the McLaren is in a league of its own, and they’d have to make some blunders to hand the title over to Verstappen.

Piastri the Ultimate Team Player

Oscar Piastri has time and time again proven to be a man of integrity alongside an outstanding driver. This weekend, he took it to another level, where he first helped his teammate get out of Q2 by giving him a tow. When asked why he helped his title rival, Piastri answered that he has to work with the team beyond the year, and he believes in team play. If this were the statement made by his teammate, the British media would be praising Norris throughout the season.

McLaren has a knack for getting their drivers into tricky positions. They did the same this weekend, as they pitted Piastri early to cover Leclerc before the lead car of Norris. The pit stop for Piastri was swift and quick, but that wasn’t the case for Norris. The Briton came out behind Piastri, who was not obliged to give him the spot back. However, without much fuss, Piastri handed the position back and ensured that there were no harsh feelings between the two or the team.

Ferrari Scrape Through a Decent Result in front of the Tifosi

Coming into the weekend, Ferrari were quite hyped, expecting a good result for the team. The qualifying session on Saturday looked promising, but the drivers couldn’t put in a good time in their final laps. This meant that Leclerc would start 4^th and Hamilton 10^th due to his 5 place penalty from the Dutch GP.

Leclerc looked quite quick at the start, overtaking Piastri multiple times. However, he was soon overtaken by the McLaren, which had superior race pace and performance. Hamilton, on the other hand, fought his way from the 5^th row to a reasonable 6^th place in the race. This wasn’t the best result for the Tifosi, but it is a good result for the team after a disappointing weekend in Zandvoort.

Final Standings of the 2025 Italian GP

1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)  
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
7. Alex Albon (Williams)
8. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
9. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
10. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
11. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
12. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
13. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
14. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
16. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
17. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
18. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
19. DNF: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
20. DNF: Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)