Max Verstappen stormed to a dominant Italian Grand Prix victory, converting pole position into a trip to the top step of the podium. Meanwhile, at McLaren, Oscar Piastri was left frustrated after he was forced to return a position to team-mate Lando Norris after an accidental undercut created an awkward situation.
Verstappen lost control of the race after a tussle with Norris at Turn One on the opening lap. The polesitter shuffled him onto the grass on the run down to the corner, and then retained the lead by taking to the rumble strips after the McLaren racer made an overtake attempt on the inside. To avoid a penalty, the Red Bull driver handed the position back, but he wasn’t behind for long, snatching back the lead from the championship’s second-placed driver.
Behind them, Piastri was shuffled back to fourth by Leclerc. The McLaren and Ferrari drivers swapped places multiple times before the championship leader checked out, leaving the defending race winner to scrap with George Russell for fourth.
From there, Verstappen checked out in the lead. The reigning world champion opened up a six-point lead over Norris, although he was fortunate not to see this eradicated when Fernando Alonso suffered a suspension failure in sector three. The Aston Martin driver was able to hobble back to the pit lane.
With the front five cars strung out, McLaren had no option but to run long on their medium tyres in an attempt to put pressure on Verstappen at the head of the field. This strategy backfired when Piastri came in before Norris, only for Zak Brown‘s pit crew to execute a slow stop.