Max Verstappen took a commanding victory at the end of Formula 1’s fastest ever race, beating McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri by more than 19 seconds with Piastri ceding P2 to his team-mate five laps from the flag after a pit stop mishap briefly put Norris behind his championship-leading team-mate. 

When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen made a good start from pole to take the lead ahead of Norris. The McLaren driver drew alongside but as they tussled the Briton was forced onto the grass. Norris held firm into Turn 1, however, and Verstappen was forced to cut the chicane. 

At the start of the second lap, Verstappen chose to avoid any potential investigation of the start and he slowed to allow Norris to take the lead. Behind the front pair Leclerc again made a move on Leclerc and this time the Ferrari driver’s move was more decisive and he stole P3 ahead of the Australian. 

At the front, with DRS enabled, Verstappen closed right up to Norris and at the start of lap 4 he opened his wing and roared past to reclaim the lead. Piastri, too, used drag reduction to good effect, muscling his way past Leclerc to take P3. 

Verstappen soon began to build a gap and by lap 10 the Dutchman was three seconds clear of Norris. Leclerc shrugged off pressure from Mercedes’ George Russell to stay in fourth, while Lewis Hamilton had climbed from 10th to sixth ahead of Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. 

Soon after half distance the leading drivers began to make their pit stops. Both Mercedes headed in for Hard tyres and began to set good times on the C3. Both Norris and Piastri were asked if they would like to extend their opening stint on Mediums and both agreed.  Verstappen also continued on his starting Medium tyres as they leaders held out to see who would blink first.

Verstappen broke the deadlock on lap 38, diving into the pit lane for a 2.3s halt to make the switch to Hard tyres. He emerged in P3, 19 seconds behind Norris and 13 behind Piastri. He immediately began posting fastest laps and with the McLaren drivers’ holding out for a Safety Car, the Dutchman began to chew through the gap to the papaya cars and by lap 44 he was just 11.9s behind Norris. 

Piastri made his pit stop on lap 46 for Soft tyres and Norris mirrored the switch. The Briton’s stop was a slow one, however, due to a problem with the front left gun and he emerged behind Piastri. The McLaren pit wall asked the Australian to hand the position back to the unfortunate Norris and despite saying he didn’t understand the move, Piastri slowed and allowed Norris to reclaim P2 with five laps left. 

Out front, Verstappen was fully in control and after just 1h 13m and 24s the Dutchman crossed the line to take his 66thcareer win ahead of Norris and Piastri. Leclerc took P4 ahead of Russell with Hamilton finishing sixth to make it a strong home race for Ferrari. Albon finished seventh for Williams ahead of Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, while Antonelli was hit with a late-race 5 second penalty for driving erratically and slid to ninth. The final point went to pit lane starte​r Isack Hadjar. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Race 
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 53 1:13'24.325
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:13'43.532 19.207
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:13'45.676 21.351
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:13'49.949 25.624
5 George Russell Mercedes 53 1:13'57.206 32.881
6 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 53 1:14'01.774 37.449
7 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 53 1:14'14.862 50.537
8 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 53 1:14'22.809 58.484
9 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 53 1:14'24.087 59.762
10 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 53 1:14'28.216 1'03.891
11 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 53 1:14'28.794 1'04.469
12 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 53 1:14'43.613 1'19.288
13 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 53 1:14'45.026 1'20.701
14 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 53 1:14'46.676 1'22.351
15 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 52 1:13'26.460 1 lap /2.135
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 52 1:13'30.162 1 lap /5.837
17 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 52 1:13'31.773 1 lap /7.448
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 52 1:13'33.626 1 lap /9.301
     Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 24 34'41.502 Suspension
     Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 0 - Not started