Italian Grand Prix 2025: Race Review

To quote British motorsport journalist Will Buxton, “There are two religions in Italy; the Catholic church and Ferrari“.

While neither Charles Leclerc nor Lewis Hamilton could translate the straight-line speed of their SF-25 Ferrari into a podium position on this occasion, the Italian Grand Prix still lived up to its Temple of Speed nickname, with reining champion Max Verstappen securing pole position with a record 1.18.792 lap, before producing the fastest race in Formula One history, in a short and sweet 73 minutes.

This record was previously upheld by the Ferrari of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher at Monza, during the 2003 season.

Key Moments

The Italian Grand Prix was reduced to nineteen players before it had even begun, with Nico Hulkenberg commanded to “box to retire the car” prior to the formation lap, resulting in a rare and bewildering DNS settlement for Kick Sauber.

While Max Verstappen was able to keep a hold of his lead – once the Grand Prix finally found itself underway – the Dutch four-time world champion did so by forcing Lando Norris wide, into the grass.

As a consequence, Verstappen was urged by Red Bull to give the position back to Norris during Lap 2, to avoid occurring a penalty.

However, mirroring the tantalising display of excitement witnessed during Qualifying, the hopes and dreams of Lando Norris were soon slashed, with Verstappen comfortably able to retake the lead from the McLaren, overtaking around the outside just two laps later.

Elsewhere during the opening lap, Oscar Piastri found himself in his own predicament, failing to keep ahold of P3 position, after losing to the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc amongst the chaos of the front-row.

Similarly to reigning champion Max Verstappen, championship leader Oscar Piastri was swiftly able to regain the position, however, finding himself back in podium contention by Lap 6.

Noticing the back-markers had made little gain in their pitstops for hard tyres, McLaren took a gamble on pitting both McLaren drivers for soft tyres, following an extended stint on track, which succeeded that of Max Verstappen.

With Verstappen’s Red Bull coming into the pitlane for hard tyres at Lap 38, McLaren began to set their strategy into motion just eight laps later, with Norris encouraging the team to pit teammate Oscar Piastri first.

While Piastri entered into the pitlane 3.7 seconds behind Norris, a disasterous second McLaren pitstop – 5.9 seconds – handed the championship leader a decisive P2 position, which would have otherwise seen the Australian contribute to his 34-point lead, had McLaren not have demanded he give the position back.

This decision was controversially curated, with their rationale referencing the choices made at the 2024 Hungarian Grand Prix; a feat that seems incomparable when considering it is no longer just Lando Norris in contention for a first drivers’ championship this season.

In fact, with Oscar Piastri firmly leading with just eight races to go, one could argue that McLaren should now be prioritising the Australian driver, as was the case with Lando Norris, who was of greater contention in the Grand Prix they made reference to.

While, commendably, Piastri did hand back the position, it raises question as to whether Papaya Rules have stretched too far and, indeed, how far they will continue to be molded for the sake of “team reasons” in the races to come.

Consequently, Lando Norris concluded the Grand Prix in P2 position, whilst teammate and drivers’ championship rival Oscar Piastri was left behind in P3 position.

The 24-year-old Australian continues to lead the championship with a 31-point lead, deducting 3 points from his previous total.

While the entertainment provided by McLaren in his rear mirrors was taken in good jest, Max Verstappen ultimately earnt himself a well-deserved win, emulating the familiar dominance of the Dutchman throughout the 2023 season, with a superbly suave performance.

This further marks a 75 percent success rate for Max Verstappen at the Italian Grand Prix, concerning the last four seasons of racing.

Elsewhere, it must be commended that Alex Albon managed to secure his Williams in the points – converting a P14 starting position to a P7 finish – whilst rookie Isack Hadjar was able to translate his pitlane start to a P10 finish for Racing Bulls, off the back of a decisive podium result at the Dutch Grand Prix last weekend.

Italian Grand Prix 2025: Final Thoughts

While the race started strongly, with several twists and turns in proceedings, the Italian Grand Prix ultimately fell flat, aside from a late “incident” procured by the McLaren team.

While undoubtably controversial, it goes without saying that McLaren are navigating themselves in difficult waters when it comes to the prioritisation of their drivers, and the precedent that they are setting, moving forward in both present and future seasons of Formula One domination.

With pit stops merely an aspect of racing, I believe the decision made by McLaren far extends beyond the realm of their Papaya Rules philosophy, especially when justifying their decision by utilising a previous season’s Grand Prix that no longer accurately reflects the position of the team in the present day.

This does, however, make the prospect of forthcoming races exciting, with regard to how the drivers’ championship now plays out – for instance, will this same grace be extended to Oscar Piastri, should a further “incident” occur in the reverse?

While I would expect – and hope – this to be the case, it is growing increasingly apparent that Zac Brown favors his protégée Lando Norris, considering recent decision making, and the difference in volume of celebration coordinated towards both drivers’ wins.

How ‘fair’ the degree of Papaya Rules extends, however, simply remains to be seen.

The 2025 Formula One season continues with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 21st, 2025.