Italian GP conclusions: McLaren team orders, Norris and Piastri puppets, Verstappen’s little victories

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen claimed his third victory of the F1 2025 season at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Verstappen dominated from pole position to end an eight-race winless streak, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri second and third respectively after McLaren’s latest team orders controversy. Here are our conclusions from Italy…

McLaren is determined to stage manage Oscar Piastri vs Lando Norris

There is one important distinction between Hungary 2024 and what unfolded in the closing laps at Monza on Sunday.

The moment Lando Norris’s left-front wheel failed to attach at the first attempt was the moment this stopped being a McLaren thing and instead became one of those things. A racing incident, to borrow a phrase.

It was, in other words, not Oscar Piastri’s responsibility t