Dominant Max Verstappen wins Italian GP ahead of Lando Norris - ESPN

Max Verstappen took his third victory of the season with a dominant performance ahead of the championship-leading McLarens at the Italian Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion, who started from pole position, crossed the line 19 seconds clear of Lando Norris in second place after the two McLaren drivers became entangled in an awkward team orders controversy in the final 10 laps.

McLaren attempted to gain an advantage over Verstappen by leaving their pit stops as late as possible, but in doing so accidentally shuffled Oscar Piastri ahead of Norris when the British driver had a slower pit stop.

McLaren had hoped a late switch to soft tires would give its drivers a chance to take advantage of a late safety car, but in doing so extended their first stint to 45 laps.

The pit wall called Piastri, who was running third, into the pits first despite a team policy of ensuring the lead car, in this case Norris, would usually get preference.

There was a concern that leaving Piastri out a lap longer than Norris would put him under threat from the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in fourth place, and Norris was told that he would not lose a position by pitting later.

McLaren executed a 1.9-second stop on Piastri, but a slow change on the left front tire of Norris' car a lap later saw his pit stop extend over five seconds, meaning he rejoined the race behind his teammate.

«It's super enjoyable to win here,» Verstappen said after the race. «It was a great day for us. Lap 1 was a bit unlucky but after that we were flying. The car was really enjoyable. I could manage the pace quite well throughout that first stint and we pitted at the right time.

»Fantastic execution by everyone by the whole team. The whole weekend, we were on it."

Dominant