McLaren team orders controversy as Lando Norris benefits and Max Verstappen wins Italian GP

Max Verstappen won a Formula 1 race for the first time since May with a commanding performance at the Italian Grand Prix. But the bigger story was an almost disastrous late pit stop for Lando Norris and the McLaren team order which came after.

Norris was on course to finish second, both McLarens waiting until the final stages to pit in the hope of a safety car. But it never came and, when the team decided it was time to change tyres, the Brit told his team to stop Oscar Piastri first, despite the Aussie being behind.

That was to help him in his battle with Charles Leclerc for third place. But it backfired when Norris suffered a slow pit stop that was almost six seconds long and, by the time he came back out on track, he was behind Piastri and set to lose further ground in their title battle.

But then came the McLaren order for Piastri to let Norris by, the justification being that the Brit had selflessly allowed his rival to pit first and so should not be punished for the unfortunate mess in the pit box. Despite initially protesting on the radio, Piastri complied and crossed the line third, one place behind Norris who narrowed the gap in the championship by three points.

Charles Leclerc crossed the line fourth, having duelled with Piastri earlier in the race. And Lewis Hamilton made it two Ferraris in the top six, finishing behind George Russell having done well to rise by four places from his starting position on a tight Monza track.

A dramatic start saw Norris go onto the grass on the run down to the first corner, but he still had enough grip in his tyres to make the apex. The same could not be said of Verstappen who cut the chicane, sparking an angry radio message from the McLaren driver.

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Red Bull told Verstappen to give up the lead to Norris and he obliged, though he was not stuck behind for long. He was back in front on lap four and this time made it stick, quickly breaking out of DRS range and stamping his authority on the race.

There was more swapping of positions behind them, with Piastri and Leclerc duelling for third place. The Ferrari driver got the better of the McLaren on the opening lap and put up a strong fight, but there was not quite enough pace in the red car to keep the Australian at bay for long.

But the Ferraris were performing well, evidenced by the early charge Hamilton was able to produce. He started 10th on the grid, dropping down five places from his qualifying position because of a penalty, but was quick to set about making up for it and was sixth within just a few laps.

Fernando Alonso was also going fairly well until the front suspension on his Aston Martin failed as he bounced over a rough kerb, ending his race. He became the second man to retire, after Nico Hulkenberg who did not even start after Sauber detected a hydraulics problem on the formation lap.

At the front, Verstappen continued to keep Norris at arm's length until lap 37 of 53, when he stopped to shed his blistering medium tyres for hards until the end of the race. McLaren kept their driver running in the hope that putting him on the softs a few laps later would give him the pace advantage to close the gap and get the overtake done.

But they would have been nervous to see Verstappen set a new fastest lap on the hard tyres and continue to show good pace. In the end, they were left to wait in the hope of a late safety car which did not come.