Oscar Piastri’s race was anything but ‘boring’. A skirmish in the opening laps of the race with Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc opened a sizable gap to championship rival and teammate Lando Norris.
It was a pit stop fumble and team orders’ call by McLaren that sent Piastri’s race in a different direction than the Aussie championship leader may have intended.
Overall, though, Oscar reports that he had a “pretty lonely race” after fighting his car through the opening laps.
“We struggled through the first part of the race. The car wasn’t exactly how I liked. Once the tires went away it felt a bit better which is never a great sign. Happy with the points and I’ll take them.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, P3
Piastri, as always, the face of calm confidence – even when losing a few points to Lando Norris in the F1 World Championship battle.
Leclerc couldn’t fight back against the pace of the McLaren
Piastri may have battled with Charles Leclerc in the opening laps of the race, but in the driver cooldown room he explained to Norris how he made quick work of the Ferrari’s lack of pace in the corners.
Jun 14, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc (16) looks on during FP3 practice at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images | David Kirouac-Imagn Images
Ferrari Team Principal was later asked why Charles could not pull off a win from P4 as he did at the 2024 Italian Grand Prix.
“I think Charles did a good job today, but the target was to finish on the podium. We overheated the tyres [during the battle with Piastri], but we were not that far from the McLaren… only 5 seconds.”
Fred Vasseur, Ferrari Team Principal
Charles Leclerc managed his expectations coming into the race at Monza and agreed with Vasseur that the tire management is what cost him the battle to Piastri.
“It was a nice battle with Oscar at the start, then they just had more pace than us. I tried things that wasn’t in the car, and so we lost the rear a couple of times. I tried, but I have no regrets.”
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, P4
Piastri decides to obey contentious McLaren team orders
The 2025 Italian Grand Prix was yet another in a string of team orders decisions that will have Piastri and Norris fans battling it out post-race.
In a call that left the commentators and even Max Verstappen, himself, stunned, Piastri was forced to relinquish his 2nd place to Lando after Lando’s pit stop fumble.
Piastri reacted calmly, as always, to this call in his post-race interviews.
“There’s clearly valid reasons for swapping back, and you know, Lando qualified ahead, was ahead the whole race. I get that. There’s just some things we need to discuss”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, P3
McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella, reaffirmed his choice to swap the drivers back, citing radio calls made before the pit stop sequence. Those calls had made it abundantly clear that they would pit Oscar first to retain the position of Lando Norris P2, Oscar Piastri P3.
“Since the order had been set with Oscar first, and then the delay, we felt the right thing was to return to the positions we had before the stop. I’m sure Oscar is comfortable with this, he already was during the race. It’s another example of us showing the values and principles we hold at McLaren.”
Andrea Stella, McLaren Team Principal
There were mixed emotions on the pit wall and in the cars, with Max Verstappen’s laughing radio message aired to fans. However, a strong P3 finish for Oscar means that this conversation will likely be tabled to Baku.