It was another exciting weekend of Formula 1 action at the Italian Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen putting Red Bull back on top, McLaren making headlines via some late-race team orders and Lewis Hamilton experiencing his first Monza event as a Ferrari driver.<\/p>\n
With all of these topics and much more to think about before F1 returns in Azerbaijan a fortnight from now, here is F1.com\u2019s round up of everything that happened at the Temple of Speed…<\/p>\n
Verstappen breaks more F1 records<\/p>\n
McLaren arrived into the Monza weekend with the momentum that they have carried for much of the season, having claimed five consecutive victories between Austria and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
However, it was Verstappen \u2013 who had not won a Grand Prix since Imola \u2013 that put in an especially remarkable performance come Qualifying, the Dutchman surging to pole position<\/a> with a time of 1m 18.792s.<\/p>\n The lap set a new track record<\/a> at the historic circuit and marked Verstappen\u2019s 45th career pole for Verstappen. Despite this, the World Champion still had to face the challenge of having the papaya cars of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri behind him as the field lined up for Sunday\u2019s race.<\/p>\n While he briefly gave up the lead at the start after skipping the chicane, Verstappen soon returned to P1 and remained there in a commanding drive around Monza.<\/p>\n The 27-year-old ultimately crossed the line with a sizeable margin of 19.207s from second-placed Norris, in a race that proved to be the fastest World Championship Grand Prix in F1 history. It was a weekend that Verstappen summed up as \u201cunbelievable\u201d.<\/p>\n Second best (and more team orders) for McLaren<\/p>\n Few would perhaps have betted against McLaren adding to their aforementioned winning streak as the F1 paddock headed to Monza, with Norris topping the timesheets in second and third practice.<\/p>\n The team had to settle for second and third in Qualifying, however, leading Piastri to admit that their pace had \u201cnot been quite as comfortable\u201d as during other weekends. Despite this, the Australian stated that he was still feeling confident for race day.<\/p>\n Norris looked to be in fighting mode as the Grand Prix got underway, the Briton duelling with Verstappen off the line. With the Red Bull skipping the chicane during the battle, Verstappen then handed the position back to Norris.<\/p>\n It did not take long, though, for the Dutch driver to retake the lead \u2013 and with his gap at the front quickly stretching out, McLaren opted to keep their drivers out on track until the latter stages in the hope of a Safety Car occurring.<\/p>\n When the team did eventually bring their drivers in, drama occurred when Norris suffered a slow stop, dropping him behind Piastri on track. The squad subsequently chose to swap the pair around, putting Norris back into P2 ahead of Piastri in P3.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s what we decided as a team beforehand,\u201d Norris said of the call afterwards<\/a>, while Piastri conceded: \u201cThere were clearly valid reasons for swapping back. Lando qualified ahead and was ahead for the whole race, so I get that. There\u2019s just some things we need to discuss.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamilton\u2019s first Monza race with Ferrari<\/p>\n After he made a race-ending error last time out in Zandvoort, a weekend of support from the ever-passionate Tifosi was exactly what the doctor ordered for Hamilton.<\/p>\n