By Tej SH
Red Bull’s driver Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, shattering Formula One great Michael Schumacher’s record for the best race time. Max completed the course in a record time of 1 hour, 13 minutes and 23.4 seconds.
Despite the efforts of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren, Verstappen, who started the race at pole position, won with a comfortable lead . The duo finished the race at P2 and P3 respectively. Lando had run into late trouble as he had a 5.9 second pit stop which affected his championship run. Currently, Piastri has a 31 point advantage over his McLaren partner.
Coming at the fourth position is the Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc followed by Mercedes driver George Russell. At P6 lies former Mercedes driver, legend Lewis Hamilton. The Italian giants managed to gain double points, while the team failed to materialise the hopes of winning or even having a podium finish at home.
F1 veteran Fernando Alonso was forced to retire early as he had faced a suspension failure. Nico Hulkenberg had faced a similar issue as he failed to start as he had faced a hydraulics issue. Hamilton had also shown incredible resilience by climbing up four spots following his pre-event grid penalty. Norris had verbally expressed his disdain over Verstappen’s early antics in the race as he exclaimed over the team radio asking ‘What is this idiot doing?’
Max Verstappen’s third race win of the season was his first since his victory in Imola in May 2025. Verstappen, already having cemented his legacy in the F1 books, further justifies his position by breaking Schumacher’s 2003 record in the same track. 1 hour, 14 minutes, and 19.838 seconds was the record that stood for more than 20 years.
Verstappen is currently sitting in third position in the 2025 Drivers Standings. At first is the Australian McLaren driver Piastri at 324 points followed by his British teammate Lando Norris at 293 points. While it is mathematically possible for Max to catch up to both of the drivers, fans assume it’s simply impossible. However, Max is a box of surprises with the Red Bull team and fans stay tuned for late surprises in the campaign.