Italian GP: Martin Brundle on Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris Team Orders, testimates “Red Bull Turnaround and” Happy “Lewis Hamilton | F1 News

The qualifications in Monza have generated the fastest average speed in the history of the F1, and for the second time in 54 years, we attended a new fastest race record, 55 seconds complete faster than the best previous.

Such a rate of course depends on the lack of safety cars or red flags and dry conditions. In addition, over the decades, the baffles have been introduced to maintain advanced speeds for the safety of fans, track workers and pilots. Cars have often slowed down in terms of power and adhesion for the same reasons, but that is the incessant technical progression in F1, here we are faster than ever.

Monza was also a good reminder that the great track action is not all about times on the turn, something that we will probably have to remember in 2026. Watching Caterham run on a national circuit, or minis of origin at the Goodwood Revival can have you on the development of your seat at a F1 speed fraction. MotoGP and superbikes are more than half a minute per turn slower than F1 in directly comparable circuits, but they are also fascinating.

Huge Red Bull and Hamilton happier

Max Verstappen caught pole position in Italy with another big tour, but it was not just one of his laser guided specials at the right time, he and his Red Bull clearly had a good touch and a long -term speed. It was a huge turnaround of the “monster” with which he had trouble a year ago.

The two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri aligned themselves second and third, and it was a weekend where, fresh in his massive disappointment a week earlier in Zandvoort after the failure of his car, Norris marginally the fastest of the two candidates for the championship through the event.

We must remember and celebrate this time in F1 because the 20 -cars are so professional and competitive throughout any car well focused on qualifying, or with a slowly executed race strategy, may surprise and mark excellent results.

Lewis Hamilton wore a drop of five -seat grid for speeding of the indiscretions going to the Zandvoort grid which was frankly a cop, and he would start the 10th, but again in the peloton as he did in Silverstone and in other races, we are witnessing Lewis driving as we remember years earlier.

All around, he looked more comfortable in the car and seems to have had an adjustment of the mentality to get the most out of what he has instead of being frustrated not to have a winning car from the race under him. He probably also accepted the speed with which Charles Leclerc is. It was nice to observe Lewis happier.

Some teams have found their cars more effective and adapted to the implementation of the Lower Force, others did not have it and had trouble back like Alpine. McLaren’s car is less dominant in the context of the low support force, as we will also see in Las Vegas, and their clear advantage in long fast corners around 125 MPH, and in the management of their degradation of tires much better than the others, simply did not count on this high speed track with high tire degradation.

Impressive piastri sails on high -risk opening towers

And so it would take place in the race with Verstappen finally waltz at the front with an apparent ease in a way in which we have become very used in recent years.

The first laps were entertaining. Despite the exit of the road and on the grass on the race to the first corner, Norris kept the foot in it and claimed the inner line. Max went deeply and had to take the escape road cutting the top of the turn two, emerging in mind. Rightly, his team asked him to give in to Norris, which also showed the confidence they had at their pace on the day.

Piastri lost a little behind this fight and Leclerc exceeded it, only so that Piastri sails around the outside of the first corner LesMo in an extremely impressive style. Leclerc would return to him and they were running hard, and the front wing of the leader of the Piastri championship and the suspensions were often at high risk, but the control and the judgment (and the confidence) of these megastares of precurs are something to observe.

Finally, it became a three -horsepower race with the McLarens about keeping Max in sight. Finally, the team’s only chance to disrupt Red Bull’s metronomic rhythm was to do something different. Verstappen opposed 37 Tour for new tires with a hard compound, McLaren extended 45 round with Piastri first with a magic stop of 1.9 seconds for soft tires used to protect itself from a hard load leclet that had adapted new hard tires from 33.

Normally, Norris would have the luxury of walking first as McLaren, but he had a cushion and team protection against his teammate in the circumstances. He opposed a lap later out of 46, but there was a problem with the front front wheel pistol and it was 5.9 seconds of yawning, he was stationary. And it inevitably appeared behind Piastri.

The McLaren team team was the right call

McLaren has now had a problem, the team had exchanged stops on stand and injured Norris without any fault on their part, otherwise to comply with a team request. This 1.9 -second judgment could and could have been normally.

They asked Piastri to give in and exchange positions. He was undoubtedly reluctant because he is a six -point swing in the battle of the championship with Norris, but he conformed and I think it was the right thing to do, as happened in the opposite in Hungary last year.

If Norris had for example sank in his stop and dispersed his mechanics, or if it was a slow stop, then that’s how the cookie collapses. But there were a number of aspects in this scenario, including previous discussions and agreements. The cohesion of this team is what makes it so dominant this season and the two drivers are intelligent enough to make it for now and in the future. Do not judge one of them for having played the team’s game, all the other teams of the grid would kill so that two big drivers work in tandem for the good of the team like this, while running the wheels of the cars and do their best to fight.

At least, Piastri has won the advantage of now being in the open beach of Norris DRS rear, but Norris continued to have the pace.

Bearman in danger of breed prohibition after unjust penalty

There have been a lot of skirmishes on the field and the race, especially between Ollie Bearman and Carlos Sainz. Bearman is now at only two penalty points for a race prohibition after various indiscretions, but I thought Monza was unfair to him. Sainz went outside in the second chican, finally clearly in part in front, but Bearman could not simply evaporate inside and that they collided while Sainz swept the Apex. I think that his work also consisted in at least compromising the progress of Sainz through the chicane and trying to exceed it at the exit.

Sainz later described it as a typical Monza race incident and I think it was, but Bearman took a penalty of 10 seconds and two penalty points on his license. The last driver to miss a race through points up was Kevin Magnussen, and his stand-in was Bearman…

But there is a much larger image here so that some drivers can consider, because it does not matter who is the fault, contact with other cars costs points and podiums, as probably happened in Monza for these two. It was the same thing a week earlier in Zandvoort when neither sainz nor Liam Lawson would give in turn 1 and that it costs them dearly. It is like having an accident on the road that you could have avoided, but not because you were “in the right”, but also now in the hospital with a radiated car.

If you want examples of what works, see Norris and Versappen on the 1 Tour 1 in Zandvoort and Piastri and Leclerc in Monza.

There were other remarkable performance by Alex Albon in his Williams in seventh, Gabriel Bortoleto in his Sauber in eighth, and Isack Hadjar in his racing bull in 10th from the start of the standard track.

Max has won 20 seconds from McLaren, although four of these seconds lost with the stand at the stand and the subsequent swaparound, but it’s still almost a minute of reversal for Red Bull since last year. Impressive.

MB

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