Verstappen ends win drought at Italian GP with Norris-Piastri in late swap

Max Verstappen emphatically ended his nine-race wait for another victory by winning the Italian Grand Prix at a canter as Lando Norris trimmed Oscar Piastri's world title lead after late McLaren pit-stop drama.

Winning for the first time since May's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix for just his third victory of 2025, Verstappen won out in a thrilling early duel with Norris into both the first corner which saw the polesitter cut the first corner and then soon cede the lead after gaining an advantage.

But after repassing his British rival at the start of lap four, Verstappen checked out at the front to surprising effect ahead of McLaren cars that had won all but three of the season's races up to Sunday.

• F1 2025 Schedule | Latest F1 video and highlights
• Italian Grand Prix result | F1 championship standings
• Download the Sky Sports app for expert analysis, best video & more📱
• Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺

Norris still looked firmly on course for second to claw three points back on Piastri thereafter but briefly dropped to third behind the Australian late on after a slow single pit stop had seen his team-mate move ahead.

But, after McLaren had given Piastri - who had enjoyed a swift trouble-free stop the lap before - the earlier stop in order for him to ward off any threat from Charles Leclerc behind him, with Norris agreeing to that plan, they asked the Australian to cede second back to his team-mate.

Piastri questioned their reasoning over team radio but duly complied to restore the pre-stops order, meaning his points advantage over Norris is trimmed by three points to 31 points with eight grands prix and three Sprints still left this season.

Piastri had earlier had to fight his way back to third after twice losing his starting position in early a ding-dong battle with Leclerc.

But the Ferrari challenged faded thereafter with Leclerc finishing a distant fourth ahead of Mercedes' George Russell.

Lewis Hamilton made early ground from his penalised 10th place on the grid but once behind Russell, he could not make further headway and so finished sixth.

Alex Albon capped a fine recovery from a disappointing qualifying to finish seventh for Williams ahead of Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto, who was promoted to eighth after a five-second penalty for Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli.

With Antonelli ninth, Isack Hadjar raced from the pit lane to the final point in 10th.

More to follow…

Formula 1 heads to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 19-21, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime