Max Verstappen takes a historic win at Monza, breaking Schumacher’s record!

Verstappen started from pole position after a remarkable qualifying session where he set the fastest lap in Formula 1 history at Monza, beating the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. This gave him the crucial advantage of starting at the front of the grid. The victory marked the first win for Red Bull in the post-Christian Horner era, with new team principal Laurent Mekies at the helm.

At the start, he and Lando Norris went wheel-to-wheel, with Verstappen briefly cutting a chicane to maintain the lead. To avoid a penalty, he was instructed to give the position back to Norris, which he did. However, he quickly retook the lead on lap four with a decisive overtake. After reclaiming the lead, Verstappen was in a league of his own. He consistently set fastest laps and built a comfortable gap over the chasing McLarens.

The Red Bull car was particularly well-suited to the high-speed Monza circuit, a notable improvement from the previous year. In front of their passionate home crowd, Ferrari had a respectable, if not spectacular, outing. Charles Leclerc finished fourth, while Lewis Hamilton, in his first Italian GP with Ferrari, started from 10th (due to a grid penalty) and worked his way up to sixth.

Historic records broken

Verstappen and Red Bull managed their pit stop perfectly, rejoining the race and maintaining their lead once the McLarens pitted. This allowed him to convert his on-track pace into a dominant win. The victory was his first since the Imola Grand Prix in May and his third of the season and it also saw him break Michael Schumacher's 20-year-old record for the fastest race in Formula 1 history.

Verstappen's pace was so strong that he was able to win by a comfortable 19.2 seconds over the second-place car, an emphatic display of the car's performance. Interestingly, the drivers who finished second through seventh also beat Schumacher's record time, highlighting just how fast the 2025 cars are. Alex Albon had a strong race for Williams, finishing seventh after a disappointing qualifying. Gabriel Bortoleto scored points for Sauber, inheriting eighth place after a penalty was given to Kimi Antonelli. A collision between Carlos Sainz and Oliver Bearman in the lower midfield was another incident of note.

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