Lando Norris claimed second place at Monza. Despite a slow pit stop, the Briton reduced his deficit to Oscar Piastri to 31 points
Lando Norris is second. A phrase we’ve heard often this year, but this weekend it almost felt like a victory. Against all odds, the McLaren driver managed to gain three points on teammate Oscar Piastri, thanks above all to the mediation of the Woking pit wall.
Until lap three, Lando had even flirted with the dream of victory—shattered by the sheer dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen, who today was simply untouchable, even for McLaren’s “rockets.
Norris: “Happy with second place”
Crossing the line 20 seconds behind Verstappen, the pivotal moment of Norris’s Italian Grand Prix came during the pit stops—not in an attempt to attack Max, who was unassailable, but to defend from Oscar Piastri’s undercut. His stop, lasting 5.9 seconds compared to the Australian’s 1.9, risked costing him second place as Piastri jumped ahead.
McLaren’s intervention, however, convinced Piastri to repay the “debt” from the 2024 Hungarian GP, when Norris himself had yielded victory to his teammate. The slow stop was addressed with remarkable maturity by Lando after the race: “ Pit stop? I don’t know what happened, but everyone can make mistakes, it happens“.
““I gave it everything, I tried to fight with Max but he was just too quick. He’s been fast all weekend, so I’m not surprised. It was a great race for me, even with a lot of ups and downs, and too many errors on my part.
““But in the end, I managed to put it all together on the final lap, so I’m really happy with second place. I just need to keep going like this”.
Photo: McLaren, Oracle Red Bull Racing
