McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, left, and McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain walk through the paddock after the qualifying session ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza racetrack in Monza, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the Italian Grand Prix race at the Monza racetrack in Monza, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the Italian Grand Prix race at the Monza racetrack in Monza, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands, centre left, celebrates on the podium with Pierre Wache, Red Bull technical director, centre right, McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain, left, and McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, after the Italian Grand Prix race at the Monza racetrack in Monza, Italy, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Verstappen looks bored as McLaren team orders dominate Italian Grand Prix post-race chat
MONZA, Italy (AP) — Italian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen appeared a bored-looking spectator at the post-race press conference as McLaren team orders dominated the chat.
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia, left, and McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain walk through the paddock after the qualifying session ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza racetrack in Monza, Italy, Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
MONZA, Italy (AP) — Italian Grand Prix winner Max Verstappen appeared a bored-looking spectator at the post-race press conference as McLaren team orders dominated the chat.
Verstappen even slid down the sofa and leant his head on the back of it as McLaren teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri — sitting on either side of the Red Bull driver — were peppered with questions on the incident that happened at the end of the race.
A slow pit stop saw Norris come out in third, just behind Piastri, who was ordered to let his teammate and title rival past. Championship leader Piastri grumbled at the time that “we said a slow pit stop was part of racing, I don’t get it” but relinquished the spot anyway.
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Norris went on to finish second, just ahead of his teammate, to trim the gap to Piastri from 34 to 31 points.
“It’s something that we all discussed, we have discussed it before,” Piastri said. “I think today it was a fair request, Lando qualified ahead, was ahead the whole race and lost that spot through no fault of his own.
“So, I said what I had to say on the radio and once I got the second request, I’m not going against the team.”
When pushed, however, Piastri appeared to admit that he was still dubious about whether he should have let Norris by, just because of a slow pit stop.
“I think the radio call kind of says enough, so I’m sure we’ll discuss it again,” he said.
The drivers said that similar orders would not have come into play had there been cars between them.
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“We’re not idiots,” Norris added. “But in a situation where we can just be fair, then you’d expect to be fair as a team. Today was not my fault.
“If I came flat out into my box and I hit a mechanic out the way, I also don’t expect to get the position back, but today was out of my control … We don’t want to lose or win like that but we do what we think is correct for the team.”
There are eight races left in the season, and the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is next up, in two weeks.
“Ultimately whoever wins this championship wants to win as much as they can through their own performances and things that they can control, and today that wasn’t one of those things,” Piastri said.
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