"MONZA, Italy -- As he closed in on victory in the closing laps of the Italian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen took a moment to chuckle at the running order of the orange cars trailing in the distance behind him. When informed title contenders and teammates Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri had swapped positions on instruction of their McLaren team, the Red Bull driver couldn't help but laugh. "Ha! Just because he [Norris] had a slow stop?""
"What followed that was not standard practice. Perhaps unusually as the second car, Piastri pitted first and his stop went off without a hitch as McLaren's crew sent him off in 1.9s. Norris' a lap later fell short of that usual standard -- he was stationary for four more seconds, a gap that was enough to mean he emerged behind his teammate and title rival."
Max Verstappen laughed at the running order as he closed in on victory at Monza with the two orange McLarens trailing. Red Bull stopped earlier, and McLaren delayed pitstops hoping for a late Safety Car. Oscar Piastri pitted first and left in 1.9 seconds, while Lando Norris's next stop lasted four additional seconds, dropping Norris behind Piastri. McLaren instructed Piastri to let Norris pass to restore the original order; Piastri protested briefly but complied. The swap reignited debate over fairness amid a tight championship fight and compounded Norris's recent misfortune following a car failure at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]