McLaren drivers describe Italian GP ‘painful’ and ‘frustrating’ after losing to Leclerc

Both McLaren drivers dubbed the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix in negative light after both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri finished behind Ferrari’s race winner, Charles Leclerc. 

Feature image credit: McLaren F1

It was a promising start to the Italian GP as the two McLaren drivers locked out the front row of the grid after a successful qualifying session. 

The two drivers later lost out to Leclerc who attempted – and successfully pulled off – an ambitious one-stop strategy to claim his second win of the season and second at Monza. 

Piastri, after a two-stop strategy, was in prime position to regain the race lead if Leclerc was to pull into the pits. However, the Australian ended up in the same position he started as Leclerc took the chequered flag.

Having finished behind the Monegasque, Piastri described his second-place finish as ‘painful’ having the lead of the race on the first lap. 

“I’m not going to lie, this result hurts. We did a lot of things right today, but Charles’ strategy looked to be the right choice. 

“From the position we were in, with the tyres looking like they did, attempting a one-stop seemed too risky. I’m very happy with the pace, and happy with the race I managed to deliver – but when you finish second it’s painful.”

However, Norris was worse off by the chequered flag as the Briton started the race in pole position before losing the lead at the Della Roggia Chicane, to Piastri. 

Following Red Bull’s Max Verstappen’s poor qualifying result, down in seventh, it gave Norris a competitive edge in the race with a good chance to cut down the deficit to the Dutchman even more. 

However, the Briton could only best a third-place finish in the race after a ‘frustrating day on track’ whilst Verstappen finished sixth. 

“A frustrating day on track,” commented Norris. “Ferrari drove a better race today, so hats-off to them, they had a better car. Well done to Oscar, he did a good job getting past me, and deserved to finish ahead. 

“We considered the one-stop race, but it wasn’t possible with the amount of graining I had. We knew it would be tight, and we’re disappointed with the end result, but we’ll go again in Baku.”

Despite the ‘frustrating’ and ‘painful’ grand prix for the drivers, the team and Norris still cut down the deficit to their championship rivals. 

McLaren now lies only eight points behind Red Bull Racing in the constructors championship with eight races to go. Another good performance by the Woking-based team and they could take the constructor’s championship lead after Baku, next time out. 

In the drivers championship, Norris’ third-place – plus the fastest lap – meant the Briton outscored Verstappen by eight points. 62 points now separate the two drivers in the driver’s standings.

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Kevin Magnussen banned from F1 Azerbaijan GP after hitting max penalty points
• Leclerc storms to Italian GP win with ambitious one-stop strategy
• F1 Italian GP: what are the potential tyre strategies?
• Norris takes Italian GP pole as Verstappen qualifies seventh
• Hamilton fastest in Italian GP final practice in unaffected session
• Antonelli to join Mercedes in 2025 as Hamilton replacement
• Hamilton quickest in Italian GP FP2 after Magnussen crash

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.