F1 news: Lewis Hamilton fuming as Lando Norris plays down Max Verstappen feud

Oscar Piastri says he's hurting after finishing second at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Australian looked like he was on course for victory after an early overtake on team-mate Lando Norris.

But his two-stop strategy allowed Ferrari's Charles Leclerc to win.

And Piastri said: "I'm not going to lie, it hurts a lot. We did a lot of things right today. There was a lot of question marks on the strategy going into the race.

"From the position we were in with the tyres looking like they did, doing a one-stop seemed like a very risky call, but in the end it was right.

"Very, very happy with the pace, with the race that I managed to achieve, just when you finish second it hurts."

McLaren are launching an investigation to determine whether Oscar Piastri broke team rules at the Italian Grand Prix.

Piastri overtook pole-setter Lando Norris on lap one but the team will assess whether he broke 'Papaya Rules' by doing so.

Team principal Andrea Stella explained: “We will have to review together with the drivers, look at the videos, understand their point of view, and then we will assess together whether they were fully compliant or not.

“We will take the learning, if there is any learning that we need to take, and then we will adjust the Papaya Rules such that they allow us to pursue in the best possible manner both the constructors' championship and the drivers' championship.”

Lewis Hamilton claimed that McLaren were "pushing too hard" and "killing their tyres" at the Italian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri started from the front and were willing to race each other, before Ferrari got in front with enough of a gap that Piastri could not overtake Charles Leclerc.

“McLaren had the pace but pushed too hard,” Hamilton explained. “They were doing much too fast laps, early on. They killed their tyres.

“I guess they planned for a two-stop, that’s why they were pushing so hard. If they backed off longer they could’ve made a one-stop.

“I was getting the information about the times they were doing. There is no way the tyres would last, at that pace. Charles did a fantastic job, well done to him.”

Max Verstappen said that he would rather "stay at home" than endure a race where his Red Bull team was not "on top of things".

The Dutchman fumed that his team were not as aware as he would like on the radio during the Italian GP, telling them to "be awake".

And he later explained that despite a disappointing race, those around him should still be performing at the highest level possible.

"In the race my battery was relatively empty, while fighting Lando of course," he said. "Then I had to go to a certain setting. at some point they have to tell me when I can go back to the quicker setting.

"I ask: 'Can i go back?', 'Oh yeah, yeah you can'. Then I thought 'What is this? you guys have all the data the entire time, you guys can exactly see when I can make those steps'.

"I shouldn't have to ask when I can go back. We might be in nobody's land, but you still have to be on top of things. otherwise, i can just stay home."

Ferrari were able to hold off McLaren as Charles Leclerc claimed victory, but the celebratory winner still believes that their rivals will be the team to run Red Bull close this season.

"Our package was working well on a track like Monza but whether it will be the same for the rest of the season I doubt," Leclerc said in his post-race interview.

"I still think McLaren are favourites but we have done a step forwards, that's for sure.

"Baku is a pretty nice track for me, so maybe we can achieve something special there [at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix next time out]."

Charles Leclerc has won the Italian Grand Prix for the second time in his career, with the home fans roaring him on for a Ferrari home victory.

The Tifosi's strategy kept frontrunners Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris behind Leclerc, as the McLaren duo finished second and third respectively.

Lewis Hamilton finished P5, one place ahead of Max Verstappen, who fumed at the Red Bull team on several occasions throughout the race.

Oscar Piastri is sat in third place, behind the two Ferraris, but has fresh tyres and will hope to overtake the two and prevent a home Tifosi victory.

Charles Leclerc leads the birthday boy Carlos Sainz, with the pair both having over 20 laps on their tyres already.

But Piastri has both in his sights, with Lando Norris just behind after overtaking Max Verstappen.

An impressive move from Oscar Piastri saw him take the Italian Grand Prix lead from his team-mate Lando Norris.

The two McLarens worked together to block the front of the grid, with George Russell forced off the track, putting the Tangerines in a strong position.

But Piastri then advanced on Norris and overtook him on the outside, with Charles Leclerc then moving ahead of the Brit again in another underwhelming start for last week's race winner.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri start today's race as the front two, with concerns raised over whether McLaren will allow them both to fight for the win.

But team CEO Zak Brown has confirmed that there are no plans to order them to concede second place.

“Always nervous," Brown told Martin Brundle. "A long run to the first corner. The field is incredibly tight so I am not anticipating a Netherlands repeat, although that would be nice. I think any of the top seven cars can win this race.

“The team orders are don’t trip over each other. We have a plan, discussed with both drivers. They drive for the team and are free to race."

Hamilton was in a self-deprecating mood during his interview with Lawrence Barretto after qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix on Saturday. The seven-time world champion labelled himself ‘not very good’ at qualifying in a wild statement.

Hamilton, who with 104 has the most pole positions in F1 history, could only manage a sixth-place qualifying finish, three places behind Mercedes team-mate George Russell. As has been the case so many times this season, the Brit looked strong during the early phases of the session, but couldn’t put together a strong lap when it counted.

In his interview with F1 TV after qualifying, Hamilton was asked why he couldn’t fight the McLaren drivers for pole position. He replied solemnly: “Yeah… because I’m not very good. Simple as. Simple as that. I’m just not very good at qualifying.”

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Lando Norris has surged into a real contender this year, and Nico Rosberg beieves he has worked out what Mclaren are now all about.

The former world champion explained what he thinks will be McLaren’s priority this year, noting: " What matters most here is OK…for a team it’s the money and the Constructors’ Championship.

“But, I mean for prestige and everything it’s the Drivers’ Championship that matters the most and McLaren have a real opportunity here if they put all the eggs in Lando’s basket.

“You have to do that and I think also the fans would be accepting of that if the scenario comes in the race.

“As Lando has shown that he is the fastest driver out there.”

imi Antonelli’s dad has already made clear his dedication to Mercedes. The 18-year-old was officially confirmed as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Silver Arrows have shown a lot of faith in the young Italian driver, who’s been a part of the junior programme since 2019. That’s despite growing up just a matter of miles away from Ferrari’s Maranello base, having been born in nearby Bologna.

While Antonelli did hold talks with the Prancing Horse prior to joining Mercedes, his dad Marco insisted he’s never looked back since. Asked if there’d been contact with them after the Monaco Grand Prix in May, he told Italian outlet Fanpage: "Absolutely not since he joined the Mercedes Academy.

“He was racing with the Ferrari brand when he made his karting debut and at the time there was Massimo Rivola (now CEO of Aprilia Racing in MotoGP) as head of the Ferrari Driver Academy who wanted to include him in the program straight away."

A cat among the pigeons, as Verstappen awkwardly takes aim at his own team and Red Bull's spending habits.

Team principal Christian Horner believes Red Bull have the fourth-fastest car now and if that continues for the rest of the year then they’ll lose both championships.

Speaking to the Dutch outfit De Telegraaf, Verstappen explained where Red Bull might have gone wrong at Monza.

Talking about qualifying in the paddock, Verstappen said: “Although it doesn’t help here that we don’t have a special Monza rear wing.

“That’s not ideal, considering the top speed. We never had that in the past years either, but then the car was good enough to compensate for that.

“Now it’s something we might have to do next year. Now the team has made a different choice and they’d rather spend the money on something else.

“But if you already have problems with the car, this makes it even worse. But of course, it’s not our only problem.”

Lando Norris is in the middle of a storm.

The Brit has continued to insist that he has not been intending to outwardly mock his newfound riva Max Verstappen.

Norris beat Verstappen to pole position and victory on the reigning world champion’s home soil at Zandvoort, with his winning margin coming in at a whopping 22.8 seconds after a particularly dominant drive.

Asked during an interview with Sky Sports F1 about uttering the “simply lovely” phrase that has been used so frequently by Verstappen in recent years, Norris offered his side of the story.

“Well, I mean, he’s won a lot of races and he’s done a lot of things,” said Norris. “I don’t know – I’m not prepared for it, I don’t prepare myself for it, so it just felt like the easiest go-to.”

Hamilton topped the timesheets in second and third practice at Monza but could only muster sixth place in Qualifying - a week after finishing P12 for the Dutch Grand Prix - and it really has not sat well with him.

The Mercedes ace has insisted his side "deserved better" and fessed up that he believed he has aready thrown away the chance of a podium.

Trying to keep his temper in check, Hamilton told Sky Sports: " I am furious, absolutely furious. I could have been on pole, at least on the front row. I just didn't do the job at the end.

"I lost a tenth and a half through Turns One and Two, and then a tenth in the last corner. No one to blame but myself. Qualifying has been my weakness for a minute now and I can't figure it out.

"I will be kicking myself for the next couple of hours but I need to move forward. We have a good race car, the team have done an amazing job this weekend, they really have."