Max Verstappen called out for ‘idiot’ Monza moment that nearly jeopardised Italian Grand Prix win

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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the 2025 F1 Italian Grand Prix on Sunday for his first victory in nine rounds, but the Dutchman almost risked failing to master Monza.

The 27-year-old has now established himself as one of the most successful F1 drivers in the all-time history of the Italian GP, with three victories around Monza to his name. Verstappen also won the Italian GP in 2022 and 2023, so he now has the joint-fourth most wins thus far.

Only Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton with five Italian GP wins each have mastered Monza more often than Verstappen to date, too. One of Nelson Piquet’s four Italian GP wins came at the only edition ever run at Imola in 1980, with wins at Monza in 1983, ‘86 and ‘87.

Verstappen won the 2025 Italian GP from pole position, as well, after denying McLaren rival Lando Norris by just 0.077 seconds at the very end of Q3. Red Bull running a low-downforce set-up even paid off in the Italian GP, as the Dutchman won with a 19.207s lead over Norris.

Max Verstappen branded an ‘idiot’ for staying ahead of Lando Norris after cutting Monza’s Rettifilo chicane

Mastering Monza for the third time in the past four years also saw Verstappen do the Italian double after winning the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola this May. But Tim Coronel was left concerned for his compatriot’s hopes on Sunday after he shortcut the Rettifilo chicane.

READ MORE: Every time Max Verstappen has crashed out of the lead of an F1 Grand Prix

Verstappen used the run-off area at Turn 1-2 to stay ahead of Norris, after the McLaren man made a late lunge into the Rettifilo chicane for the lead at the start of the Italian GP. Red Bull quickly advised Verstappen to yield the place to avoid a penalty, which he did at T1 on Lap 2.

Coronel has told RacingNews365 that he thought Verstappen’s Italian GP pole at Monza last Saturday showed “the speed is there” for Red Bull. But Verstappen shortcutting the Rettifilo chicane to stay ahead of Norris at the start of Sunday’s Italian GP then left Coronel sweating.

The Dutchman added: “I thought, ‘Oh s—. Idiot. Why are you doing that?’ Because you’re taking a risk if you don’t give that position back. He gave it back, but he went over it again so quickly. And I thought, ‘Ah, wait a minute, that means there’s a lot left’.”

Lando Norris called Max Verstappen an ‘idiot’ at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix incident

Unlike when Verstappen parked his Red Bull on Hamilton’s Mercedes in the 2021 Italian GP after refusing to yield to his British rival into the Rettifilo chicane, the Dutchman utilised the run-off area to avoid any contact with Norris instead of trying to hold on around the outside.

Norris also called Verstappen an “idiot” on McLaren’s team radio for trying to build a lead at the start of the Italian GP after shortcutting the Rettifilo chicane to stay in front, having even used Monza’s pit straight narrowing before Turn 1 to leave the Briton driving onto the grass.

But Red Bull wisely told Verstappen to immediately yield the lead of the Italian GP, as Norris had a legitimate right to claim the racing line through the Turn 1-2 chicane after a late lunge gave him track position. Giving the place on L2 also meant Verstappen could hit back on L4.

McLaren and Norris had no response to Red Bull and Verstappen’s pace. So, any penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage could have needlessly jeopardised the four-time drivers’ champion’s hopes for winning the Italian GP for the third time in the past four years.