Norris may need new approach: 2025 Italian GP – what to watch for

The championship picture may have tilted further towards Oscar Piastri after Zandvoort, but Monza promises no shortage of intrigue beyond McLaren’s intra-team duel.

From Lando Norris’s response to his growing deficit, to Ferrari’s bid to lift the tifosi, Kimi Antonelli’s symbolic return, Red Bull’s ongoing struggles, and the chaotic fight for fifth in the constructors’ standings, the Italian Grand Prix will be about more than just the title chase.

Here’s a look at the the main storylines ahead of the 16th round of the 2025 season.

Will Norris change his approach?

Lando Norris’s championship hopes took a really big hit with his retirement from the Dutch Grand Prix, and while the situation has taken a turn for the worse for the Briton, it would be overdramatic to start declaring he is now facing an almost hopeless task.

Oscar Piastri‘s advantage of 34 points is the biggest it has been all year long, and the Australian’s consistence – added to McLaren‘s superiority – means Norris’s plight is far from easy, but also far from impossible.

For one, with nine races left to go – three of them sprint weekends – there are still 249 points up for grabs for a driver. That’s an awful lot.

Piastri is the only driver who has scored points every weekend so far, but as Zandvoort showed, McLaren’s reliability is not bulletproof.

McLaren is in a class apart, and while that makes Norris’s job harder because there are no rivals to steal points from Piastri, it’s a factor that can also play in his favour, as a single retirement from Piastri effectively means an easy victory for the British driver.

Norris said after Zandvoort that “the only thing I can do is try to win every race.” But if he won the next five – no easy feat, granted – he would overtake Piastri (if the Australian finished second in each one).

The reality is that, despite the Zandvoort result, nothing has changed in how Piastri and Norris need to approach the upcoming grands prix.

With so many races still to go, they both need to keep trying to go for victory. At least for now, nothing else will suffice.

Can Ferrari cheer up the tifosi?

The Dutch Grand Prix was a bit slap on the face for Ferrari, which left with zero points after Lewis Hamilton crashed out and Charles Leclerc was taken out by Kimi Antonelli.

On top of that, Hamilton was handed a five-place grid penalty for Monza, which means starting the race in the top 10 would already be considered a positive result.

Although it bounced back from a terrible Friday, Ferrari’s form at Zandvoort wasn’t particularly encouraging, with Leclerc looking to end fifth or sixth at best.

Last year, Leclerc emerged as a somewhat surprise winner at Monza, but a repeat of that this year seems highly unlikely given the Scuderia’s current form, not to mention McLaren’s advantage at the front of the field.

Aiming for a podium finish would be a more realistic goal for Leclerc this weekend, while Hamilton’s fate will depend a lot on what he can do in qualifying to try to compensate for his penalty.

Realistically, Ferrari is unlikely to challenge McLaren’s current pace, yet history has shown that Monza can produce unexpected results — just as it did for Leclerc last year.

The question is whether Ferrari can harness the passion of its home crowd to exceed the limits of its car, or whether the ‘temple of speed’ will merely amplify its struggles.

Will Antonelli put 2024 error to rest? 

This weekend marks a year since Kimi Antonelli‘s baptism of fire at Monza, when his much-anticipated F1 debut in first practice ended in the barriers.

What was meant to be the dream scenario – a young Italian rookie making his bow in front of the tifosi – turned into a harsh reminder of how unforgiving F1 can be.

Even Toto Wolff later admitted that Mercedes had made a mistake by debuting him at Monza, given the intensity of the occasion and the emotions surrounding a home event.

Since then, Antonelli’s story has been one of flashes of promise interrupted with growing pains, as highlighted by his mistakes during last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix.

The raw pace that made him such a coveted prospect has been clear at times, but moments of inexperience have often undone him.

The clash with Leclerc at Zandvoort was the latest reminder that Antonelli’s consistency still lags behind his talent.

Mercedes’s narrative hasn’t changed, of course, as Toto Wolff again found himself defending his protege’s performance, insisting that he wants him to keep being aggressive at the risk of making mistakes.

To his credit, Antonelli has shown resilience, bouncing back after setbacks and steadily learning how to manage the demands of a full F1 season at Mercedes.

That makes this return to Monza a symbolic checkpoint.

For Antonelli, the chance to put last year’s painful debut behind him will be about more than just scoring points; it will be a measure of whether he has grown into a more composed, dependable driver.

The question is whether he can show that the scars of his Monza crash belong firmly in the past.

Is Red Bull set for more pain?

Max Verstappen‘s return to the podium at Zandvoort was Red Bull’s first top-three finish on Sunday since the Canadian Grand Prix in June.

While Ferrari heads to Monza under pressure, Red Bull arrives under no fewer question marks, and Monza’s unique demands could well expose its weaknesses further.

If Red Bull’s 2024 performance is anything to go by, the low-drag set-up required at Monza is unlikely to play to its strengths this weekend.

Verstappen had a miserable race last year on his way to a very distant sixth place, and while the Zandvoort showing offered a glimpse of hope, the nature of the Monza layout could make that performance very difficult to repeat.

Monza’s long straights and heavy braking zones are likely to expose weaknesses in the RB21’s efficiency and tyre management, aspects that hampered Verstappen even at Zandvoort.

So while the Dutch GP podium offered hope, Red Bull is set to remain vulnerable at Monza, particularly as the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari might be more competitive than at Zandvoort.

Who will lead the fifth-place battle?

The one certain thing ahead of each grand prix weekend appears to be that McLaren will be leading the field. But beyond that, it’s still anyone’s guess who will be the British squad’s main challenger.

That situation is almost taken to extremes when it comes to the fight for fifth in the constructors’ championship, with five teams still in the mix as their form fluctuates from one track to the next.

Williams, Aston Martin, Racing Bulls, Sauber, and Haas are all locked in a tight points cluster, with just a handful of points separating the midfield pack.

Williams appeared to be back at its usual place in Zandvoort and has a healthy points advantage over Aston Martin, but its position is far from secure with so many races to go.

Aston Martin’s form should be a worry for Williams, as only a series of misfortunes kept the former from scoring a significantly better result last weekend.

Racing Bulls, at least in the hands of Isack Hadjar, was quite comfortably the best of the rest at Zandvoort and is just two points behind Aston.

After a few strong races, Sauber dropped the ball in the Dutch GP and left the Netherlands without any points, so it can’t afford to lose more ground at Monza.

Beyond the sporting significance of securing the best possible finish, there is a substantial financial incentive at stake, and with tens of millions of dollars potentially swinging between teams based on their constructors’ position, expect the midfield battle at Monza to be fiercely contested once more.