Oscar Piastri couldn't hide his frustration over team radio after he was ordered to swap positions with championship rival Lando Norris at the Italian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen took a surprise win in Monza after converting pole position to the race win, claiming only his third grand prix victory of the 2025 season.
The Dutchman headed the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc just missing out on a home podium in fourth.
Despite the top five finishing how they started, it was an eventful race with Verstappen and Norris swapping the lead on two occasions in the early exchanges.
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However, it was what happened at the end of the race that made the headlines, with McLaren once again at the centre of a strategy blunder.
After going almost the full race distance on a set of medium tires, the McLarens eventually pitted, however, Norris offered up his pit priority to Piastri despite no threat from Leclerc.
This resulted in Norris coming in for fresh rubber a lap later than Piastri, and after an unfortunate 5-second stop, the Brit lost second position to the championship leader.
However, the Australian was immediately told to let his rival back through and dent his championship lead over the radio leaving Piastri far from impressed.
"I mean, we said that a slow pitstop was part of racing, so I don't really get what's changed here, but if you really want me to do it, I'll do it," the 24-year-old said.
"A bit of a tough one," he added following the race.
"Once the rear calmed down a bit then it was all right. Bit lively through the race. Thanks for the effort. Not the easiest of weekends. Yeah."
McLaren's decision to force Piastri to relinquish the position in a championship fight has received huge amounts of criticism, with even race winner Max Verstappen baffled.
"Ha! Just because he had a slow stop?" Verstappen said over team radio after hearing the news.
The result cuts Piastri's lead to 31 points, however, a second place finish would have put him 37 points ahead of his teammate.
Lando Norris reacts to Oscar Piastri swap
Following the race Norris was booed by the Italian fans as he stepped onto the iconic Monza podium, but it is unknown if that was as a direct result of the controversial team orders.
The 25-year-old Brit admitted it was not a nice scenario for the team, but reiterated it was the right thing to do in the circumstances.
âI donât want to win this way, and the same with Oscar,â he said
âBut we do what we think is correct as a team no matter what people say and what their opinions are and we will stick with that.
âToday was not my fault. If I came flat out into my box and I hit all my mechanics, I would not expect to get the position back. This was out of my control," he added.
Topics:Â Formula 1, McLaren, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Motorsport
Tom Jenkins