Charles Leclerc executed an audacious one-stop race to beat the McLaren drivers to deliver Ferrari a memorable win on home soil at the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix.
The top six drivers were all equipped with the Medium compound to begin the race, but Red Bull elected to gamble with the choice to go with the more durable Hards.
This time around, Norris executed a brilliant launch to remain unopposed as team-mate Piastri behind cut across to cover Russell, who ended up taking to the run-off.
However, Norris would once again squander the lead on the opening lap as Piastri managed to squeeze his McLaren around the outside into the Della Roggia chicane.
Norris was compromised on the exit, though, and Leclerc accepted the invitation to slice up the inside into Lesmo 1, relegating the pole-sitting McLaren down to third.
Behind Norris came Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, Russell and then Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.
Nico Hulkenberg, who had qualified within the top 10, was bidding to end Haas’ barren points run, but a poor first lap saw him end up on the grass on the run to Ascari.
Hulkenberg would return the favour to RB, though, when he attempted an ambitious lunge down the inside into Turn 1 on Yuki Tsunoda, resulting in a damaged front wing and a forced pit-stop with Haas, and a retirement for the victim in the clash.
Both drivers would be slapped with penalties over their respective misdemeanours; Ricciardo receiving five seconds, whilst Hulkenberg landed a 10-second time drop.
The battle at the top was stagnant as the drivers strived to preserve their rubber, but there was a change as Perez seized Russell’s seventh place using DRS on Lap 11.
Russell had lost a front wing end plate earlier in proceedings and sliding to the back of the leading pack prompted Mercedes to pit him on that lap to make the repairs.
At the sharp end, Piastri was beginning to utilise McLaren’s pace in race trim to stretch his legs over Leclerc, who was now coming under pressure from Norris behind.
Norris was told to box to undercut Leclerc and the Briton obliged with that request on Lap 14, gaining the position once the Ferrari emerged out the pits on new Hards.
McLaren responded to that with Piastri coming in on the next lap, while his compatriot Ricciardo was given 10 seconds extra due to RB serving his penalty incorrectly.
Sainz inherited the race lead as he was still to make a pit stop, but that changed on Lap 19 as the Spaniard discarded his starting Mediums to switch over to the Hard.
Red Bull opted to reduce Verstappen’s initial stint as he came into the pits on Lap 22 to hand the lead to Perez, but his advance was halted with a prolonged 6.2s stop.
Perez would receive a much smoother stop as he pitted on the next lap, with the Mexican returning to the track in eighth place behind Esteban Ocon in the first Alpine.
Ocon’s long-running Alpine would not pose a problem to Perez as the Red Bull man eased his car ahead into Turn 1. Russell then demoted Ocon into Ascari on Lap 25.
Norris reported that he was beginning to struggle with graining, which provided Ferrari with the impetus to tell Leclerc that there was an opening to pass the McLaren.
Meanwhile, Perez was back on Russell’s rear and attacked his rival into Turn 1. The Mercedes driver cut across the chicane and was made to relinquish seventh place.
Ferrari prepped to receive Leclerc a second time, but retracted into the garage as McLaren made the call to bring Norris in a second time to go to Mediums on Lap 33.
Russell and Perez both pitted in the coming laps, with the latter keeping the upper hand. Hamilton was the next to make his second pit stop onto Mediums on Lap 37.
Perez had retained the place over Russell, but the Briton managed to make a move stick into Turn 1 and then held the position through Curva Grande and the chicane.
Verstappen was told to fight against a charging Norris despite his reservations over the radio, and the Dutchman parked his Red Bull to the inside at Turn 1 on Lap 40.
However, Verstappen would be powerless to stop Norris from surging past with DRS open down the start-finish straight to regain fourth, behind his team-mate Piastri.
Red Bull took that as an optimal moment to make Verstappen’s pit stop, while Norris was told he needed to go on maximum attack to catch the one-stopping Ferraris.
Piastri was within DRS range on Sainz once Lap 45 came about and at the second attempt he made a simple pass down the back straight towards the Ascari chicane.
Norris was the next McLaren to reel in Sainz and he completed a straightforward overtake on the Ferrari into Turn 1 on Lap 48 to move back up into the podium spots.
Piastri was gaining on Leclerc but not at the rate needed to catch the Ferrari to mount an overtake as the Monegasque continued to manage his rubber out in the lead.
Leclerc coasted home with a 2.5s advantage over Piastri to clinch his second win this season and his second win at Monza as a Ferrari man, with Norris back in third.
However, Norris bagged the fastest lap to gain another point towards his championship aspirations, with Verstappen trailing home in sixth behind Sainz and Hamilton.
Russell took a disappointing seventh in the other Mercedes, with Perez in the second Red Bull back in eighth as McLaren made more inroads into the champion’s lead.
Alex Albon converted his encouraging grid position into two points for Williams, while Magnussen managed to beat Fernando Alonso to claim the final point for Haas.
