Italy

Monza produced a shock. Russell took pole but bogged down at the start, letting Markelov sweep around the outside through the first chicane. The real story was Makino, who climbed from fourteenth on an alternate strategy, starting on the medium tyre while most ran supersofts. He carved through the field, pitted very late and rejoined still in front to take a maiden victory and lead a Russian Time one-two, with Markelov second and Albon third. The supersoft runners faded badly; Russell and Norris fought their title duel mid-pack, finishing fourth and sixth. Fuoco was disqualified for a non-compliant throttle map, and Sette Câmara, forced into a pit-lane start despite qualifying second, recovered to seventh and set fastest lap, though the bonus point passed to Markelov. The Sprint went to Russell, who pounced when Markelov locked up and ran wide at the first chicane to take the lead, then held the Russian Time man at bay to win by just over a second. Sette Câmara completed the podium after passing Albon and Latifi, while Albon retired with a technical problem. Russell's strong weekend stretched his championship lead to twenty-two points.