Lando Norris fumes at 'idiot' Max Verstappen after dramatic start to Italian Grand Prix

Lando Norris was left fuming with Max Verstappen after an action-packed start to the Italian Grand Prix. The two are friendly outside of their cars but the Brit labelled his rival an "idiot" after the Dutchman cut the first corner chicane to retain his lead of the Monza race.

Verstappen started on pole but it was Norris, on the front row alongside him, who seemed to get the better launch off the line. But as the Red Bull came across the track to defend, the McLaren driver had to take evasive action and ended up running onto the grass.

Regardless, he still had the speed to get up the inside of Verstappen heading into the chicane. Norris made the apex, but his rival didn't, cutting the chicane and coming back onto the track still in the lead of the race.

Norris made it clear that he was unimpressed with that move. Over the radio, he fumed: "Yeah, what the... what is this idiot doing? Come on... He has put me in the grass and then he has just cut the corner."

The stewards soon noted the incident and it was clear that Red Bull were worried a penalty might be heading their driver's way. And so the instruction came over the radio, telling Verstappen that he had to surrender the lead of the race and give the place back to Norris.

He obliged at the end of the first lap, easing off the throttle slightly on the start-finish straight to allow the McLaren to slip past. And it almost let Oscar Piastri in too, though the Australian was too busy defending from Charles Leclerc in the end.

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Usually this season, the McLaren cars have had the pace to power off into the distance when out in front. But it was not the case here as Verstappen's Red Bull had greater straight-line velocity which was proving to be a powerful weapon at the Temple of Speed.

On lap four, Verstappen sensed his opportunity and took it, this time judging the braking zone into that first corner to perfection and re-taking the lead. And he capitalised on that, opening up a gap of more than three seconds to Norris by the 10th lap of 53.

While Norris was biding his time, the battle behind him continued to rage on. Piastri and Leclerc swapped places several times as the Ferrari driver put up a stern fight, much to the delight of the local fans in the grandstands.

And there was more for the Tifosi to cheer about a little further back with Lewis Hamilton making impressive progress. The Brit started 10th after serving a grid penalty but wasted no time as he found strong pace in his car, making four overtakes to make his way up to sixth place.