MONZA, Italy (AP) — Here’s a guide that tells you what you need to know about the Italian Grand Prix. It’s the 16th round of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
— In the U.S., on ESPN2.
— Other countries are listed here.
Sunday: Italian Grand Prix, 72 laps of the 5.79-kilometer (3.60-mile) Autodrome Nazionale Monza. It starts at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET/1300 GMT).
Welcome to the “Temple of Speed.” Monza is one of the oldest purpose-built race tracks anywhere in the world and its high-speed corners reward the most committed drivers. It is the home race for Ferrari and its passionate “Tifosi” fans, who celebrated Charles Leclerc's win last year. Wins for Pierre Gasly in 2020 and Daniel Ricciardo in 2021 showed Monza can produce some surprises.
Max Verstappen beat title contenders Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to take pole position, clocking a Monza lap record in the process. Verstappen's time of 1 minute, 18.792 seconds made for average speed of 164.466 mph (264.682 kph). That was almost a tenth of a second quicker than the one-lap record set by Lewis Hamilton on his way to pole at Monza in 2020. And Formula 1 touted it as the fastest lap in F1 history by average speed. Norris was .077 of a second behind the Red Bull driver, with Piastri 0.190 off the pace.
Piastri's lead turned from a meager nine points to an imposing 34 with victory at the Dutch Grand Prix after his teammate and title rival Norris' car broke down near the end. Verstappen was second for Red Bull in front of his home crowd. Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls claimed his first career podium finish in third.
— Monza gearing up for Hamilton in Ferrari red at the Italian GP
— Hamilton’s grid penalty gives him ‘more to fight for’ in Monza debut with Ferrari
— Norris: McLaren’s dominance almost makes title harder to win
— Formula 1 extends Monaco Grand Prix contract until 2035
— Hamilton and Ferrari need some Monza magic at the ‘Temple of Speed’ after disastrous Dutch GP
— Oscar Piastri wins Dutch GP after Lando Norris breaks down in a key moment for F1 title race
— Kimi Antonelli says sorry to Ferrari for Charles Leclerc crash at Dutch Grand Prix
— Isack Hadjar ‘over the moon’ with first F1 podium which boosts his case for a Red Bull seat
9 — Oscar Piastri's win at the Dutch GP means he and Lando Norris are level on nine career wins each.
15 — Following the Dutch GP, Lewis Hamilton's 15 Grand Prix races this season are the most for any driver without a podium finish for Ferrari, not counting sprint races.
584 — McLaren has a vast lead in the constructors' championship with 584 points. That's 324 more than second-place Ferrari, and more than the bottom seven teams put together.
“It was tight, we were still lacking a tiny amount and we made some final changes which I think allowed me to push a bit more and that’s exactly what you need in qualifying." — Max Verstappen.
“Max has been quick all weekend and it’s never a surprise with Max.” — Lando Norris.
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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia celebrtaes after winningthe Formula One Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Netherlands, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting Thursday to discuss Iran's deadly protests at the request of the United States, even as President Donald Trump left unclear what actions he would take against the Islamic state.
Tehran appeared to make conciliatory statements in an effort to defuse the situation after Trump threatened to take action to stop further killing of protesters, including the execution of anyone detained in Tehran’s bloody crackdown on nationwide protests.
Iran’s crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,615, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. The death toll exceeds any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for hours without explanation early Thursday and some personnel at a key U.S. military base in Qatar were advised to evacuate. The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait also ordered its personnel to “temporary halt” travel to the multiple military bases in the small Gulf Arab country.
Iran previously closed its airspace during the 12-day war against Israel in June.
Here is the latest:
“We are against military intervention in Iran,” Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told journalists in Istanbul on Thursday. “Iran must address its own internal problems… They must address their problems with the region and in global terms through diplomacy so that certain structural problems that cause economic problems can be addressed.”
Ankara and Tehran enjoy warm relations despite often holding divergent interests in the region.
Fidan said the unrest in Iran was rooted in economic conditions caused by sanctions, rather than ideological opposition to the government.
Iranians have been largely absent from an annual pilgrimage to Baghdad, Iraq, to commemorate the death of Imam Musa al-Kadhim, one of the twelve Shiite imams.
Many Iranian pilgrims typically make the journey every year for the annual religious rituals.
Streets across Baghdad were crowded with pilgrims Thursday. Most had arrived on foot from central and southern provinces of Iraq, heading toward the shrine of Imam al-Kadhim in the Kadhimiya district in northern Baghdad,
Adel Zaidan, who owns a hotel near the shrine, said the number of Iranian visitors this year compared to previous years was very small. Other residents agreed.
“This visit is different from previous ones. It lacks the large numbers of Iranian pilgrims, especially in terms of providing food and accommodation,” said Haider Al-Obaidi.
Europe’s largest airline group said Thursday it would halt night flights to and from Tel Aviv and Jordan's capital Amman for five days, citing security concerns as fears grow that unrest in Iran could spiral into wider regional violence.
Lufthansa — which operates Swiss, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Eurowings — said flights would run only during daytime hours from Thursday through Monday “due to the current situation in the Middle East.” It said the change would ensure its staff — which includes unionized cabin crews and pilots -- would not be required to stay overnight in the region.
The airline group also said its planes would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace, key corridors for air travel between the Middle East and Asia.
Iran closed its airspace to commercial flights for several hours early Thursday without explanation.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Airport Authority, which oversees Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, said the airport was operating as usual.
Iranian state media has denied claims that a young man arrested during Iran’s recent protests was condemned to death. The statement from Iran’s judicial authorities on Thursday contradicted what it said were “opposition media abroad” which claimed the young man had been quickly sentenced to death during a violent crackdown on anti-government protests in the country.
State television didn’t immediately give any details beyond his name, Erfan Soltani. Iranian judicial authorities said Soltani was being held in a detention facility outside of the capital. Alongside other protesters, he has been accused of “propaganda activities against the regime,” state media said.
New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Thursday that his government was “appalled by the escalation of violence and repression” in Iran.
“We condemn the brutal crackdown being carried out by Iran’s security forces, including the killing of protesters,” Peters posted on X.
“Iranians have the right to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and access to information – and that right is currently being brutally repressed,” he said.
Peters said his government had expressed serious concerns to the Iranian Embassy in Wellington.
A demonstrator lights a cigarette with a burning poster depicting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in support of Iran's anti-government protests, in Holon, Israel, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Protesters participate in a demonstration in support of the nationwide mass protests in Iran against the government, in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
