Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull, completing a record 10th consecutive victory. He swept into the lead at Monza and was untouchable once in front to continue his remarkable run of success in beating his team-mate Sergio Pérez into second and the Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc into third and fourth. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton were fifth and sixth for Mercedes.
Verstappen played a waiting game in the initial phases of the race from second on the grid before finally passing Sainz for the lead and from which point he was unassailable, as he has been in the previous nine races of his winning run.
With his 10th consecutive victory he has passed Sebastian Vettel’s previous record of nine successive wins and he stands alone on a sequence that he looks on course to extend even further. He has now won every race since the Miami GP in May.
Red Bull now have their 14th successive win of the season, also a record, and with eight races remaining have moved a step closer to doing what was previously considered all but impossible in closing out an entire season undefeated.
With Verstappen’s 47th career win he now has two in a row at Monza and 12 from 14 races this season and leads Pérez by 145 points in the world championship. He is on course to potentially see out the title in Japan with six meetings remaining.
Sainz had held his lead from Verstappen on the drag into turn one and for the opening laps but when DRS was enabled on lap three, the Dutchman moved to within half a second of the leader. Sainz was in no mood to surrender without a fight and attacked the laps to hold a slender lead. Verstappen made a move at turn one but Sainz refused to yield and pushed him wide. “That was naughty,” Verstappen said, but it was a legitimately robust defence.
The pair remained nose to tail as Verstappen reset for another shot, with the top three within a second of one another, while Pérez vied for fourth with Russell. Verstappen did not have quite enough pace, with his DRS advantage minimised on the low downforce track, to pass the Spaniard.
On lap 15 Verstappen tried again on Sainz they went wheel to wheel as he went round the outside in turn one and then remained parallel through the Curva Grande to finally claim the lead as they entered the Roggia chicane. The race was effectively decided there.
Sainz had worked his tyres hard and struggling for grip was now holding up Leclerc, who was being chased down by Pérez. Verstappen meanwhile, in clear air, had already gone, his lead over four seconds by lap 19. Sainz took his stop on lap 20, followed in by Russell. Verstappen covered them off a lap later also taking the hard rubber as did Leclerc who emerged just behind Sainz.
Pérez pitted a lap later but remained in fourth behind both Ferraris. With the stops shaken out, Verstappen had held his lead from Sainz, Leclerc and Pérez. Pérez was all over Leclerc who also defended stoutly but could not hold him up and the Mexican eventually passed on lap 32.
Verstappen was cruising out front with an eight-second lead as Pérez chased down Sainz. By lap 43 he was diving at the Spaniard but to no avail as Sainz defended well until lap 46 when he made the move stick at turn one.
Alex Albon and Lando Norris enjoyed a good scrap for sixth in the midfield, as did Hamilton vying with the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri. The pair made contact at Roggia on lap 41 with both cars going off track and Hamilton taking eighth, but the British driver was given a five-second penalty for causing a collision.
With the Red Bulls leading, it left Leclerc and Sainz against one another in a fight for third that was at moments dangerously close to taking each other out of the race. Sainz maintained his edge and the final podium place as Verstappen swept into the record books winning by over 10 seconds.
Albon was an impressive seventh for Williams, Norris eighth for McLaren, Fernando Alonso ninth for Aston Martin and Valtteri Bottas tenth for Alfa Romeo. – Guardian
