Formula 1: Verstappen celebrated record victory in Monza

The Dutchman gave the competition no chance at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday and won in front of his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez. The Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz, who had started from pole, and Charles Leclerc had to settle for third and fourth places in their home race on the high-speed circuit.

Verstappen was the first driver in the 73-year history of F1 to be on the top podium ten times in a row. In the previous week he had set the record of Sebastian Vettel (9) from 2013 at the home GP in Zandvoort. For Red Bull it was the 14th success in the 14th race of the season, the first double victory ever in the Ferrari sanctuary of Monza and the sixth this year. The Austro racing team thus expanded its record series, and the dream of a perfect season with 22 victories lives on.

“I would never have believed that this record was possible,” said Verstappen in the finish area and praised the Ferraris, who delivered a strong performance as the second force. “We were fast, but Ferrari had a super top speed. Everything felt good. Small problems at the end, but the lead was too big.” In the end Sainz was happy about the place on the podium. “It was so difficult, you can’t imagine it. I pushed so hard to keep Max and then Sergio behind me,” said the Spaniard.

The record, the “Perfect Ten”, was of great importance to Verstappen. “That’s a nice statistic,” he radioed to the pits, Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko gave deeper insights. “Max was relatively tense, this tenth win was something very important for him,” said the 80-year-old from Styria on ORF. “One and two in Ferrari country, that’s all you can ask for. If we win in Singapore, things don’t look too bad for the rest of the season.”

In Italy, Sainz, cheered on by the thousands of Tifosi in red, put up some resistance in the early stages, but Verstappen achieved historic success without any problems. It was the 47th GP win and 12th of the season for the 25-year-old. Monza was the last race in Europe this year, it continues in Singapore in two weeks. In the overall standings, Verstappen leads Perez with a comfortable 145 points and is well on the way to his third world title.

In qualifying, Sainz surpassed the RB dominator by 13 thousandths of a second and thus secured first place on the grid. The start was delayed after AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda had to park his car with an engine failure on the formation lap in front of the legendary Parabolica curve. However, a problem with the starting lights caused strange scenes: the decision to delay the start lasted for a short time, meaning that the mechanics of all teams had to wait together in the pits until they were allowed to go to the cars on the grid.

Sainz maintained his lead at the start

It started 20 minutes late and Sainz defended his lead from Verstappen in a disciplined start phase without any accidents. “He’s already slipping, so everything’s okay,” Verstappen radioed into the pits on the fifth lap and relied on the Red Bull’s better tire wear. Sainz fended off the Dutchman’s first attempt to attack in the sixth round. “That was indecent,” Verstappen commented on the Spaniard’s action.

On lap 15 the time had come, after a Sainz braking error, Verstappen passed the Ferrari hopeful in the second chicane. A turn later, Perez took fourth place from George Russell in the Mercedes, who ended up fifth ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. The pit stops after 22 of 51 laps brought no changes, but Perez put the two Ferraris under increasing pressure. It didn’t take long for Perez to pass Leclerc, just before the two had touched slightly.

A gripping three-way battle for second place developed, the Mexican in the Red Bull fought his teeth at Sainz for a long time. Five laps before the end, Perez passed the Ferrari and thus fixed the RB double victory. Verstappen, while in the lead, continued to distance himself from the competition. In the end, Sainz and Leclerc fought an exciting duel for third place.