Nothing resists the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) this season, not even a Grand Prix in which he had never stood on the podium, that of Italy, in the territory of his great rivals, the Ferraris, with the atmosphere against in Monza and starting from seventh place on the grid, six behind Monegasque Charles Leclerc, who was unable to bring victory to the Monza fans on the Prancing Horse’s 75th anniversary.
Ferrari fans had to settle for second place for Leclerc and fourth, with a spectacular comeback (starting 18th), from Spaniard Carlos Sainz, while Fernando Alonso, who equaled the racing record held by Finn Kimi Raikkonen (349) in the queen category of motorsport, had to leave when fighting for points.
Verstappen, who has eleven wins, five in a row, and is on his way to the best mark in the same season (13 of the Germans Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel), is already starting to take out the calculator, with options to win his second world title in the next test, the Singapore Grand Prix, on October 2.
TWO COMEBACKS IN PARALLEL
Most of the grid opted for the medium compound as an initial approach, except for five drivers: Leclerc, the British George Russell (Mercedes), Verstappen, who started seventh due to suspension, the Frenchman Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and the debutant Nyck de Vries (Williams), who finished ninth (two points) on his Formula 1 debut (due to the loss of Thai Alexander Albon) and was chosen driver of the day
The ‘poleman’ managed to maintain the first position against Russell, not without difficulty, Lando Norris, who started third, was stuck and lost four positions from the start, and Verstappen began his vertiginous comeback, like Carlos Sainz.
The Red Bull of the leader and current champion advanced two places in the first meters and another one shortly after when the stickers were removed from the Frenchman Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), winner in Monza in 2020. After crossing the finish line for the first time, he overtook the winner 2021 Australian Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), leaving Russell behind in fifth. He only had Leclerc left, then at 2.2 seconds. Carlos Sainz gave him the reply in the caboose. By the sixth lap he was tenth after having advanced eight positions.
The Dutchman’s teammate, the Mexican Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, with problems in the first part of the race, had to stop in the eighth and his car returned to the track with flames on the right brake. Worse was the German Sebastian Vettel, the first who had to leave.
LECLERC FOR; VERSTAPPEN WAITS
It was lap 12 (of 53) and with a virtual safety car on the track, Leclerc, who was leading, stopped to put on medium shoes; Verstappen did not pit. The leader was in front and the Monegasque, already at a green light, resumed the race just barely, third, ahead of Ricciardo, avoiding all the traffic behind the Australian, but starting to lose the race.
The McLaren soon saw the other Ferrari, Sainz’s, in the rearview mirror, who was already fourth on lap 14, behind his teammate, one position for each lap completed until then.
Verstappen was called into the pit lane halfway through the race. He put mediums, same Leclerc compound, but the Ferrari with 12 laps with that rubber. The Red Bull rejoined between the two Prancing Horse cars.
Fernando Alonso, who was running sixth, complained about a loss of power on the radio, although Alpine told him that everything was fine. Hamilton overtook him with DRS on lap 27 to take sixth and the two-time champion’s race ended on lap 32 due to a hydraulic pressure leak, according to his team.
THE HUNT, THE THRILL AND THE DISAPPOINTMENT
The champion began to abruptly cut Leclerc’s income, while Sainz, after the Dutch Grand Prix blunder in the pits, replaced the tires with a good stop, from which he returned eighth behind Checo Pérez. The man from Guadalajara had 23 laps hard and only contained a couple of turns to the man from Madrid.
Leclerc returned to the pits on lap 34 to put soft and with 19 seconds to cut in as many laps. It was impossible for him, it hardly bothered Verstappen. But what the Ferrari did not achieve, six laps to go, was achieved by a mechanical problem with Ricciardo’s McLaren.
With a safety car on the track, the drivers went in to change tires in the hope that the race would restart with everyone regrouped, but these vanished when they entered the last lap behind the safety car and with no possibility of the competition resuming in a sprint finish.
With six tests to go, and already with mathematical options of being champion in the next one, on October 2 in Singapore, Verstappen leaves Europe with a 116-point advantage over Leclerc.
The comebacks of the Dutch champion and Sainz were accompanied by those of the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), fifth after having started from the last row, and the Mexican ‘Checo’ Pérez (Red Bull), who started thirteenth and finished sixth.
A fifth straight win for Max Verstappen ?????#ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/AYpykOMnUR
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 11, 2022
