Max Verstappen breaks F1 record with tenth consecutive win at Italian Grand Prix
Verstappen sat behind Carlos Sainz for 14 of the 51 laps at the Temple of Speed in Monza before fighting his way past the Ferrari pole sitter at the second chicane.
From then on, the confident Dutchman never once thought about improving on the mark he shared with Sebastian Vettel and becoming the first driver in Formula 1 to achieve consecutive double-digit victories.
Sergio Perez finished second in the other Red Bull, while Sainz held off teammate Charles Leclerc in a thrilling late battle between the Ferrari drivers for the final spot on the podium.
George Russell was fifth, Lewis Hamilton, who served a five-second penalty for a collision with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, was sixth.
“This is history,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner to his superstar driver. “Incredible.”
Verstappen’s twelfth victory in the 14 rounds so far gives him a lead of 145 points in the championship.
Unbeaten since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on April 30, the 25-year-old still has a slim chance of being crowned world champion for the third time as early as the Japanese Grand Prix in three weeks and half a dozen rounds left.
Sainz lit up Ferrari’s home track with pole position and kept the dream of victory alive in front of the Italian team’s 80,000-strong crowd by holding off Verstappen on the 500-meter course to the opening variation del Rettifilo.
Verstappen filled a Ferrari sandwich, with Leclerc retaining third place ahead of Mercedes’ Russell and Perez. Hamilton started eighth but fell one position down on the first lap.
Such has been the superiority of Verstappen’s Red Bull machine this year that Sainz was expected to be easy prey for the all-conquering Dutchman. But to Verstappen’s surprise, Sainz was not prepared to make life easy for the double world champion.
On the sixth lap, Verstappen got his first chance when he caught up with Sainz on the 220-mile run to the first chicane, but the Spaniard slammed the door in his face.
“That was naughty,” said Verstappen. Three laps later, Verstappen was back on the intercom. “They have a hell of a top speed,” he said.
Further back and in Russell’s mirrors was Perez’s other Red Bull. When asked to handle his rubber, the Englishman replied: “I don’t know if you can see it, but I’ve got a car right in front of my ass.”
At the front, Verstappen sensed another chance to take the lead on lap 15. A defensive Sainz blocked the variant del Rettifilo and gave Verstappen the exit speed on the 200 mph track to the variant della Roggia.
The Red Bull and Ferrari machines were just centimeters apart at the second chicane before Verstappen, benefiting from the inside line, took the lead.
Remarkably, Sainz’s lead of 14 laps was the most ever achieved by a non-Red Bull driver this season. The Milton Keynes outfit could still become the first team to go undefeated for an entire season with eight races to go.
On lap 16, Perez moved up to fourth place while Russell – battling for top speed in his Mercedes – was unable to keep the Red Bull behind him.
While Verstappen was confidently on his way to victory, Perez moved up to third place after beating Leclerc. The Mexican set about overtaking Sainz and after several failed attempts, he finally shot past the Ferrari with five laps to go and secured a one-two for Red Bull.
After recovering from his puncture in 10th place, Hamilton moved ahead of Fernando Alonso before colliding with Piastri in the battle for eighth place. Hamilton was penalized for the incident on the Variant della Roggia when Piastri pitted for a new front wing.
“He just ran over me when I was braking,” complained the Australian rookie.
Undeterred by his penalty, Hamilton then raced ahead of Lando Norris before moving past Alex Albon’s Williams to take sixth place. He had a lead of 7.4 seconds to ensure his penalty had no impact on his result. Albon was seventh ahead of Norris, Alonso ninth.
https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/formula-one/italian-grand-prix-max-verstappen-f1-news-b1104510.html Max Verstappen breaks F1 record with tenth consecutive win at Italian Grand Prix
