Verstappen from Red Bull secured his tenth consecutive victory of the season by winning the Italian Grand Prix.
Red Bull racer Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix in a convincing fashion to extend his unbeaten run to 10 races this season. With this the Dutchman succeeded in breaking Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive wins in 2013. Known as Ferrari’s home track, the Monza racing circuit was dominated by two Red Bull racers. Verstappen earned the top spot, while his teammate Sergio Perez finished second. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who bagged pole position in the qualifying race, earned the third spot on Sunday.
In this article, we take a look at the winners and losers from the Italian Grand Prix:
Winners
1. There can hardly be any doubt about this. Before this year’s Italian Grand Prix, no Formula One racer had won 10 consecutive races in one single season. Max Verstappen, thanks to his incredible mindset and sheer consistency, now holds this record. “That’s a nice stat,” Verstappen said on team radio immediately after the win. “I never would have believed that was possible but we had to work for it today and that made it definitely a lot more fun,” the 25-year-old said.
2. Behind Verstappen, his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez found himself in a thrilling battle for the podium. Charles Leclerc’s involvement made the fight for the podium more intriguing. Perez overtook Leclerc on Lap 32 to eventually claim a second-placed finish.
3. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished third 11.193 seconds behind Max Verstappen. Apart from tackling Verstappen, Sainz also had to deal with his teammate Charles Leclerc. The two Ferrari drivers were involved in an intense battle as they vied for a fourth spot. Sainz ultimately finished the race less than two tenths of a second ahead of Leclerc. “Very tough, very tough. It can’t get any tougher than it was today. To keep up with the Red Bulls, I paid the price with the rear tires but I did everything I could to defend,” Sainz was quoted as saying by AP while talking about Verstappen.
Losers
1. Having been just one of the three drivers to start on the hard tyres, Lewis Hamilton could not find himself on the podium. The Mercedes racer earned a sixth-placed finish having suffered a five-second time penalty.
2. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was poised to register a ninth-placed finish but the Australian’s chances of completing top-10 were ruined due to a collision with Hamilton. The consequential damage left Piastri requiring a pit for a new front wing and forced him out of the top-10 contention. The 22-year-old ultimately had to settle for a 12th-placed finish.
Disclaimer: Except the headline and synopsis, this story has been taken from the HT News Service.