Perfect 10: Verstappen creates history in Italy
Monday, 4 September 2023
Max Verstappen set a new F1® benchmark with a 10th win in a row at Monza as part of another Red Bull 1-2, while Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc engaged in a furious Ferrari fight for the final spot on the rostrum.
Max Verstappen set a Formula 1® record with a 10th straight win at the Italian Grand Prix, the Red Bull Racing driver snapping Sebastian Vettel's benchmark of nine straight wins set in 2013 for the same team at Monza.
Verstappen's victory was, by 2023 standards, hard-fought, as pole-sitter Carlos Sainz repelled the Red Bull for the opening 14 laps, the most laps led in a single race by a team other than Red Bull all season.
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Verstappen eventually pressured Sainz into a mistake and passed the Ferrari driver at the Roggia chicane on lap 15, and cruised away thereafter to win at Monza for a second year running and for the 12th time in 14 races this season, his series lead swelling to 145 points.
Behind the all-conquering Dutchman, a ferocious late-race fight between Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez, along with Ferrari duo Sainz and Charles Leclerc, was settled in Perez's favour with five laps left, Perez completing Red Bull's sixth 1-2 finish of the season.
Sainz rounded out the podium after a robust defence of third against Leclerc.
Ferrari's strong showing at home saw the Scuderia jump Aston Martin into third in the constructors' championship, after Fernando Alonso (ninth) and Lance Stroll (16th from last on the grid) had a muted weekend at Monza.
Aussie watch
Oscar Piastri was frustrated to leave Italy with no points after finishing 12th at Monza, the Australian making contact with McLaren teammate Lando Norris, Mercedes' seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and Scuderia AlphaTauri fill-in Liam Lawson over the 51 laps.
Piastri, who led a Grand Prix lap for the first time during the first pit stop phase and set the fastest race lap for the first time in his career, made an unplanned second pit stop late in the race after having the front nosecone of his MCL60 broken after contact with Hamilton on lap 41, which the Mercedes driver apologised for post-race and was issued a five-second penalty for during it.
Piastri was later given a five-second penalty of his own after leaving the track and gaining an advantage in his fight with Lawson, a sanction that dropped him behind the New Zealander after the chequered flag dropped.
Unsung hero
With just two cars – Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauri (which broke down on the warm-up lap) and Esteban Ocon's Alpine (which was retired on lap 40 with steering vibration issues) not finishing at Monza, points for the smaller teams were hard to come by, making 10th for Valtteri Bottas a welcome result for an Alfa Romeo outfit that hadn't scored a point since the Canadian Grand Prix, six races ago.
Bottas, who qualified 14th, spent 19 laps inside the top 10 and was the biggest beneficiary of Piastri's pit stop for repairs after the Australian's clash with Hamilton, the Finn finishing in the top 10 for just the second time since the Bahrain season-opener, when he finished in eighth place.
The single point for Alfa saw the team draw to within one point of Haas for eighth in the constructors' championship, after Nico Hulkenberg (17th) and Kevin Magnussen (18th) were the final classified finishers at Monza.
Number to know
13: The number of years Hamilton will have spent with Mercedes by the end of his contract extension to 2025, which was announced in the lead-up to the Monza weekend. It's the longest any driver has spent with one team in F1® history, and will take the eight-time world champion into his 40s.
(Ferrari) had a lot of top speed, it was so hard to get close and get a move on into Turn 1. I had to force him (Sainz) into a mistake … I just had to pick my moment.
Italian Grand Prix: top 10
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 1hr 13mins 41.143secs
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) +6.064secs
3. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +11.193secs
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +11.377secs
5. George Russell (Mercedes) +23.028secs
6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +42.679secs
7. Alex Albon (Williams) +45.106secs
8. Lando Norris (McLaren) +45.449secs
9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +46.294secs
10. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) +64.056secs
Standings (top 5)
Drivers' championship
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 364 points
2. Sergio Perez (Red Bull Racing) 219 points
3. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) 170 points
4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 164 points
5. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) 117 points
Constructors' championship
1. Red Bull Racing (583 points)
2. Mercedes (273 points)
3. Ferrari (228 points)
4. Aston Martin (217 points)
5. McLaren (115 points)
Next race
Round 15: Marina Bay, Singapore (September 15-17)
