Leclerc denied at Monza as Verstappen emerges victorious under the safety car

Verstappen now sits comfortably atop the drivers ranking with 335 points bagged so far. Leclerc and Perez sit at 2nd and 3rd with 219 and 210 points, respectively.

F1 Italy GP
Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy.

Reigning World Champion Max Verstappen finally hit the jackpot at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza to claim his maiden victory at the Italian Grand Prix. 

The 24-year-old Dutchman started on seventh on the grid to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who couldn’t convert his pole position at the team’s home race as the Prancing Horse had another difficult day at the office.

Verstappen, after being handed a grid penalty, started at P7 and displayed a stellar performance as he took just five laps to come in second.

On Lap 12, Sebastian Vettel’s car started smoking and was forced to pull out of his last race at Monza. 

Ferrari, in their bid to countervail the Dutchman’s pace-advantage over pole-sitter and race leader Leclerc, boxed the Monacan under a Virtual Safety Car during Lap 13, to switch to a set of mediums. The move, however, didn’t turn out to be fruitful as Verstappen, for a fifth successive race, seemed untouchable on pace.

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Jr, who started from P18 on the grid, after being amongst nine drivers to have been slapped a penalty, showed tremendous pace as he breezed past the grid to go up to P4 in just 14 Laps.

Red Bull pitted leader Verstappen mid-way through the race in Lap 26 for a fresh set of medium. He came out at P2, 10 seconds behind Leclerc. Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, gained 13 positions by Lap 27 as he made a swift move on old-foe Fernando Alonso, who had to retire the car later in the race.

Later, Ferrari pitted Leclerc for a second time for a fresh set of soft Pirellis, which meant that he came out on P2, while Verstappen had bolted a near to 20-second advantage, which the Monacan failed to overturn despite being on fresher softs against the Dutchman’s old set of mediums.

The defending champion made his second pit stop under the Safety Car as a mechanical failure forced McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, who had won the race last season, to pull up at the side of the track during the latter stages of the race. Verstappen saw the chequered flag ahead of a dismayed Leclerc under the safety car – a moment that triggered the Abu Dhabi 2021 flashbacks.

Mercedes’ rookie George Russell continued his stellar season as he crossed the finishing line in third, ahead of Sainz and Hamilton, who both gained 14 positions each, after starting from P18 and P19, respectively.

Sergio Perez, who is battling Leclerc for a second-spot in the championship, finished sixth, ahead of Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly. Formula E Champion 2021 Nyck de Vries, who replaced unwell Alex Albon, stole the show at Monza, finishing P9 and pushing Nicholas Latifi to 21st in a 20 driver championship on his debut; further cementing his claim to become Albon’s teammate next season.

Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu finished P10 with Estaban Ocon missing on points. Mick Schumacher crossed the finishing line at P12, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, and Nicholas Latifi. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished P16 after picking-up a 5-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining advantage at the race start.

Verstappen now sits comfortably atop the drivers ranking with 335 points bagged so far. Leclerc and Perez sit at 2nd and 3rd with 219 and 210 points, respectively.

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This article was first uploaded on September twelve, twenty twenty-two, at fifty-five minutes past eleven in the morning.
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