Verstappen leaves Ferraris in his wake at Italian GP to put F1 title in sight
Sport | The Guardian
- World championship leader wins ahead of Leclerc in Monza
- Russell ends third for Mercedes with Sainz’s Ferrari fourth
Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix in another dominant run for the Red Bull driver who came through the field from seventh on the grid. He beat the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc into second place at Monza, where the Scuderia tried an alternative strategy but once more were simply unable to match the pace of Verstappen. George Russel was third for Mercedes, Carlos Sainz fourth for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton came back from 19th on the grid to take fifth. Sergio Pérez was sixth for Red Bull.
Verstappen was absolutely on top almost from the off in what was ultimately a rather pedestrian Italian GP. Such is the world champion’s composure and pace at the moment, once he had made the initial passes of the race cleanly the result never really seemed in doubt. Indeed after the Dutchman had the lead he was all but untroubled at the front for his first win at Monza.
Verstappen has now taken five wins in a row in an indomitable run that has ensured he has one hand on his second championship. His 31st career win is his 11th this season and in another remarkable display of dominance and controlled skill in coming through the field. It is the third time he has won from seventh or lower on the grid this year.
He now leads Leclerc, who is in second, by 116 points and with six meetings to go and 164 points available, he can potentially seal the title at the next round in Singapore or barring that almost certainly the following race in Japan. Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel’s shared record of 13 wins in a season is also now well within his compass.
This was another masterclass from the world champion who is demonstrating a control and composure that has left his rivals reeling.
Leclerc had just held his lead from pole through the first chicane from Russell but Verstappen’s determination was immediately clear as he made up two places through the first corner. The Dutchman then took fourth, passing Pierre Gasly at Ascari, while Daniel Ricciardo promptly fell on the straight on lap two, taking him to third.
He had closed to within a tenth of Russell by lap four with the two front runners simply having no time to open a gap to Verstappen. A lap later he had a strong run down the start-finish straight to dive past the British driver up the inside at turn one.
Hamilton from 19th was unable to make such swift progress, making up one place by lap five. Sainz in the Ferrari was swiftly advancing however up from 18th to sixth by lap 12.
Verstappen was two seconds back from Leclerc and seemingly unstoppable. The Monegasque driver stuck at it however, with Verstappen taking only a tenth a lap out of his lead. His gains were, nonetheless, inexorable and the gap was down to a second by lap 12.
