The World Championship leader achieved his 30th victory in Formula 1, ahead of Charles Leclerc and Georger Russell. Carlos Sainz finished 4th in a finish after the safety car. Alonso retired 20 laps from the end with engine problems: thus ends the streak of 10 consecutive races in the points.
Very badly it has to be given to Max Verstappen so as not to be champion soon. The Dutchman came back to victory, with Leclerc Y Russell behind him on the podium in a race that ended behind the safety car.
This factor prevented Carlos Sainz could culminate the arrival on the podium, but he went from 18th to 4th, which tastes like a lot. Fernando Alonsowith reliability problems, abandoned mid-race.
Exit: Verstappen goes up early and Sainz comes back in a big way
charles leclerc He did not speculate at any time and, unlike other races, it went very well… knowing that the ‘bogeyman’ could come. And what if he arrived: in the first turns Max Verstappen went from 7th to 2nd, after moving to a George Russell that had problems starting.
From behind, the comeback was traced in a big way by Carlos Sainz. In the first nine laps he had already managed to recover 10 positions, in the points zone. You could tell he had a new engine.
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Is Ferrari’s ‘stratego’ back?
Ferrari did not have a quiet race ‘because’ of Sergio Perezfirst to Sebastian Vettel after. In the case of the Mexican, who had problems from the beginning, because of the right front brake that he began to smoke due to a disc failure. That made him go into the pits to put on hard tires which made him wonder what to do.
Worse was Vettel: his car was left lying and caused a safety car that made the Scuderia start to shake from the wall.
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Leclerc put medium, but those who stretched the stops to put hard confirmed that this compound was not too bad. Since Verstappen decided to cover the Monegasque’s strategy, with the same compound, to try not to let him go too far… or even to attack him.
Given that the Dutchman had a better pace and tires with 13 laps less, Leclerc could only pray for a virtual safety car or an accident.
Alonso retires: goodbye to the streak
Alonso already warned on Saturday that they were going to have to make a defensive race, and from the first moment it was seen that it would be like that. The Spaniard complained on the radio that there were serious difficulties in terms of power and was seen on the track. For proof, how he didn’t even make a move to defend himself from Lewis Hamilton when it attacked him.
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The situation only worsened and on lap 33 he was ordered into the pits to retire. The 349th race that he disputed, in which he equaled Kimi raikkonenit ended in the most bitter way, in addition to cutting the streak of ten consecutive races between the points.
Ferrari decided to go on the attack so as not to finish another race in the embarrassment at least without a fight. Both Sainz and Leclerc stopped to mount softs, which saw them come out to attack Russell and Verstappen for 3rd and the lead respectively.
Ricciardo retires and the race ends neutralized
With five laps to go, last scare. Daniel Ricciardo he left the car lying between the two Lesmo curves. The stewards’ difficulties in retiring the McLaren meant that the ensuing safety car lasted too long. What seemed like good news for the Ferraris because they got closer to the top guys, ended up being a nightmare.
It took so long for the safety car to leave that, in the end, the race was not resumed. It ended in neutral, with Verstappen winning the race, Leclerc second and Russell third. Sainz, who aspired to the podium, stayed in a brief 4th place.
It should be noted that, thanks to this ending, Nick deVries He gave Williams two points that are already double what he had so far. And that, in his debut almost without rehearsing.
Italian Grand Prix Race Time Table
With this result, Verstappen comfortably maintains the overall lead, but Ferrari’s feelings are not as negative as in previous races. The final decaf averted a battle that could have been epic.
Photos: Red Bull Racing