The perfect ten. The number of Lionel Messi, of Nadia Comaneci and now of Max Verstappen, who delivered his unprecedented 10th successive victory at the Italian Grand Prix with the inevitability we have come to expect.
It was also the 15th successive win by Red Bull, another record, heading a one-two at the appropriately named “Temple of Speed”. Whilst it was “a walk in the park” for Verstappen, as Red Bull team principal Christian Horner observed, the locking out of the front row was anything but.
Carlos Sainz, who made Verstappen wait a full 14 laps to assume the lead, made Sergio Perez wait 46 to gain second. It was a remarkable rearguard from the man who stole pole from Verstappen on Saturday. Sainz went full elbows-out catenaccio, not only to delay Red Bull’s party but to stifle the eager thrusts of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, both prancing horses plugged into the wall of energy generated by the Monza crowd.
That battle over the closing laps was worth the entry alone, red endeavour feeding into the unique atmosphere of the only grand prix in the world where one team races for the glory of a nation.
Gaining pole here in a Ferrari felt like a win for Sainz, connecting him to a thread stretching back to the very first round of the world championship at Silverstone 73 years ago. Only Ferrari have line up at every race since. In finish third he squeezed every last drop of performance from his day.
Taking Verstappen out of it, Monza served up the very model of what grand prix racing should be, an absolutely banging ratings winner with hot-wheeled action from start to finish. But first let us tip our caps to Verstappen, who is carving an ever-bigger chunk of F1 folklore, setting new standards in this period of Red Bull domination. His second successive Italian Grand Prix triumph brought up win No 13 of the season, just two behind the historic 15 he notched last term.
Sainz’s Ferrari must have looked as wide as the mighty Po River as Verstappen tried and failed to hit the front off the line. Sainz held off Verstappen’s first lunge through the chicane on lap six. “Naughty,” Verstappen said of Sainz’s defence. Sainz’s race engineer offered an alternative view. “Good move,” he said.
Finally at the start of lap 15 Verstappen made his power tell, Sainz flat-spotting his rears in a vain attempt to maintain his advantage. If that felt good, Verstappen also had the pleasure of passing Lewis Hamilton at the same spot ten laps later, after the seven times champion’s Mercedes found itself at the head of the pack on hard tyres after the leaders had all pitted.
The move would have felt deeply rewarding after Hamilton’s derogatory remarks about the quality of the Dutchman’s teammates. Verstappen is gloriously immune to the noise his domination generates. He laughs at Hamilton’s argument that his success is premised on beating inferior teammates.
He could counter that it is his genius that turns to dust the challenge from the other side of the Red Bull garage. He could, but he doesn’t. He simply jumps in the car and crushes the opposition as all the great champions in battle have done.
F1 result: Italian GP 2023
- 1st: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- 2nd: Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
- 3rd: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
- 4th: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- 5th: George Russell (Mercedes)
- 6th: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- 7th: Alex Albon (Williams)
- 8th: Lando Norris (McLaren)
- 9th: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
- 10th: Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)
- 11th: Logan Sargeant (Williams)
- 12th: Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
- 13th: Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri)
- 14th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- 15th: Guanyo Zhou (Alfa Romeo)
- 16th: Pierre Gasly (Alpine)
- 17th: Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)
- 18th: Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
- DNF: Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
Hamilton would have his moments over the closing laps, moaning his way past the McLaren’s of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris before accounting for the Williams of Alex Albon to take sixth place behind his teammate George Russell. Hamilton’s emotions are subject to porpoising even if his car is cured of the condition.
“There’s a long way to go on this damn tyre man,” Hamilton carped after pitting for mediums on lap 29. Twenty-two laps to be exact. He would soon learn to love them. With ten laps remaining he finally did for Piastri through Curva Grande, but not without taking the front wing end plate off the McLaren, for which he would be adjudged a five-second time penalty.
With three laps to go Norris and Albon were in his mirrors, just enough time for Hamilton to put five seconds between him and the field to render his penalty meaningless. Verstappen, who has not lost a race since April, was typically sanguine in victory. “Another win, unbelievable. And a nice one too,” he said.
F1 2023 Drivers’ Championship Standings
- 1st: Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 364 points
- 2nd: Sergio Perez (Red Bull) – 219
- 3rd: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) – 170
- 4th: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 164
- 5th: Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) – 117
- 6th: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 111
- 7th: George Russell (Mercedes) – 109
- 8th: Lando Norris (McLaren) – 79
- 9th: Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) – 47
- 10th: Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 37
- 11th: Esteban Ocon (Alpine) – 36
- 12th: Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 36
- 13th: Alex Albon (Williams) – 21
- 14th: Nico Hulkenberg (McLaren) – 9
- 15th: Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo) – 6
- 16th: Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo) – 4
- 17th: Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) – 3
- 18th: Kevin Magnussen (Haas) – 2
- 19th: Logan Sargeant (Williams) – 0
- 20th: Liam Lawson (AlphaTauri) – 0
- 21st: Nyck de Vries (AlphaTauri) – 0
- 22nd: Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri) – 0
Driver of the Day: Carlos Sainz
Sainz had Verstappen on his tail from the moment the lights went out. It was a measure of his defensive mastery that he held out until the 15th lap. The podium battle with Leclerc over the final five laps showed why many believe Sainz is now the man at Ferrari.
Quote of the Day
“That is history,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to his superstar driver. “Unbelievable.”
F1 2023 Constructors’ Standings
- 1st: Red Bull – 583 points
- 2nd: Mercedes – 273
- 3rd: Ferrari – 228
- 4th: Aston Martin – 217
- 5th: McLaren – 115
- 6th: Alpine – 73
- 7th: Williams – 21
- 8th: Haas – 11
- 9th: Alfa Romeo – 10
- 10th: AlphaTauri – 2
Next race: Singapore Grand Prix
A weekend to catch our breath before the season heads to Singapore, the start of an eight-race, long-haul slog all the way to Abu Dhabi at the end of November.
Verstappen will not have to wait that long to be crowned champion for a third time but it can no longer happen at the night race in Singapore after Perez finished second at Monza.
Singapore is the opposite of Monza, a temple not of speed but braking, a quarter of the lap, or 22 seconds, spent with feet on brake pedals. Expect at the very least one safety car around the Marina Bay circuit, where there have been 23 interventions since the inaugural night race here in 2008.