It sounded almost businesslike as Max Verstappen’s tenth win in a row was acknowledged. “You did it,” radioed his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase into the cockpit. Came back: “Not bad.” The Dutchman has now surpassed Sebastian Vettel’s record in the middle of the heated Autodromo Nazionale in Monza, where Ferrari had their best chance of victory so far this season. After all, Carlos Sainz, who started from pole position, finished third behind Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull racing car. Verstappen’s team boss Christian Horner then pointed out the dimension of this afternoon’s race over the phone: “You wrote Formula 1 history!”
Rarely has a national anthem fitted so well before a Formula 1 race as it does this time, but it will be in Il Canto degli Italiani asked the question: where is the victory? Carlos Sainz junior’s Ferrari was on pole position, the second car from Maranello with Charles Leclerc in third place, with world champion Max Verstappen in between. On the grandstands in Monza they unfurled two huge heart-shaped flags, this passion and a mini rear wing specially developed for the Tempodrom in the Royal Park should act as a booster. A home win to make up for a season with more downs than ups. Sainz didn’t just take the dramatic qualifying success with a lead of only 13 thousandths as a slightly delayed present for his 29th birthday, his motivation was rather: “I feel a responsibility for the whole country. I can dream, because anything is possible in a race!”
History is also encouraging: in 1988, when McLaren was on the way to a flawless season, a double success for Ferrari ended the record hunt. And the fact that after Charles Leclerc’s Monza triumph in 2019 no winner in Monza was able to repeat the success the following year should also be a good omen – last September Max Verstappen won for the first time in Italy.
That’s how he drove off on Sunday, 20 minutes late after Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri had rolled out on the green strip in the formation lap. “Vamos, Carlos” is his mantra and he also had the quickest reaction at the start.
Wheel to wheel: For a long time no one has had as much stamina as Sainz on a par with Verstappen
In Monza, weal and woe compress at a crucial moment: first lap, first half kilometer, first corner. In the chicane, Verstappen was already level with the long-distance Red Bull, but this time there was no world champion bonus. Sainz stubbornly drove in the battle line and was the first to get out of the snaking. That wasn’t an exaggerated harshness, but a clear message. Verstappen, in turn, made an intelligent retreat, he now knew that he had to get the front runner right because the Ferraris kept pulling away on the long straights. He fended off the attacker twice and bravely held out. Verstappen complained over the radio: “That was dirty”, Sainz praised himself: “Good move!”
Wheel to wheel and at top speed, the duel continued, it’s been a long time since anyone has been on the same level as Verstappen. No formula boredom. It didn’t really take more than the two of them for an extremely exciting race. 14 laps in wait and with an increasingly nervous Sainz ruining his tires in continuous defence. Were it not for the helmet visors, Verstappen would have been seen grinning. He knew his plan would soon work out, the box released the highest motor mode: Attack! On lap 15 he was finally in close contact with Sainz before the chicane, who broke under the constant pressure and misbraked. Verstappen, who was already tied, sped past the opponent with stationary wheels and gained a five-second lead over the next five laps.
Two hands full: Max Verstappen wins and wins and wins…
(Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Imago)
The fight went on for Sainz anyway, because Scuderia darling Charles Leclerc didn’t want to see why he wasn’t allowed to attack his teammate, who had to collect himself after being humiliated by Verstappen: “I’m faster!” Two proud stubborn heads against each other, that couldn’t end well. Because of the internal back and forth, Sergio Perez was able to suck himself back into the second Red Bull racing car. Halfway through the race, the first attack almost ended in the gravel bed, but his complaint about Leclerc’s hardness fizzled out with the race engineer: “You’re so much faster, you’ll get it.” One lap later it actually looked child’s play. That’s why they remained so calm with the superior British-Austrian racing team despite the Ferrari shock on Saturday, they had tuned the car to the long distance from the start – because the race is won on Sunday.
While the front runner drove lonely towards the next entry in the record book, the fight for the podium places got closer again. Sainz, Perez and Leclerc were each less than a second apart. With six laps to go there was a small contact between Sainz and Perez, the Mexican had to take the emergency exit in the chicane after the man in front again refused to give him a seat. Anger drove Perez, Sainz was only third. This also brought new hardness to the internal Ferrari duel, the two almost threw each other out when Leclerc wanted to force the jump onto the podium. The brawlers were not slowed down from the command post. Daring braking manoeuvres, smoking tires, a question of nerves.
Ferrari Italy once again owed victory, but no one can really complain about the fighting spirit.