Max Verstappen continues to show no mercy. The world champion also won the Italian Grand Prix in a slipstream thriller and wrote another chapter in Formula 1 history with his tenth win in a row.
At Ferrari’s emotional home race, Verstappen dashed the Tifosi’s hopes of victory and relegated his teammate Sergio Perez and the courageously fighting Scuderia driver Carlos Sainz to second and third place.
This means that the Red Bull team remains undefeated this year – “only” eight more successes, and the first perfect season of a racing team in 74 years of Formula 1 would be a reality. Verstappen should have secured his third world title much earlier, with his twelfth victory in the 14th race, the 25-year-old extended his lead over the Mexican Perez to 145 points. Nico Hülkenberg finished 17th in the Haas and failed to score points for the sixth time in a row.
Ferrari was at least as close to victory as it was last on July 10, 2022 when Leclerc won the Austrian Grand Prix. The almost cheesy home win practically out of nowhere was denied to the Scuderia.
Ten wins in a row had not been achieved by Verstappen in the premier class, only last week he matched Sebastian Vettel’s mark (nine wins/2013) at his home race in Zandvoort.
“I never thought that I would win nine times in a row. But yes, now that we are here, of course I’m trying to win ten times,” said Verstappen before the Grand Prix. But actually, he explained, “it’s more about me just wanting to win. It’s not about the number 10 in my head.”
An engine failure on Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri caused the start to be aborted, with a 20-minute delay it started very disciplined, Sainz stayed ahead of Verstappen to the cheers of the Tifosi. And the 29-year-old Spaniard defended his place at the top like a lion against the world champion, who kept suckling on him on the long straights.
The Ferraris are “damn fast on the straight,” Verstappen radioed, halfway frustrated after ten laps. The Dutchman kept up the pressure, however, on lap 15 Sainz misbraked before the first chicane, Verstappen used his excess speed to overtake before the next braking point.
Ferrari now sought salvation in strategy, but Sainz’s somewhat earlier pit stop did not bring the Reds back to the top. On the contrary: Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari also had to cede third place to Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez 20 laps before the end of the race. The Mexican later conceded Sainz. Then the Ferrari drivers dueled to the knife for the last place on the podium.