Inevitable Verstappen secures Record-Breaking 10th Consecutive Formula 1 Race Victory
Super Max Verstappen cruised home to take both the win in Monza and set a new record for the most consecutive Grand Prix Victories in a row (10). Sergio Perez secured a 1-2 finish for Red Bull whilst Carlos Sainz fought super hard to get his Ferrari onto the Podium in the team's home race.
The Biggest Talking Points
The Race start had to be abandoned as Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha Tauri conked out on the Formation Lap. When we finally got underway, Carlos Sainz was able to hold off Max Verstappen and he did so brilliantly for around 13 laps. However, Max forced his former teammate into a mistake before the back-to-back World Champion took the lead and drove off into the sunset. That didn’t necessarily mean that this wasn’t a decent race though as we saw plenty of battles throughout the race, including Sergio Perez trying to clear the two Ferrari’s. Elsewhere in the race, the two McLaren’s collided at Turn 1, but it didn’t seem to affect either of the cars that much before Oscar Piastri and Lewis Hamilton then came together, resulting in Piastri dropping out of the points and Hamilton receiving a 5-second time penalty. Back at the front, Checo Perez was able to clear Charles Leclerc before he finally got up to P2 after lots of attempts at trying to overtake Carlos Sainz. We then got a really entertaining battle between the two Ferrari's in the final few laps of the race, and whilst Leclerc tried his hardest to get back onto the Podium in Monza, Sainz held on to take his Podium of the Season whilst Lewis Hamilton was able to build enough of a gap to remain in P6 (post-penalty).
The Standout Drives in the Race
I’ve only given out one 10 for this race and that is obviously for Max Verstappen. He’s just in a world of his own right now and his move on Carlos Sainz to take the lead of the Grand Prix was really good. I was also impressed by both Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon who defended incredibly well whilst I also thought Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc, and Valtteri Bottas all had really good days.
Drivers who had a Shocker
In total, I’ve given out three 1’s for today’s race, and the first one is for Lance Stroll. I expected good things from Lance this weekend, but instead, he’s shown no signs of having any pace, and finishing 16th is pretty bad. The second driver I’ve given out a 1 to is Kevin Magnussen and I’m not even surprised at this point. Magnussen finished last on the road and it really does baffle me how he’s been able to keep his seat for another year. The final driver I’ve given the lowest possible grade to is Esteban Ocon, who had a really poor race before he retired on Lap 39. I also thought both Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg were poor today.
Overall Race Results and My Ratings
Max Verstappen: 10
Sergio Perez: 8
Carlos Sainz: 9
Charles Leclerc: 8
George Russell: 7
Lewis Hamilton: 5
Alex Albon: 9
Lando Norris: 5
Fernando Alonso: 5
Valtteri Bottas: 8
Liam Lawson: 7
Oscar Piastri: 4 (FL)
Logan Sargeant: 4
Zhou Guanyu: 4
Pierre Gasly: 2
Lance Stroll: 1
Nico Hulkenberg: 2
Kevin Magnussen: 1
Esteban Ocon: 1 (DNF)
Yuki Tsunoda: - (DNS)