At long last, Max Verstappen is victorious at Monza as he claimed his maiden Italian Grand Prix title over the weekend. It was also the Red Bull driver’s fifth consecutive victory as he continues to close in on his second straight drivers’ championship.
Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc gave it his all, but despite sitting on pole, he was unable to bring home the win in his team’s home Grand Prix.
Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz finished in fourth as he was sandwiched in between the two Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who started the race second to last but still fought his way up to fifth.
Read on below as SBOTOP lists down the key takeaways from the Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen on the verge of title
It doesn’t seem to matter where Max Verstappen starts – he began in 14th in Spa, pole in Zandvoort, and seventh in Monza – he still finds a way to win.
The Italian Grand Prix 2022 betting odds were already overwhelmingly in Verstappen’s favour. And even after getting a five-place grid penalty that sent him from second to seventh, the defending champion needed just a few turns to jump up to fourth and was back to second behind Leclerc by Lap 5.
It seemed like an inevitability by that point that Verstappen would eventually eclipse Leclerc and go on to win.
To Leclerc’s credit, he held onto the lead much longer than many would have thought. But Verstappen would not be denied as he finally wrested the lead from Leclerc on Lap 34 and never looked back. A late safety car allowed Verstappen to cruise toward his fifth straight win as he closes in on another championship.
There’s a possibility that Verstappen could clinch the title next time out in Singapore, but he will have to outscore Leclerc by 22 points to do so. The more realistic scenario would be that Verstappen will wrap up the title in Japan.
But it is all just a formality at this point. As Verstappen made clear once again in Monza, he is head and shoulders above the competition at the moment, and it’s now just a matter of when – not if – he wins it all again.
Ferrari give a good fight in home GP
Ferrari and their fans may not have been celebrating a win in their home Grand Prix, but they nevertheless gave it a good fight.
There were no disastrous mistakes or questionable strategic decisions, which have been much too prevalent this season. Both Charles Leclerc, who claimed pole, and Carlos Sainz ran good races for the most part, and they were good value for their top-five finishes.
Unfortunately, though, Ferrari’s best was not quite good enough as Verstappen and Red Bull showed the gap between the two teams at the moment. Leclerc was nearly 20 seconds behind Verstappen after the Dutchman took control of the race, and it needed a late safety car to close the gap.
Still, Ferrari fans should be pleased by their team’s strong showing in their home Grand Prix. They made the podium for the first time since Leclerc’s win in 2019.
Those precious points helped keep the resurgent Mercedes at bay in the race for the second spot in the constructors’ championship. Hopefully, the Scuderia can finally build some momentum during the crucial stretch run of the Formula 1 season.
de Vries steals the show with dream debut
While there weren’t any surprises at the top at Monza, there were some notable Italian Grand Prix 2022 results in midfield.
First, Zhou Guanyu gave Alfa Romeo their first point in seven races as he finished a respectable 10th. The Chinese driver has had the upper hand over his more experienced team-mate Valtteri Bottas in recent races, and he did so again in Monza as he drove a fine race.
But by far the story of the weekend has to be Nyck de Vries. The 27-year-old made his Formula 1 debut for Williams in place of the ill Alexander Albon, and the Dutchman delivered a terrific drive as he finished ninth and picked up two points.
Without a doubt, this fine performance should be a big boost to de Vries’ hopes of getting a seat in next year’s Formula 1 season.
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