(Motorsports news) Verstappen achieved a new all-time best by winning 10 straight Formula One races. Ferrari’s pole-sitter Carlos Sainz took the lead right away, but Verstappen started to challenge him on lap six. He had to wait until lap 15 to make a move by Sainz, who had locked up at Rettifilo and had a bad exit, giving Verstappen a run on him on the straightaway to Roggia.
As soon as the confrontation between Sainz and his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez was over, Verstappen retreated significantly. With five laps remaining, the latter took second, leaving Sainz struggling to hold off teammate Charles Leclerc in a frantic fight to the line.
How the Italian Grand Prix of F1 in 2023 played out:
Polewinner Sainz led the push to Turn 1 in a race that had been cut down to 51 laps after Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri broke down during the warm-up lap. Verstappen and Leclerc followed Sainz, who was challenged by George Russell (a Mercedes) at the Roggia chicane but was able to hold him off. Alex Albon (Williams) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) were beaten by Sergio Perez (Red Bull) for fifth place. On the second lap, Albon overtook Piastri for sixth to reclaim the spot he had lost at the first bend.
Lando Norris of McLaren was running eighth when Lewis Hamilton, driving a Mercedes, started on hard tyres instead of the majority’s mediums. Polewinner Sainz led the push to Turn 1 in a race that had been cut down to 51 laps after Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri broke down during the warm-up lap.
Verstappen and Leclerc followed Sainz, who was challenged by George Russell (a Mercedes) at the Roggia chicane but was able to hold him off. Alex Albon (Williams) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) were beaten by Sergio Perez (Red Bull) for fifth place. On the second lap, Albon overtook Piastri for sixth to reclaim the spot he had lost at the first bend. Lando Norris of McLaren was running eighth when Lewis Hamilton, driving a Mercedes, started on hard tyres instead of the majority’s mediums.
On lap 20, both Sainz and Russell made pit stops, exchanging their medium tyres for hard ones. While Red Bull covered Sainz’s stop with Verstappen as well, Perez pursued Leclerc, who made his pit stop on lap 21. Perez was able to take the lead as a result until he stopped a lap later. Sainz barely held on as Ferrari’s Leclerc and Sainz engaged in a wheel-to-wheel fight through Roggia. Right behind the two Ferraris, Perez reentered the race.
The persistent Verstappen passed Hamilton on lap 25 after Hamilton had held the lead for a few laps. Hamilton continued on after the halfway point until switching to new mediums and falling to tenth place. When Norris and Piastri touched at Rettifilo, the McLarens traded positions. When Russell rejoined from the pits, he was given a five-second penalty but earned a position over Esteban Ocon (Alpine) off the track at Rettifilo.
Verstappen increased his lead to nearly 6 seconds with 20 circuits remaining as Sainz struggled to hold off Leclerc and Perez. At Rettifilo, Hamilton overtook Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin to move up to ninth. Prior to Perez passing Leclerc at Rettifilo on lap 32, Sainz was able to scurry free when Leclerc and Perez brushed wheels under braking at Roggia.
On lap 39, Norris and Albon collided at Rettifilo, with Norris taking the lead but immediately ceding it to Albon. Piastri and Hamilton, who were behind them, outbraked one another at Roggia before crashing there a lap later. Lewis received a 5 second penalty for moving across Piastri in the braking zone, forcing him to pit for a new front wing. With 10 circuits left, Perez caught up to Sainz and started pursuing him. A second time on lap 45, Perez was compelled to use the Rettifilo escape road.
