Max Verstappen made quick work of the field as he climbed from his seventh place starting position to second within just five laps, the Red Bull team having received a penalty for excessive engine usage. He chased down Leclerc on track before taking the lead when the Ferrari team once again gambled on strategy, leaving the two leaders on with varying tire performance throughout the race.
But despite Ferrari giving Leclerc the newest and fastest tires in the closing laps, he barely had time to make any dent in his gap to the leader before the safety car came out for the stranded McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo, leaving Verstappen to cruise across the line behind the safety car and earn his first-ever Monza win.
“We had a great race,” Verstappen said. “On the heavy compound we were quickest and the deg was very good, so we had a really good race car. It was just controlling the gap at the end, and then of course then the Safety Car came out.”
“Unfortunately,” he said, :we didn’t get a restart.”
“Yeah, it took a bit of time to be on a great podium like this,” he added of the Monza circuit, “but finally, we are on it.”
With the result, it is now mathematically possible for Verstappen to clinch the title at the next race in Singapore, assuming Leclerc fails to score any points.
Leclerc was downcast on Sunday, a far cry from the jubilant driver who scored the pole in front of his home crowd on Saturday.
“The end was frustrating,” he said. “I wish we could have gone racing. It’s a shame. I gave my all but we got P2 today. I wish I could’ve won in front of the amazing Tifosi we have here, I just couldn’t today.”
He justified the strategy calls that put him on the back foot against Red Bull, saying: “We didn’t know what they were going to do behind so we took that choice. Obviously we finished p2, so I’m not happy with the race. We will work on that.”
George Russell finished third for Mercedes as the team once again showed more speed, although not enough to contend for the win. Russell said he was happy for the team to be back on the podium regardless.
“I said on the radio to the team it doesn’t matter if we are fast or slow: we keep getting these podiums and unfortunately this weekend we definitely weren’t where we wanted to be as a team, but nevertheless we can look back at these three races, two podiums and a P4 and we’ve got to be satisfied with that,” he said.
“We had to do something different if we wanted to fight with Max and Charles,” he added, “but unfortunately they were too quick with us today, I’m pleased we tried and that was all we had to do in the position we are at the moment.”
Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five respectively, followed by Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez who climbed to sixth from thirteenth on the grid, getting an extra point for the fastest lap in the process.
Mercedes Formula E driver Nyck de Vries subbed for an unwell Alex Albon in the Williams after he began the weekend with a shakedown in the Aston Martin. He managed to have a poster weekend, starting eighth and finishing ninth. His one race contributed to a third of the points last-place Williams have scored all year, and he was voted Driver of the Day by fans.
“We live in a competitive industry,” de Vries said, “so you’re as good as your last race, and you’re always expected to perform – luckily I did that this weekend and I grabbed this opportunity with both hands.”
And his performance impressed the right people, including Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
“I think,” Toto said, “what else should he do in terms of performance than what he has shown today? No training, jumped in a car that he hadn’t driven, straight into FP3. Yeah, it showed what he’s capable of doing.”
| POS | DRIVER | TIME/RETIRED | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:20:27.511 | 25 | |
| 2 | +2.446s | 18 | |
| 3 | +3.405s | 15 | |
| 4 | +5.061s | 12 | |
| 5 | +5.380s | 10 | |
| 6 | +6.091s | 9 | |
| 7 | +6.207s | 6 | |
| 8 | +6.396s | 4 | |
| 9 | +7.122s | 2 | |
| 10 | +7.910s | 1 | |
| 11 | +8.323s | 0 | |
| 12 | +8.549s | 0 | |
| 13 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 14 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 15 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| 16 | +1 lap | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 |
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