DPA
Monza (Italy)
Champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull broke the record for most consecutive Formula One wins, with a 10th straight victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Sunday.
“I never would have believed it (10 consecutive wins) was possible but we had to work for it today, so that was fun,” Verstappen said.
The Dutchman set the record after matching Sebastian Vettel’s milestone of nine successive victories at his home Dutch Grand Prix last weekend.
Vettel, a former Red Bull driver and now retired, won all of the final nine races in 2013 to claim his fourth consecutive F1 title.
Verstappen started the race in second at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza and had to battle against polesitter Carlos Sainz of Ferrari, but eventually took the race lead on lap 15 after the Spanish driver locked up into Turn 1 and his defence was breached.
“It was so hard to get close and get a move into Turn 1, I had to force [Sainz] into a mistake. I tried to stay patient, it’s a long race and I just had to pick my moment,” Verstappen explained.
Sainz ended up third after he had yet another hard fight with Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, who eventually finished second.
“To get through Charles (Leclerc) and then Carlos - I had to use all of my tyres. I feel a lot more comfortable in the car so I think we’ll see my best form in the next races,” Perez said.
The final laps of the race were very tense for the Ferrari fans, as Sainz and Leclerc had a fierce fight for the last place on the podium. At times, it looked like both cars could be at risk of not crossing the finish line.
“It can’t get any tougher than it was today. Hard racing, it’s always a pleasure to race Charles when we had a chance. We had fun out there,” Sainz said.
Leclerc finished fourth, followed by the Mercedes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. Both drivers received five-second penalties in separate incidents.
Alex Albon of Williams matched his best finish of the season with seventh, while Lando Norris of McLaren, Fernando Alonso of Alpine and Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo completed the top 10.
The race start at Monza was aborted twice and delayed for about 20 minutes after Yuki Tsunoda had an engine failure and stopped his Alpha Tauri at the side of the track.
Red Bull have dominated the season, with Verstappen winning 12 of 14 races and Perez taking the other two. The Dutchman tops the drivers’ championship, 145 points ahead of Perez.
F1 next heads to Singapore on September 15.
