Max Verstappen decelerated the domain of Formula one of McLaren on Sunday with a phenomenal exhibition of driving on the way to victory in the Italy Grand Prix, the fastest race in the history of sport.
From Pole, the current world champion Verstappen completed a magical weekend in Monza, which included the fastest turn in F1 during Saturday’s qualification by the school couple of McLaren Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in Monza.
Verstappen of Red Bull has few possibilities to ensure a fifth consecutive title of the pilots, since the leader of the Piastri championship is still followed by 94 points, with the Australian ending third.
“It was really pleasant,” said Verstappen, who took the checkered flag in 1 hour 13 minutes 24,325 seconds. “I think we face at the right time and with hard tires at the end you can push a little more … It was a fantastic execution of all.
“I think all the weekend we were all. It was very nice to win here.”
Piastri leads the classification of the drivers by 31 points of Norris, who finished second and would have finished third behind his teammate due to a horrible stop in boxes if McLaren had not fulfilled an exchange of position between the couple.
“I always know that it will be a good fight with Max and it was,” Norris said. “But it is not the speed today, not the rhythm of Max and the Red Bull. But it was still fun, still a good race.”
Charles Leclerc, the winner of last year and the last pilot to win in Monza from the Pole Position in 2019, could not take a podium for the mass ranks of Ferrari fans in the stands, the Monegásque finished fourth.
Leclerc’s teammate, Lewis Hamilton, gave his best shot after a penalty of the five -places network made him return to the tenth place at the beginning, carrying up to sixth thanks to spectacular driving at the beginning of the race.
But the seven -time F1 champion could not overcome his former teammate of Mercedes George Russell and stayed with another disappointing result in his first Monza GP with Ferrari.
Verstappen show
Sunday’s victory, which depended on a bold movement of overtaking against Norris in Tour Four, was only the third season of Verstappen dominated by a McLaren car, which has eliminated the competition by winning all but four GP.
But a second victory in Italy this year, after triumphing in the last head doctor of Emilia Romagna in May, limits a historic weekend for the cash of 27 years.
Verstappen was forced to allow Norris to have the first place after a frantic beginning in which he seemed to force his British rival outside the track.
That movement caused Norris to call Verstappen an “idiot” on the radio of the team, but soon returned to the Dutchman, who took control of the race by passing through Norris with a daring movement in the Chicane in Tour Four.
From there, Verstappen went to the distance, developing a space of around six seconds on Norris when he faced to change the average to hard tires in Tour 38.
Verstappen only lost two places in the wells and soon closed the gap again in the two McLarens, who left him very late for the well, with Norris not heading to the box until Tour 47.
That slow stop stop left Norris Third, bringing memories of mechanical failure in the Dutch Grand Prize last weekend, which cost him 18 points in his battle for the title with Piastri.
But with the race effectively won by Verstappen at that time, McLaren ordered Piasstri to let Norris pass so that another case of bad luck would not cost him.
It was a gesture that made Verstappen laugh on the radio of the Red Bull team, since it was allowed to navigate the track on its way to a greatly impressive victory.
