A record breaking win for Verstappen, a close battle between the 2 Ferrari's, a good but troublesome race for Mercedes and strong points for Williams after an impressive race from Alex Albon.
IMAGE: SPORTSBOOK REVIEW
10 Wins in a row for Verstappen
Max Verstappen's win today sets a new Formula 1 record as he achieved his 10th victory in a row which breaks Sebastian Vettel's record of 9 race wins in a row. Despite not leading the race for the first 14 laps of the 51 lap race, it was clear that Verstappen would be victorious after extending his lead to 4.5 seconds just 4 laps after taking the lead.
Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez had a tough time behind the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz with the Spaniard defending hard into turn 1 with Perez having to take avoiding action on lap 43 and 45. Perez got his second place on lap 46 after getting ahead of the Ferrari before the first corner chicane.
An Entertaining Home Race for Ferrari
Despite starting on pole, Verstappen was always the favourite to win from second on the grid but Sainz defended well to keep Max behind until lap Lap 15 where Sainz was forced into a lock-up at turn 1. From there the 2 Ferrari's battled each other until the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez turned up later in the race after his battle with George Russell.
On lap 32, Sergio Perez got past Leclerc in 3rd but the Ferrari didn't lose touch of the Red Bull as the pair closed in on Sainz. However, it wasn't easy for Perez this time round as it wasn't until lap 46 that Perez got past. The last 5 laps was a battle between the 2 Ferrari's for P3 to remember as they both fought hard for the last position on the special Monza podium. After a fierce battle, Sainz completed the podium and Leclerc came home close behind his teammate in 4th.
Penalties No Problem for Mercedes
Although it was a strong result for Mercedes with George Russell finishing 5th and Lewis Hamilton crossing the line in 6th, both drivers were given penalties during the race. After his pitstop, Russell came out of the pits just behind Ocon in the Alpine, but went straight on at turn 1 and cut the chicane which got him past the Alpine which resulted in a 5 second penalty for George.
Lewis Hamilton was one 3 drivers to start on the Hard compound of tyres and therefore was on a different strategy to most. On lap 41, Lewis Hamilton caught Oscar Piastri and they were side-by-side going through turn 2 and Lewis got just ahead going into turn 3. However, he cut in front of the McLaren and they made contact damaging Piastri's front wing forcing him into a pitstop
Points for Williams!
More points for Williams this season as Albon and Williams equal their best result of the season with a 7th place finish. Albon was very quick on the straights and was able to defend Norris and Alonso in the closing laps of the race to keep his impressive 7th place.
Full Classification:
1.VER
2.PER
3.SAI
4.LEC
5.RUS (!) 6.HAM (!)
7.ALB
8.NOR
9.ALO
10.BOT
11.LAW
12.PIA (!)
13.SAR (!)
14.ZH0
15.GAS
16.STR
17.HUL
18.MAG
DNF:OCO
DNS:TSU
(!) 5 SECOND PENALTY
DRIVER OF THE DAY: CARLOS SAINZ
FASTEST LAP: OSCAR PIASTRI