It had been almost four months since he had won a race. Eight scarcity races without lifting the winner’s trophy. Max Verstappen returned to victory this Sunday in Monza and gave colors to Red Bull. He succeeds Charles Leclerc and registered his name for the 3rd time in the list of Formula 1 GP.
Unsurprisingly, the two McLaren climb again on the podium. Oscar Piastri first took advantage of a stop at the late and endless stand of his teammate Lando Norris, before his team asked him to restore the preliminary positions. The gap is now 31 points ahead of the Australian’s advantage in the general classification after 16 races.
From the first hundreds of meters, the duel between the Dutchman and the Briton is in full swing. The two men exchange the place of leader and quickly distance the rest of the peloton led by Leclerc. The Monegasque resists three laps in Piastri before being overtaken.
On a circuit with few turns, which promotes the fastest cars, and where it is difficult to double, the positions remain frozen during almost all of the race. The four leaders follow each other with a difference of about six seconds between each. Lewis Hamilton remains in ambush. Behind, it’s the fight.
Hadjar’s rise
Penalized for changes on its engine, Isack Hadjar has used patience to reassemble the pilots who moved him and finish in 10th place. The Racing Bulls driver, which signed its first F1 podium last week, had finished 16th in qualifications, its worst performance since it joined the queen category at the start of the year.
Pierre Gasly, initially 19th of qualifying, was forced to start the stands, after the Franco-British team chose to install a new engine on the Norman car, which has just extended its contract at Alpine until 2028. He finished in 16th place, just behind Esteban Ocon and his Haas.
Next meeting: in two weeks in Bakou in Azerbaijan.
