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F1 race results: Max Verstappen wins Italian GP under safety car

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Sunday, his 11th victory of the season, seeing off the Ferrari challenge of Charles Leclerc despite a grid penalty and a late safety car.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, George Russell, Mercedes W13, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL36, the rest of the field at the start

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75, George Russell, Mercedes W13, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL36, the rest of the field at the start

Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Leclerc led from pole position, elbowing MercedesGeorge Russell wide at the first corner, but he made an early pitstop during a virtual safety car period on lLap 12. That allowed Verstappen, who charged his way up from seventh on the grid, into the lead.

Leclerc led again when Verstappen pitted near the half distance point, but the Ferrari team leader went for a second stop when it became apparent the reigning champion would easily overhaul him in the final 20 laps.

Leclerc didn’t have the pace to make substantial inroads into Verstappen, and a late safety car to retrieve Daniel Ricciardo’s stranded McLaren meant the race ended behind the safety car, so Verstappen literally cruised to his fifth consecutive win.

2022 Italian Grand Prix race results

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Laps   Delay/Retirement 
1 1  Max Verstappen Red Bull 53  
2 16  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 2.446
3 63  George Russell Mercedes 53 3.405
4 55  Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 53 5.061
5 44  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 5.380
6 11  Sergio Pérez Red Bull 53 6.091
7 4  Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 53 6.207
8 10  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Red Bull 53 6.396
9 45  Nyck de Vries Williams/Mercedes 53 7.122
10 24  Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 53 7.910
11 31  Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 53 8.323
12 47  Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 53 8.549
13 77  Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 52 1 lap
14 22  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Red Bull 52 1 lap
15 6  Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 52 1 lap
16 20  Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 52 1 lap
 
  3  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 45 Retirement
  18  Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 39 Retirement
  14  Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 31 Retirement
  5  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 10 Retirement
  23  Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 0 Withdrawn

How the Italian Grand Prix unfolded

Leclerc (who started on soft tyres) held his pole position advantage on the long run to Turn 1, ahead of Russell (also on softs, with the majority behind starting on mediums) who straightlined the first chicane after Leclerc shoved him wide beyond the first apex. Further back, his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton – who started 19th – followed his team-mate’s route and dropped to last.

Ricciardo ran fourth ahead of Verstappen (up from a penalised seventh on the grid, also running softs) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri). McLaren’s Lando Norris made a terrible start from third, dropping to sixth. Verstappen outdragged Ricciardo for third at the start of the second lap, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (who started 18th) got past Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for 15th in the early exchanges.

Verstappen quickly caught Russell and outbraked him at the Rettifilo chicane at the start of lap five to take second. Leclerc was 2.2s up the road at this point.

As Sainz carved his way into the top 10, up to seventh by lap 10, former sparring partner Perez fell to the rear with a burning right-front brake after stopping for hard tyres. Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin was forced to a smoky halt with ERS failure on lap 12, causing a brief virtual safety car.

Leclerc took this opportunity to pit for mediums, as Verstappen stayed out and picked up the lead ahead of Russell. Leclerc rejoined in third, just ahead Ricciardo, who was passed by Sainz at Ascari. Behind the leaders, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso grabbed seventh when Norris overshot Rettifilo, but Norris got him back there on lap 18.

Gasly pitted from sixth for hards on lap 19, triggering much of the DRS train behind Ricciardo into pitting a lap later. Russell pitted from second for hards on lap 24, rejoining in fourth behind Sainz.

Just before half distance, Verstappen pitted for mediums with a 14-second lead, handing Leclerc a 10-second advantage out front. Sainz pitted from third for softs on lap 31, rejoining behind the long-running Perez and it took two laps to pass him, at the Roggia chicane.

With Verstappen having halved his lead advantage, Leclerc pitted for softs on Lap 34, rejoining in second but 19.5s behind the leader.

Norris suffered a slow 5.1s stop, losing potential spots to Ricciardo, Gasly and Hamilton. On softs, Norris quickly regained places from Gasly and Ricciardo. Also charging on softs, Hamilton stormed up to sixth and Perez made a late stop for softs, dropping him back to seventh.

Ricciardo pulled off with no power at the Lesmos with five laps to go, costing him a points finish and brought out the safety car. All the leaders pitted for fresh softs with nothing to gain by staying out, but this was all irrelevant as the race never went green again as Ricciardo’s car was stuck in gear and required a cherry picker to move it.

Verstappen cruised home to yet another win, well clear of front row starters Leclerc and Russell, and back-of-gridders Sainz and Hamilton. Perez was sixth, ahead of Norris, Gasly, debutant Nyck de Vries (Williams) and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo).

Alonso joined Vettel in retirement with overheating on lap 32, and Stroll was also forced out with 12 laps to go making it a double DNF for Aston.

2022 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix fastest laps

 Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Delay   Lap   km/h 
11  Sergio Pérez Red Bull 1'24.030   46 248.182
16  Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'24.336 0.306 38 247.282
44  Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'24.434 0.404 43 246.995
55  Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'24.446 0.416 41 246.960
4  Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'24.718 0.688 43 246.167
1  Max Verstappen Red Bull 1'24.745 0.715 38 246.088
63  George Russell Mercedes 1'25.288 1.258 40 244.522
47  Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1'25.298 1.268 43 244.493
77  Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'25.706 1.676 45 243.329
10  24  Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'26.361 2.331 41 241.484
11  31  Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'26.593 2.563 37 240.837
12  3  Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1'26.603 2.573 39 240.809
13  45  Nyck de Vries Williams/Mercedes 1'26.624 2.594 41 240.750
14  10  Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1'26.718 2.688 30 240.489
15  6  Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1'26.798 2.768 17 240.268
16  20  Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'26.798 2.768 37 240.268
17  22  Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Red Bull 1'26.857 2.827 43 240.105
18  14  Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1'27.203 3.173 7 239.152
19  18  Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'27.467 3.437 34 238.430
20  5  Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'27.501 3.471 4 238.337

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