MONZA, Italy: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen dashed Ferrari’s home hopes to win the Italian Grand Prix from behind the safety car on Sunday (September 11) to potentially be a race away from his second Formula One World Championship.
The 24-year-old Dutchman’s victory at the Temple of Speed in a race that ended in disappointment and was cheered on by spectators was Verstappen’s fifth in a row and eleventh of 16 races this season.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Verstappen’s closest rival and now 116 points adrift with six races to go, was second after starting from pole position.
George Russell was third for Mercedes.
If Verstappen scores 22 points more than Leclerc in the next floodlit race in Singapore on October 2, the title fight will be over. Otherwise it goes on to Japan a week later.
“You deserved this win. It’s a shame that it didn’t work out there in the end, but you were the fastest car all weekend,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner over the radio to Verstappen after the checkered flag.
“Great job guys, we had a great race car,” he replied.
The win was the 31st of Verstappen’s career and put him level on the all-time list with 1992 British champion Nigel Mansell.
Verstappen started seventh on the grid but was third at the end of the first lap and had a 19.5 second lead over Leclerc with 20 laps to go after the Monegasque pitted for a second time to switch from medium to soft tyres .
The safety car, deployed six laps from the end when last year’s winner Daniel Ricciardo stopped his McLaren on track with an engine failure, gave hope to the home fans, but time was running out.
The race at a super-fast circuit celebrating its 100th anniversary ended with the safety car pitting at the finish and there was no chance of a last minute change of order to the flag.
“The end was frustrating. I wish we could have raced a bit,” said Leclerc.
“It’s a shame but I gave it my all today. I wish I could have won in front of the amazing Tifosi (fans) but today I just couldn’t.”
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth after starting from 18th place and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton drove for Mercedes from the back row of the grid to fifth place.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was sixth, earning a bonus point for fastest lap, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.
Dutch debutant Nyck de Vries finished ninth for Williams, an outstanding performance that earned him the Driver of the Day award, and China’s Guanyu Zhou was tenth at his home race for Alfa Romeo.
“My shoulders are dead,” said de Vries, standing in for regular driver Alex Albon after the Thai suffered appendicitis on Saturday morning.
Before the start, a minute’s silence was observed for Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest reigning monarch, who died on Thursday aged 96.