Verstappen won at home to Ferrari and Sainz was third after an inexplicable battle with Leclerc

The ‘tifosi’ ferraristas came in a dream. They thought the impossible might be less this Sunday. Sainz’s excellent pole position against Verstappen, with Leclerc’s other Ferrari starting at the rear, gave hope to the thousands of fans who filled the red stands at Monza. At Ferrari they exclude nothing. Some say they need luck. The others, something happened to Max. And some believe that with the enormous top speed of the Ferrari SF23 and its new engine, the miracle could happen. But reason said otherwise. Max Verstappen has a very sharp weapon in his Red Bull. That’s the key. Carlos Sainz tried with all his might. But he couldn’t resist something that was inevitable. He put everything in, but he endured the hungry Max behind him for 15 laps of the 51 that took place today at Monza, just like his tires. Again, how much Ferrari punished its tires again made the difference. From dream to reality.

To tremble, to pray, to believe in the irrational, in “I know” as always. Even some very fast Ferraris on the straight can’t compete with a giant that doesn’t fail. Max Verstappen won the 2023 F1 Italian GP. Again. For the second year in a row. So he added a historic record against the ‘tifosi’ to his 10th consecutive F1 victory. Inevitable. Pérez was 2nd and Sainz 3rd after receiving a misunderstanding attack from Leclerc at the end which put both cars in danger.

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For the dream of Carlos Sainz and all of Italy to come true, as the man from Madrid said the other day, the “teamwork” with Charles needs to be perfect. He needs to go out well and defend first position, and in turn, for Charles Leclerc to attack Max Verstappen. If the Monegasque finishes second, Sainz may wind up blocking his partner. But it didn’t happen. Max Verstappen avoided trouble at first, knowing his moment would come due to his better breakdown, while Leclerc had to defend himself from Russell instead of attacking the Dutchman.

Defense against a Verstappen with more tires

Carlos Sainz is alone in the face of danger. He attacked all the Spaniards. It is filled with a blue area with a red bull in its rear-view mirrors. Max stalled and attacked, but the Spaniard defended well with his top speed on the straight and hard braking inside the chicanes. Max is getting desperate and complains that Carlos, despite having no DRS, is a rocket on the straight. “He’s suffering from his rear tires,” they told Max on the radio on lap 10 to calm the beast down and explain to him that all he had to do was keep pushing until Carlos ran out of tires, no weapon to defend himself. .

For Carlos, it was constant suffering. Max attacked and attacked, like a fighter hitting his opponent to wear him down until the moment of KO. And that moment came on lap 15. At the end of the straight, Max tried again. But Carlos no longer has a good sword to fight with his ‘Prancing Horse’. Neither shield. He locked the wheels and Max stuck to him at the exit of the chicane. And on turn 3, Max took control on the outside to attack on the inside on turn 4. The two were even. No one raised a leg. They drew that curve tight, where Sainz went full throttle, brushing the grass with his tires. But nothing can be done. Max took control inside turn 4, in the Second Variant. The Spaniard draws more open to get out, faster. He wanted to stick around to hit the leader. But nothing can be done. It has no wheels.

It was too early to change tires and attack Max in an ‘undercat’ attempt and Sainz was running very slowly, now with no tyres. Leclerc clings to him. Ferrari had to do something, but he couldn’t. He waited a few turns and then Carlos entered. But it was too late. When Max entered he left before Sainz. The Spaniard made a great save and when Charles entered, Leclerc was about to pass him. There, he is no longer fighting Max, who is running away. The Ferraris went from thinking about winning to aiming to defend the double podium at home against a ‘Czech’ with a superior car. When Pérez stopped, he exited the track right next to Charles. That fight gave Sainz a breather. Charles fought hard, but Pérez finally passed Leclerc on lap 32. There were 19 laps left and the Mexican was going to pass Carlos.

Fight against Perez

It will be difficult for Sainz to defend second place against the driver from Guadalajara. But not Max. Just as he was able to withstand Hamilton at Zandvoort, he had to defend himself again. On lap 41, Pérez stalled. He tried at turn 1, at the end of the straight, but Sainz closed the door on him. He returned to attack at that point on the following turn, but Carlos dropped the blind again. This will be a constant torment for Carlos, who has defended himself in everything. He was almost impossible to stop. On lap 43, Pérez was going to the outside of that first chicane. Carlos’ defense is perfect, like a lion. And Pérez said Carlos moved “too late to brake.” But there is none. “I don’t know what you tried,” Carlos replied, showing his fingernails. I will not kneel. At 44, again, Sainz went wide on the inside. On lap 45, again, Pérez went inside 1 and had to put Carlos back. Sainz braked late and forced the Mexican to pull away. There is no stain. There are 6 left turns and the misery is endless. But with only 5 laps to go, Sainz couldn’t do it. ‘Checo’ passed it with DRS at the end of the straight with enough time to get inside. Sainz tried hard to brake, but it was too late. He was 3rd and with Leclerc 4th, close.

Leclerc, incomprehensible attack on Sainz

In these circumstances, the fight is no longer between the two Red Bulls, but between the two Ferraris for the only remaining podium place. Leclerc tried it with a parallel at turn 3, risking more than necessary at a time when the Ferrari podium was a given. But Leclerc likes it. He doesn’t want to be left behind. He didn’t want to give in to Sainz. Carlos held the brake pedal on the outside and, in turn 4, he blocked the wheels. The two Ferraris collided with each other and both braked too hard. Will no one at Ferrari stop Charles? This doesn’t seem to be the case despite the huge risk of them both touching each other and missing the podium, something that would be a big laugh in front of everyone at home. Charles tried again on the outside in turn 1, but Carlos defended himself. And I tried it again at that point 3 laps from the end. It blocked again. No one understood why they were allowed to fight. Leclerc, in full attack, slipped and was on his way out. It makes no sense.

“Let’s bring it home,” Sainz said over the radio. He acted as an engineer and broke the silence of communications. But there is no case. Leclerc tried again with 2 laps to go. And again, Carlos held a square

“Don’t risk it until the end,” they say on the radio. But Charles did not understand. Last time through Turn 1, Charles over-braked with a double change of direction and locked tires. He got out and returned to the track with a flat tire. He had to give the position back to Sainz, who would finally achieve the podium after an incomprehensible final suffering.

Fernando Alonso minimized the loss

Fernando Alonso had to cut losses in a difficult weekend for Aston Martin. On a track full of straights, his car was never again hoping for a podium because of its lack of top speed. Fernando achieved the goal of getting into Q3 in qualifying and started 10th, with the aim of scoring points and, if possible, following Hamilton so that the Briton does not cut the points in the fight for third place in the World Cup . The man from Oviedo did not start well, as he lost a place at the start. He was 11th, but soon passed Hülkenberg to return to 10th. The Spaniard set his sights on Hamilton, but nothing could be done. The Spaniard finally finished 9th after winning a place from Piastri, who collided with Lewis. There is no other car for Oviedo to get a better result.