The Formula 1 Grands Prix follow and resemble each other with, invariably, every weekend a victory for Max Verstappen. But on Sunday September 3, the Dutch driver, a solid leader in the world championship, won at Monza in Italy, the 14th round of the season, his tenth Grand Prix in a row, a record.
The reigning double world champion was ahead of his teammate at Red Bull Sergio Pérez and the Ferrari of Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who had started from pole position at the Monza autodrome, the stronghold of the Scuderia.
Starting on pole in front of a red tide all committed to the Ferrari cause, Sainz will have resisted 14 laps (out of 51) to the overpowering Red Bull of Verstappen, second on the grid. Relegated to second position, Sainz was then caught by Pérez at the start of the 46th lap, before starting a fratricidal fight for 3rd place with his teammate Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque finally finished 4th, ahead of the two Mercedes of George Russell, 5th and Lewis Hamilton, 6th.
Verstappen’s victory – the 12th in 14 races contested this season – allows the Dutchman to erase the record of four-time German world champion Sebastian Vettel (nine consecutive victories in 2013) – a record he equaled last week at home in Zandvoort, during the Dutch GP.
In the drivers’ championship, the Red Bull driver now has a lead of 145 points over his runner-up Pérez, the only other driver to have won in GP this season (in Saudi Arabia then in Azerbaijan).
