Verstappen set a record of winning 10 consecutive races

Completing 51 laps with a time of 1 hour 12 minutes 13,618 seconds, Verstappen won the 10th race in a row and surpassed the old record - 9 races - set by senior Sebastian Vettel in 2013.

"I thought Sebastian's record would never be broken. But we had to make a lot of effort to do that and this new record deserves to be honored," Verstappen said about the record he just set. with Red Bull.

The defending champion was also satisfied with his performance at Monza. He added: "Today, Red Bull had good speed, and I also think I managed and used the tires well. Ferrari has a very high top speed, it is difficult to approach and attack at Turn 1, So I tried to force them to make mistakes."

Opening the Italian Grand Prix at Monza's home ground, Ferrari hopes that the first and third starting advantages of the duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc can help them impose tactics against Verstappen. Before the race, Ferrari also decided to use a new engine to compete with Red Bull.

However, the starting advantage only helped Sainz last 14 laps, before falling behind due to the intense attack of the RB19. Meanwhile, Ferrari's intention - for Leclerc to take advantage of the new engine power, overtake Verstappen right after the start and then proactively choose tactics to hold back the Dutch racer - also soon went bankrupt.

Verstappen defended very well against Leclerc's attack, while ensuring the gap with the leading position. The distance between Sainz and Verstappen is maintained at 0.5 seconds. The speed advantage from the new engine helps Sainz not be beaten by Verstappen, although the Dutch racer has the advantage of the DRS spoiler.

Over the radio, Verstappen repeatedly complained because the impressive speed of the SF23 made his RB19 seem to attack in vain. However, Red Bull's instructors still encouraged the home racer that Sainz was having some difficulty on the rear wheel of the SF23. And just as the Austrian racing team predicted, Sainz, despite his efforts, soon had to retreat.

The Spanish driver's mistake when braking at the Rettifilo corner at the beginning of lap 15 gave Verstappen a chance to attack and take over the lane more conveniently. The RB19 exited the corner well and ran parallel to the SF23 in the Curva Grande area, then passed at the Variante de la Roggia corner. From now on, without the obstruction of the SF23, the Red Bull racer continuously accelerated and set fastest-lap to widen the gap with the following group.

Solving the difficult problem early, Verstappen immediately put pressure on the Ferrari duo. Sainz faced an attack from Leclerc which had better speed. Feeling the heat from his teammates, Sainz took the initiative to return to the pit first in round 19, one round before Leclerc. After returning to the track, Sainz once again had to defend against Leclerc, and both began to come under pressure from Perez - the Red Bull driver had previously taken nearly 20 laps to pass George Russell.

After Perez returned to change tires in round 21, the Sainz - Leclerc - Perez trio ran close together to compete for second place after Verstappen. Perez fiercely attacked Leclerc in round 32 at the first two corners but failed. However, the Mexican driver finally overtook Leclerc on the next lap at Rettifilo corner. Perez then continued to chase Sainz, who tried his best to defend for many laps. But Perez's RB19 got close enough to overtake the Ferrari at the main straight into Turn 1 of lap 46.

After a long battle with Perez, Sainz faces teammate Leclerc again in the remaining 5 races to compete for a podium position at his home track. Sainz's struggling defensive efforts seemed hopeless as he struggled with deteriorating tires after many defensive laps. The Spanish driver could only try to occupy a favorable lane to prevent Leclerc from passing.

Right at Turn 1, Sainz was almost overtaken by Leclerc, but quickly counterattacked and ran parallel at the Curva de Grande curve before inching up at the Variante de la Roggia corner cluster to retake third place. Leclerc had to brake to lock the wheel to avoid colliding with his teammates.

At the end of the lap, Leclerc tried to attack his teammates on the main straight line. However, Sainz managed to secure a favorable lane before entering Turn 1 to prevent Leclerc from passing. The Monaco driver once again had to brake to lock the wheel and run around the corner to avoid a collision. This time, Leclerc complained over the radio that his teammate made an invalid move when braking on Turn 1.

However, thanks to tireless efforts from start to finish, Carlos Sainz finished in the top 3 for the first time in the 2023 season.