There is no denying that Carlos Sainz tried his absolute best to clinch what could have been a juicy victory in front of the home crowd at Monza. However, there was only going to be one winner, and it was always going to be the leading world championship contender Max Verstappen. Hence, here he stands, as the new record holder for the longest win streak in the history of Formula 1.
The Dutchman had the record-breaking victory at sight throughout the Italian Grand Prix weekend. However, Ferrari proved themselves to be a near-indestructible hurdle for Verstappen and his pursuit of the glorious feat. While Sainz charged his way to pole position on Saturday, his teammate, Charles Leclerc landed his SF-23 in P3, sandwiching Verstappen.
Max Verstappen breaks the Monza curse 💥🍾 pic.twitter.com/mml21qhjs2
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) September 3, 2023
Hence, the two-time world champion already had an awful lot on his plate, heading into Sunday’s main race. For a handful of laps, Verstappen found himself being squeezed between the two Ferrari drivers, and, with Sainz turning into an imaginary wall, the Red Bull driver needed something extraordinary to snatch the lead.
This led to the classic Max Verstappen ploy. The 25-year-old never let Sainz take a breather, rather forced the Spaniard to burn his rear tires out almost completely. Eventually, the much-awaited mistake from Sainz arrived heading into turn 1, as Verstappen pounced on it with open arms and never turned back after.
Can Max Verstappen sustain his race win streak till Abu Dhabi GP?
With the much-deserving victory in Italy, Verstappen has won a whopping 10 Grands Prix on the trot, amassing Sebastian Vettel’s long-held F1 record. Following the race, the latest record-holder admitted that he had to work for the race victory this time around.
Max Verstappen:
“I mean I never would have believed [10 wins] was possible, but we had to work for it today, so that made it a lot more fun. We had good pace and good on the tyres, but they had strong top speed.”“It was so hard to get close and get a move into T1, I had to… pic.twitter.com/Hb3ieL0k4p
— Verstappen News (@verstappenews) September 3, 2023
“I mean I never would have believed [10 wins] was possible, but we had to work for it today, so that made it a lot more fun. We had good pace and good on the tires, but they had strong top speed,” he said. “It was so hard to get close and get a move into T1, I had to force [Sainz] into a mistake. I tried to stay patient, it’s a long race, and I could see they were struggling with the tires and I just had to pick my moment.”
Overall, considering Red Bull’s run of form this year, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Verstappen manages to extend his streak to 15 and maybe even more. But, can either Ferrari or Mercedes put a stop to the Dutchman’s impeccable reign?