Monza, Italy: Teammate, Sergio Pérez, completed a tour de force performance at the Temple of Speed by rising from fifth to second – sealing Red Bull Racing’s sixth 1-2 finish of the year.
As the lights finally went out for the start, following a delay when on the formation lap, Sainz held his advantage from pole to keep the fast-starting Max at bay, and behind the front pair the grid order also remained unchanged as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took third ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Checo.
That status quo quickly came under threat on lap three as Max set an early fastest time to close to just over half a second behind Sainz, and at the start of lap six he attacked into Turn 1. Sainz defended hard, forcing Max to the outside of the corner and the Dutchman was forced to back out of the move. “That was naughty,” Max told the pit wall as he recovered from being forced to slow right down in mid-corner.
Further back in the field, Checo was being held up by Russell and after seven laps he was just 0.3s behind the Mercedes but already 3.4s off the lead.
On lap 15 Max at last provoked a mistake from Sainz. Closer to the Ferrari out of Parabolica, Max was able to launch an attack into Turn 1 again, but this time Sainz locked up. The Spaniard held the lead but Max’s exit was better and seizing the opportunity Max hung on around the outside of the Curva Grand to draw level on the following straight and then take the lead under braking into Turn 4.
Further back, Checo had grown weary of trailing Russell and after being forced wide during an earlier attack around the outside in Turn 1, the Mexican went for the opposite move at the start of lap 16, muscling his way past the Mercedes on the inside to take fourth place.
Sainz, suffering with tyre wear and under pressure from team-mate Leclerc, made his pit stop at the end of lap 19 and dropped to eighth place, while Max pitted from the lead at the end of the following lap, along with Leclerc. That briefly bumped Checo into the lead but the Mexican made his stop for hard tyres at the end of the following lap and dropped behind Leclerc once more.
On lap 24, the race was led by long-running hard-tyre starter Lewis Hamilton, with Max in P2, four seconds ahead of Sainz and with Leclerc in fourth ahead of Checo. Max was closing on the lead Mercedes, however, and at the start of lap 25 he powered past Hamilton under DRS to retake the lead.
Checo, meanwhile, was edging ever closer to Leclerc and after the pair had cleared the slower Hamilton, he closed in. A first attempt to pass the Ferrari at the Curva Grande ended with Leclerc slamming the door shut into Turn 4, a move that forced Checo wide and resulted in a spray of dirt as he dipped a rear wheel off track.
However, the battle meant that Leclerc fell out of DRS range to his team-mate and without the benefit of the speed boost out of Parabolica, Leclerc was vulnerable on the pit straight. Checo opened his wing and powered past the Ferrari on the inside as they roared towards Turn 1.
At the front, Max was firmly in control and on lap 34 he punched in another fastest lap to extend his lead to over seven seconds and with 10 laps remaining he’d pulled 10 seconds clear of Sainz.
Now being hounded by Checo, on lap 43 Sainz found himself under attack. Under DRS he launched a move around the outside into Turn 1 but Sainz planted his car in the middle of the track and Checo was forced to cut the chicane, rejoining just ahead of Leclerc.
On lap 46, though, there was no denying the Checo as he once again closed right up through Parabolica and this time nailed the move on the pit straight, passing Sainz well ahead of the braking zone to make it a Team 1-2 with six laps remaining. And with the top two places sealed the Bulls drew away from the Ferraris who began to squabble for the final podium place.
After 51 calm and controlled laps, Max took the flag to seal the 47th win of his career and his 12th of 2023, while breaking the consecutive win record previously held by Seb Vettel. Checo crossed the line six seconds later to take his 34th career podium. Behind the dominant Bulls, Sainz held Leclerc at bay to take the final podium place.
Speaking after his victory, Max Verstappen said, “I had to be patient to get the win today. Ferrari had a lot of top speed and I was forcing Carlos to make a mistake. At one point, when his tyres were wearing a little thin, we tried to make him brake late, he locked up and I thought “perfect” and was able to pass him on the exit to turn two.”
“10 wins in a row is a record I am very happy about; it is something you don’t even think about trying to achieve.”
After a thrilling race at the Autodromo National Monza, Sergio Pérez said, “I feel like my form is fully back and I hope we can have a very strong end to the season. The atmosphere in Italy and on the podium was amazing. The whole main straight was packed and it was incredible to experience.”
Following the race, Christian Horner said, “This was a very special victory, but it didn’t come easy. The Ferrari’s were very quick and with Carlos and Charles defending like their life depended on it, made it extra challenging for us to lead the race.
“Sergio did a brilliant job, finding his form to claim second, while Max continued his exemplary run to take the win. This now gives Max 10 victories in a row, beating Sebastian Vettel’s record from 10 years ago. It is a fantastic achievement and a huge effort from every single faction of The Team.”