Italian Grand Prix: The highs and lows according to the editorial team

The TOPS

Verstappen, a little more in the F1 legend

The superlatives are lacking to describe Max Verstappen’s performances after each Grand Prix of the 2023 Formula 1 season. Undefeated since the race in Miami at the beginning of May, the Red Bull driver now has 10 consecutive victories. A record that puts him alone at the top of this statistical ranking, ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s 9 consecutive victories in 2013.

Verstappen is dominating the early part of the 2020s in F1. After the Schumacher era, the Vettel era, and the Hamilton era, the Dutchman is definitely leaving his mark on his time. However, this twelfth victory of the season was far from guaranteed, facing very fast Ferraris at Monza. Jos’ son had to wait fifteen laps before gaining the upper hand over Sainz and executing his winning strategy until the finish line. Verstappen will undoubtedly not stop there and will become a three-time world champion in no time.

Ferrari puts on a show on its home turf

The battle between the two Ferraris must have given Frédéric Vasseur cold sweats, but we must salute the decision of the French team leader to let his two drivers fight on the track. From the first laps of the race, it was evident that the two red cars would be fighting at the front.

Author of a defense full of courage against Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz brilliantly held on to first place for nearly a third of the race. The Spaniard then fiercely battled with his teammate to maintain his position on the podium, his first of the season. Sainz and Leclerc delighted the tifosi throughout the race, especially in the final laps when neither of the two drivers left any room for their teammate.

It came close for the Monegasque to finish behind the two Red Bulls, but according to his own admission, Sainz was the fastest throughout the weekend. Thanks to these impressive 3rd and 4th places, Ferrari takes back the third position in the constructors’ championship from Aston Martin.

Albon, solid as usual

With his 7th place, his best result of the season, tying with his performance in Canada, Alex Albon once again shone behind the wheel of his Williams. While the car’s performances since the beginning of the season were promising on low downforce tracks, it still needed to be proven on the “Temple of Speed”. The Thai driver perfectly held his position by finishing as the best of the rest, behind the six cars of the top three teams. Describing this race as one of his best since the start of his F1 career, Albon successfully resisted the pressure from the two McLarens for a large part of the race and even held his ground against Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes for a few laps. Always clean in his defense and without making any mistakes, Albon is solidifying himself as a reliable presence on the grid, one that will need to be taken into account in the upcoming seasons.

The FLOPS

Alpine in the anonymity of the peloton

Where did the Alpines go? With a 15th place and a retirement, the French team leaves Monza with zero points and a serious headache. On paper, the Lombard track did not appear to be the most favorable for the blue cars. But to be eliminated both in Q1 and to struggle at the back of the pack in the race, there is a gap that even the most pessimistic did not dare to imagine.

With a fifth retirement this season, Esteban Ocon did not have the weapons to fight for points anyway. As for Pierre Gasly, he was severely lacking pace and finished behind cars that are supposed to be less performant than his. Alpine must now quickly turn to Singapore, a track that should suit them better.

Aston Martins without rhythm

Fernando Alonso perfectly summed up his race. « No rhythm ». Despite the power of his Mercedes engine, the Spaniard could not do better than 9th place at Monza. Disappointing for the Silverstone car that has shown it is comfortable on all types of tracks since the beginning of the season. Catching up towards the end of the race with the duo formed by Alex Albon and Lando Norris, Alonso did not have the opportunity to launch an attack to gain positions. In any case, he once again outperformed his teammate, who finished a distant 16th.

Penalized by a lack of practice on Friday, Stroll was nowhere to be found throughout the race. Lost in the pack, he only managed to get ahead of the two Haas cars and inadvertently contributed to his team’s loss of third place in the constructors’ championship.

Haas in great difficulty

The ranking of this Italian Grand Prix 2023 is very difficult to watch for the American team. By finishing in 17th and 18th positions, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen end up dead last among the drivers who crossed the finish line. The German and the Danish are in fact the only ones to have been lapped by the leaders. Magnussen even described his race as the worst of the season. It’s hard to argue with that, especially when comparing the performances of Haas to those of their direct competitors, Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri.

With now just one point ahead of the Hinwill-based team, it is time to sound the alarm bells on Günther Steiner’s side, in order to avoid finishing the season in the anonymity of the pack and possibly last in the championship.