Italian media bow to 'grandmaster' Verstappen and 'the new unicorn of F1'

Naturally, Italian newspapers, led by La Gazzetta dello Sport, love to cheer for 'their' Ferrari.

But in the absence of positive stories from the Scuderia camp over the Japanese Grand Prix weekend, they were at least deeply impressed by Max Verstappen.

"Verstappen was phenomenal. F1 belongs to him again," exclaimed the paper, describing the sport as "Formula Max!"

"Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were taught by the champion, as they do not get as much out of the car as Max," it added.

"His statement about how no one would see him in the McLaren shows he does not care about modesty. He knew very well he was showing something special at Suzuka.

"The McLarens seemed unbeatable until suddenly there was Max. He is driving the Red Bull car that only he knows how to handle. The Dutchman should never be ruled out, even if his car is not like it will be in 2022."

The Corriere dello Sport saw another wonder besides Verstappen.

"The phenomenon Andrea Kimi Antonelli took records away from Verstappen [youngest driver to lead a grand prix and youngest to claim fastest lap] but Verstappen in turn rewrote the history books with a fourth consecutive win at Suzuka and the 10th consecutive F1 season in which he wins at least one GP. They may be boring statistics, but they are incredibly telling."

The Corriere della Sera also singled out the two drivers.

"Verstappen is the grandmaster, Antonelli the new unicorn of Formula 1. Both drivers get a 10. Ferrari gets a 5 because it is not running," said the newspaper, whose sentiment about Ferrari is shared by the other papers.