Another day, another Grand Prix, another Max Verstappen win and a new record set with his victory in the Italian Grand Prix. It is now 10 wins on the trot for a driver who has had F1 his personal plaything in 2023 as he closes in on a third world title. But it was a thrilling race at Monza with battles all throughout the top 10, including for the lead between Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. The European season now ends with one question: Can Max Verstappen win the remaining eight races for 18 straight wins and 20 in the season? You wouldn't put it past him.
Winner - Max Verstappen
Now, first things first, the fact that there are more races in the modern era make an achievement like this slightly more possible than in the day of Juan Manuel Fangio for example. But the fact remains that you've still got to go out and win the race when you are in it. Where Fangio, Ascari, Moss, Clark, Stewart, Lauda, Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton and Vettel all failed, Max Verstappen has now succeeded. Reaching double figures in terms of successive wins is an incredible achievement for a driver who could potentially double Vettel's nine straight wins if he sweeps the rest of the year. If, and it is not a big if, Verstappen does it, it is one of the greatest achievements in the history of elite sport. But for a driveshaft failure and unlucky Virtual Safety Car timing, Verstappen could have truly been looking at the clean sweep in 2023 - and that is a scary prospect. What did Verstappen say? "I never would have believed that it was possible. We had to work for it today and that definitely made it a lot more fun."
Loser - Oscar Piastri
This can firmly be filed under one to learn from for Oscar Piastri who out-qualified Lando Norris and looked set to bank at least a ninth-place finish and more points. However, contact with Lewis Hamilton - for which he accepted full blame - ruined his race on Lap 41 with the need for a front-wing change which dropped him out of the points. He then picked up a time penalty of his own after passing Liam Lawson (who was a very creditable 11th) off the track and dropped to 12th after it was applied. Sometimes you don't get what you deserve and that's a lesson to learn for Piastri who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time with Hamilton. What did Piastri say? "He [Hamilton] creeped over a bit more than he thought. The stewards gave out their verdict and Lewis apologised. So [there is] nothing more I can ask for or do at that point. "
Winner - Carlos Sainz
This was arguably Carlos Sainz's most complete weekend since his maiden win at the 2022 British Grand Prix. He set the pace in two of the three practice sessions in front of the Tifosi and grabbed pole position on merit with a stunning final lap. He then kept the much faster Verstappen at bay for 14 laps before the inevitable happenend and then put up a faultless defensive masterclass to just keep Charles Leclerc off the podium in the sister SF-23. Sainz missing the podium would have been awful luck, but now he has a springboard with which to stake his claim for fifth in the standings in the three-way battle with Leclerc and George Russell, who he leads by six and eight points, respectively. What did Sainz say? "It was tough, hard racing, and it's always been a pleasure to race Charles whenever we have had the chance."
Loser - Lance Stroll
Essentially, this was a wasted trip to Italy for Lance Stroll who had a terrible weekend, but it wasn't all his own doing. He gave up the AMR23 in Free Practice 1 to Felipe Drugovich with the car then developing a fuel system error early in the second session. In qualifying, he was slowest of all at a track not expected to suit the draggy car - and was only 16th in the race. Factor in there was a DNS from Yuki Tsunoda and a DNF with steering issues for Esteban Ocon, Stroll only made two places up, finishing only ahead of the Haas duo. What is more of an alarming concern is that since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, he has scored just 12 points and has not finished higher than ninth in a race with five of them coming in the Austria Sprint. This slide needs to be arrested immediately with Aston slipping to fourth in the Constructors' thanks to the poor form and a strong weekend from Ferrari with 27 points hauled to the one Fernando Alonso picked up in 10th. Unless Stroll does recover some form and quickly, Aston Martin will lose out on third place in the standings, which given its strong start was the absolute minimum target. What did Stroll say? "We tried to do something slightly different with the strategy and only stopped once, but the tyres were falling off towards the end of the stint, so I wasn't able to hold position."
Winner - Alexander Albon
Seventh for a Williams on merit in the dry, should on the face of it, be an outstanding result for Alexander Albon who is a quiet contender for driver of the season in the non-Verstappen class. Monza was always expected to suit the FW45, and Albon expertly defended lap after lap from Norris. He was eventually passed by Hamilton as he scythed through the field, but still banked a valuable points finish to equal his season's best after Canada. But all was not well as the tyre temperature concerns that wrecked the Belgian Grand Prix weekend came back. Sixth in qualifying was one of the best laps of the season for a driver who now expects Williams to struggle until the Las Vegas Grand Prix. Any point here or there will be a bonus for a team firmly now back on track. What did Albon say? "We were actually good through Ascari but slow in Turn 11 (the Parabolica) and they would always catch me up through there. The [tyre] degradation was huge. Coming into the race, even on the laps to the grid we thought: ‘This is going to be a really tough race’."
Loser - Mercedes
Again for Mercedes, there wasn't a great deal totally wrong and fifth and sixth on a weekend it was probably fourth fastest represents a solid day. But it's all just a bit messy. George Russell was penalised for cutting the first chicane and gaining an advantage on Ocon who rather slow on a dreadful weekend for Alpine. Unnecessary. Hamilton made an error in judging where Piastri was leading to the contact that effectively ended the MCL60's race. Clumsy. It is still second in the Constructors' on a weekend Aston Martin could not make inroads, but Mercedes cannot afford too many more of weekends such as these if it wants the runner-up spot. What did Hamilton say? "It was obviously my fault. It wasn’t intentional. I got up alongside and just misjudged the gap that I had to the right and clipped him. "It could happen at any time. But I knew shortly afterwards that it must have been my fault, so I wanted to make sure he knew it wasn’t intentional. That’s what gentlemen do."
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