The excited red marabunta that roared in the stands at Monza did not make him tremble. Nor the rebirth on his circuit, at home, of Ferrari, led by the glamorous team by a fighting Carlos Sainz, focused on every corner, brave in every turn, ambitious and dedicated to the cause of the rampant horse, who could not even approach Max Verstappen. The Dutchman spoiled the party of the Italian team at the Italian Grand Prix by achieving his tenth consecutive victory, an absolute record in the same season, in front of his teammate Checo Pérez and the Madrid native.
The Spanish pilot, who started from pole position, was barely able to enjoy first place, having to look in the rear-view mirror throughout the race. Verstappen, second on the starting grid, already showed his teeth on the fifth lap, on the outside at turn one, but Sainz defended himself successfully. It didn’t matter to Mad Max, very comfortable between the two Ferraris, with no news behind an attack by Leclerc. The absolute leader of the World Championship, at the pace of a fast lap, calmly saw how the rear tires of the Madrid driver were degrading without a remedy, getting closer and closer to the assault on Red Bull’s leadership. It was on lap 15, again at the end of the finish line, when Verstappen built up the lead. Sainz locked on the brakes to save the situation and held the position from wire to wire in a tense parallel duel through the long Biassono corner. The surrender came definitively at the fourth corner, the position already lost. The horizon was once again the only rival of the reigning champion, who began to make ground in the middle very easily, already five seconds behind when the Ferraris entered the pits at the twentieth turn. The equator of the race had not yet arrived and Verstappen already had the ticket, almost a permanent pass, to the top step of the podium.
Having sealed the victory, in another Mad Max galaxy, the Ferraris fought with the other Red Bull. Checo Pérez painfully got rid of Russell’s Mercedes and went for Leclerc, whom he overtook at the second attempt, at turn 33. The Mexican then began the pursuit of a Sainz in no man’s land. Ten by ten, with small bites in each sector, he contacted the 55 . Pérez became Bill Murray for moments in Trapped in Time. He tried again and again to get ahead at the always complicated turn one, but the Spaniard came out victorious in this section of all the attacks. Sainz only waved the white flag on lap 46, at which point the Mexican used his top speed and DRS on the straight to propel himself into second place.
With no time to assimilate the blow, the Madrid native began his third and final battle of the day with Leclerc, hiding the entire race until the last few frantic laps. The Monegasque pushed his teammate to the limit, close to even failure, on the verge of touching the two Ferraris. With two laps to go, Sainz defended tooth and nail the last place on the podium. Only the checkered flag allowed him to breathe after 51 laps of pure adrenaline.
In the background, the war was no less. The McLarens were in almost every fight. The two British cars touched each other. Then Norris had it with the surprising Williams of Albon, eventually seventh, and Hamilton shot off the tarmac after colliding with Piastri, who fell to twelfth place. More placid and lackluster was the race of a Fernando Alonso, ninth. This time the Asturian ceded the Spanish lead to Sainz, the first of the mortals after the unattainable Red Bull. After many disappointments, of races with their heads down in a black season, the straight of Monza, dyed the asphalt Ferrari red by the fans, cheered by hailing the Madrid native, named driver of the day after achieving his first podium this course
