Max Verstappen secured his 11th win of the 2022 Formula 1 season at Monza, as he inches closer to securing his second World Championship.
The Dutchman started the Italian Grand Prix from seventh on the grid, but was up into second place by lap five after overtaking his rivals in front of him.
Race leader Charles Leclerc pitted for fresh Medium tyres on lap 12 under a Virtual Safety Car, which was called following a retirement for Sebastian Vettel.
The Red Bull car displayed good pace out in front and some 12 laps later when Verstappen made his stop, he emerged behind Leclerc – however Leclerc would have to stop again.
Leclerc came in for fresh Softs on lap 34, releasing Verstappen back into the lead.
Despite having strong pace in qualifying to take pole position, Leclerc couldn’t reel in Verstappen quick enough to take a second victory at Monza.
The Monegasque driver had to settle for second place, ahead of George Russell, who endured another lonely race en route to a podium finish, his seventh of the season.
The race ended under a Safety Car, after McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo stopped on the track late on.
Starting from towards the back of the field, Carlos Sainz carved his way through the field during the race and secured a fourth-place finish for Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton, who also started at the back of the field, made his way into the top five by the chequered flag.
Sergio Perez was sixth, having jumped a large portion of the cars after making an early pit stop to the Hard compound. However there was a slight scare after the stop, when his front right brake started smoking.
Lando Norris endured a scruffy race but crossed the line in seventh, ahead of Pierre Gasly.
The best performer of the day arguably went to debutant Nyck de Vries, who scored two points after crossing the line in ninth.
The Dutchman was stuck in a DRS train for much of the race, but was forced to defend late on from Zhou Guanyu, who picked up the final point on offer.
As well as Vettel and Ricciardo, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso also failed to finish the grand prix due to reliability concerns.
[motorsport_result id=’91689′]
Lulu falls even further behind Russell in points! I wonder how much more he will take before announcing his retirement?