ALTHOUGH LECLERC WAS starting on pole position, on new soft tyres, in-front of a full house of Ferrari devotees Max Verstappen was just 1.5 seconds behind the Monegasque’s gearbox by Lap 5! The Red Bull driver who is in the form of his life, in a car that has aced the 2022 regulations challenge, needed just a few opening laps to leapfrog all those ahead of him from P7. And by Lap 12 he was leading at Monza when Leclerc dived in to swap his soft tyres for mediums during a Virtual Safety Car period triggered by Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin.
It was soon the Dutchman’s turn to pit for new tyres and when the second round of stops for Leclerc’s Ferrari were done and dusted with, it looked like we had a fight on our hands to the checkered flag. But it meant the Monegasque had to preserve his tyres and claw back into a 20 second gap to the leader.
On Lap 48 Daniel Ricciardo’s stricken McLaren MCL36 meant a full Safety Car period was declared and all top five drivers used the opportunity to pit for brand new soft tyres. This looked like a golden opportunity for both Leclerc and Mercedes’ Georg e Russel to have a go at Verstappen in a thrilling last couple of laps.
But the much anticipated race restart never came. And the Race Directors decided to end the race behind the Safety Car in an anti-climax procession. Memories of the controversial Abu Dhabi 2021 final laps flashed as fans took to social media to vent their frustrations of being denied some last-lap drama.
The rulebook was adhered to this time and the benefactor was Verstappen again. He’s in that purple-patch of his career when everything no matter how unimaginable or complicated they appear, will ultimately fall in his favour. It remains to be seen for how long he can stretch this momentum.
Interestingly, Verstappen has never finished on the podium in Monza before! With five victories on the trot now, can teammate and street-circuit specialist Sergio Perez possibly offer a threat in Singapore up next? It’s crucial the Mexican performs here as Russel’s consistent perfor mances have brought him within striking distance on the leaderboard. The circus returns to Singapore’s Marina Bay after a two-year pandemic break. It’s time for Checo’s star to shine.