Monza GP: Verstappen was unstoppable and Alpine disappointed once again
Verstappen excelled and Alpine disappointed
porEditorial Team
Argentina
The four-time world champion secured his third victory of the season with a gap of almost 20 seconds over McLaren
Max Verstappen prevailed at the Italian Grand Prix and ended his winless streak since Emilia Romagna. The Red Bull driver dominated the race from start to finish, taking advantage of a solid strategy with 37 laps on medium tires before switching to hards, which allowed him to secure an unassailable lead.
The controversy began at the start: Verstappen cut the first chicane to maintain the lead over Lando Norris, but he had to yield the position to avoid penalties. Minutes later, the Dutchman regained the lead and had no more rivals.
The race remained stable until McLaren's pit stops in the final stage. Oscar Piastri came in first and exited without complications on soft tires. One lap later it was Norris's turn, who suffered a problem with the front left tire and lost five crucial seconds.
The delay allowed Piastri to overtake him on track, although the team ordered him to give the place back to the Briton, arguing that the mistake had been the team's and not the driver's. The Australian complied, although he did not fail to point out that "pit stop errors are also part of racing".
Verstappen crossed the finish line 19 seconds ahead of Norris and more than 20 ahead of Piastri. Charles Leclerc finished fourth after being overtaken by the Australian, followed by George Russell and a Lewis Hamilton who climbed from tenth to sixth place.
Vertappen fue el indiscutido primero en Monza
Williams celebrated with points from Alex Albon, while young drivers Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Isack Hadjar completed the top 10 in Monza.
Alpine and another race to forget
Meanwhile, the French team had another poor performance, although it was expected, since the lack of engine power was one of the main limitations for entering the points zone at this circuit.
Although Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly managed to reach 11th and 10th place respectively, they lost their positions at different moments of the race.
Alpine nuevamente con las manos vacías
The first to drop was the Argentine, who after pitting fell to last place and barely moved up one spot, finishing 17thjust ahead of Lance Stroll after the retirements of Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. As for the Frenchman, the mandatory stop near the end of the race relegated him to the last positions and he was only able to surpass his teammate, finishing in 16th place.
