The last race of the season in Europe was hosted by legendary Monza. The Temple of Speed is the very home of the Tifosi, who had high expectations for the red-suited drivers.
Here is the very low downforce rear wing tested in the FP2 of Belgium and then discarded.
The long straights offer lots of chances for overtaking, so for the teams Italy was the best place to take penalties for power unit element changes. It led to a bizarre situation with almost half the grid having engine penalties! The biggest name casualties were championship leader Verstappen (5 places), Perez in the sister Red Bull (10 places) and home hero Sainz (back of the grid). In addition to these three, Hamilton in his Mercedes was to start to the race from the back of the grid, as was AlphaTauri's Tsunoda. Alpine's Ocon had a 5-place penalty, and the Haas duo of Magnussen and Schumacher had a 15-place penalty along with Alfa Romeo's Bottas.
Federica Pellegrini in the paddock before the F1 Grand Prix of Italy on September 09, 2022. Photo by Marco Canoniero / Light Rocket via Getty Images.
Free practice at Monza in 2022. Photo by Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz, free practice, Monza, 2022. Photo by Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc, free practice, Monza, 2022. Photo by Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc, free practice, Monza, 2022. Photo by Ferrari.
Only hours before the qualifying there was breaking news in terms of the Williams team. Their driver Alex Albon had become unwell due to appendicitis and reserve driver Nyck de Vries, who had driven the first free practice session on Friday for Aston Martin, was called to replace the Thai driver. The Dutchman's debut in the qualifying was extremely impressive. Although his fastest lap time in Q1 was deleted due to exceeding the track limits in Turn 10, de Vries made it through to Q2 and out-qualified his teammate Latifi, who was knocked out in the first session already.
Ferrari unveils F1-75 with 'a splash of yellow' for Monza GP weekend on September 07, 2022.
Ferrari with their special yellow livery were shining like a diamond on their home soil.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the Monza’s qualifying in 2022. Photo by Ferrari.
Sainz and Leclerc were topping the time sheets in Q2 and Verstappen was over 3.5 tenths down on Carlos. This came as a small surprise, as the Red Team's pace on the long straights of Spa Francorchamps hadn't been this competitive. In addition to the two top teams, both Mercedes drivers and both McLaren drivers made it within the top ten. Also Alpine's Alonso and AlphaTauri's Gasly proceeded to the final session.
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at the Monza’s qualifying in 2022. Photo by Ferrari.
The Scuderia drivers continued their strong momentum in Q3. Sainz took provisional pole by 0.186s to his teammate Charles.
Kelly Piquet, Verstappen’s girlfriend, during the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix practice three and qualifying day at Monza, on September 10, 2022. Photo by Beata Zawrzel / Nur Photo via Getty Images.
Once again Verstappen was left third. Perez, on the other hand, was 0.7s down on the pace-setting Spaniard. The last runs brought some improvements.
Charles Leclerc at the Monza’s qualifying in 2022. Photo by Ferrari.
Charles put together a phenomenal lap, which entitled the Monegasque to his 8th pole of the season. Verstappen managed to improve as well, and the flying Dutchman split the Scuderia drivers. Surprisingly, Perez in fourth was a massive second off Charles' pace.
George Russell of Mercedes with a girlfriend during the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix practice three and qualifying day at Circuit Monza, on September 10, 2022. Photo by Beata Zawrzel /Nur Photo via Getty Images.
The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Russell qualified 5th and 6th, being separated by 18 thousandths of a second only. Norris qualified 7th and Ricciardo 8th for McLaren, leaving Gasly 9th and Alonso 10th (no lap time). However, the grid on Sunday was a whole different story! Even the drivers seemed to be very unaware of their Sunday's starting positions.
Charles Leclerc on pole position at Monza in 2022. Photo by Ferrari
There was no doubt about the pole-setter; Charles took it by driving, not due to others having penalties. The revised grid saw Russell on the front row in P2, with Norris 3rd and teammate Ricciardo 4th. Gasly was promoted to P5 and Alonso to P6.
Federica Masolin, Sky Italy, during the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix on September 10th, 2022 in Monza, Italy. Photo by Alessio Morgese / Nur Photo via Getty Images.
Emerson Fittipaldi of Brasil during the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix on September 10th, 2022 in Monza, Italy. Photo by Alessio Morgese / Nur Photo via Getty Images.
Esteban Ocon of France and Alpine F1 and Elena Berri walk in the paddock prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 10, 2022 in Monza, Italy. Photo by Dan Mullan / Getty Images.
Verstappen was dropped down to P7 due to his penalty. Sensationally, Williams debutant de Vries was promoted to P8 after qualifying in P13.
Nicholas Latifi of Canada and Willams F 1 team and Sandra Dziwiszek arrive at the paddock prior the practice three of the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo di Monza on September 10, 2022 in Monza, Italy. Photo by Pier Marco Tacca / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.
Alfa Romeo pilot Zhou was to start 9th and Latifi in the sister Williams in 10th. In terms of the other penalty takers, Perez was dropped down to P13, Sainz to P18 and Hamilton to P19. This gave a thrilling starting point to the 2022 Italian GP.
The Frecce Tricolori. Photo by Piero Savazzi.
The front row runners Leclerc and Russell were on the soft tyres, whilst both McLarens, AlphaTauri's Gasly and Alpine's Alonso opted for the medium rubber. Pole man Leclerc took a strong start, as the lights went out. Russell was hungry to challenge him, but the Monegasque wasn't to be surprised. Verstappen had a dream start from P7 and he claimed three positions with no hesitation. On the second lap he attacked McLaren's Ricciardo, moving up to third. The storm warning had been given by the flying Dutchman.
On the main straight on lap 5 Verstappen smelled Russell's blood and the Briton proved toothless against Verstappen's smashing performance.
Charles Leclerc’s front wings in the pits. Photo by Piero Savazzi.
Charles Leclerc’s front wings in the pits. Photo by Piero Savazzi.
The Dutchman's gap to race leader Leclerc was 2.1s only.
Carlos Sainz. Photo by Piero Savazzi.
Meanwhile, Sainz in the sister Ferrari was driving an impressive race out of the brightest limelight. Having started from modest P18, Carlos had made his way through the field and was in P10 with seven laps completed. Hamilton, on the other hand, was still in P18, having started to the race from P19.
Surprisingly, Perez opened the pit stop roulette on lap 8 already, although a one-stop race was predicted.
Carlos Sainz. Photo by Piero Savazzi.
Carlos continued his brilliant overtaking show by passing Alonso in his Alpine on lap 10. This made the Ferrari ace 7th in the race. Lap 12 was the first turning point in the race, as Vettel in his Aston Martin faced an engine failure, which stopped the German's challenger on the track. Virtual safety car came out.
Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari F1-75 makes a pit-stop during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022. Photo by Dan Istitene - Formula 1 via Getty Images.
Ferrari reacted to the virtual safety car and the team called race leader Charles in. His rivals Verstappen and Russell stayed out, so Charles dropped down to P3 when rejoining the track on a fresh set of medium tyres. Meanwhile teammate Carlos had jumped fifth already. Race leader Verstappen had a 7-second lead to Mercedes' Russell.
On lap 23 Russell came in, switching to the hard Pirellis. The pit stop dropped the young Briton down to P4. Three laps later also Verstappen pitted, switching from softs to mediums. Thanks to Max's pit stop, Charles took over the lead by 10 seconds. Verstappen started his chase right away, bouncing fastest lap times, being a second faster than Charles in the lead. After the halfway point of the race Sainz made his pit stop, which dropped the Spaniard behind Perez in P7.
Tifosi with Ferrari flags are seen ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022. Photo by Eric Alonso / Getty Images.
However, two laps later Carlos took the battle to Perez and claimed P6 to the joy of the cheering Tifosi.
Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Ferrari F1-75 makes a pit-stop during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022. Photo by Piero Savazzi.
On lap 34 Charles was called into the pits for the second time. He opted for soft Pirellis for his last stint. It seemed likely, that Verstappen wasn't to stop for the second time, which meant, that Charles had a massive 19-second gap to close. 10 laps later it seemed, that Verstappen was cruising to an easy victory, as Charles was still 17 seconds behind.
Lap 48 was another turning point in the 2022 Italian GP. Ricciardo's orange McLaren came to a sudden halt on the track and safety car was deployed. All top drivers pitted for a fresh set of soft tyres.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari. Photo by Piero Savazzi.
Verstappen had the lead, Charles was second, Russell third and Carlos fourth.
Photo by Piero Savazzi.
Photo by Piero Savazzi.
Photo by Piero Savazzi.
With two laps to go, Ricciardo's McLaren still hadn't been removed from the track, which made the end of the race utterly an anticlimax.
Scuderia Ferrari Club fans with their big red heart-shaped flag. Photo by Piero Savazzi.
The chequered flag was taken behind the safety car, which killed all the thrill.
Charles Leclerc, second, on the podium. Photo by Ferrari.
Second placed Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022 in Monza, Italy. Photo by Mark Thompson / Getty Images.
A general view as second placed Charles Leclerc of Monaco and Ferrari celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022 in Monza, Italy. Photo by Mario Renzi / Formula 1 via Getty Images.
Verstappen snatched the 11th win of the season on Ferrari's home soil. Behind the top four Hamilton finished 5th for Mercedes, Perez 6th for Red Bull, Norris 7th for McLaren and Gasly 8th for AlphaTauri. The Williams replacement Nyck de Vries drove a sensational race and brought two points for Williams in his F1 debut. De Vries was voted as the Driver of the Day, which was well-deserved. Zhou scored the very last point for Alfa Romeo in their home race.
By winning the last race of the season in Europe, Verstappen extended his championship lead into astronomical 116 points. The flying Dutchman will have a chance to secure his world title in the next race already! Red Bull are now gigantic 136 points ahead of Ferrari in the constructors' standings. Ferrari managed to increase their gap to Mercedes from 30 into 35 points, which isn't much of a comfort though.
In three weeks the F1 circus will move to Asia. There are only six more races to go. The obvious question now is: how many of them will Max Verstappen win?
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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