Italian GP 2022 - Race: Verstappen wins in Ferrari's home Grand Prix, Leclerc and Russell follow
Max Verstappen snatched the victory away from Ferrari in their home track at the Italian Grand Prix, followed by Charles Leclerc in P2 and George Russell in P3.
Race Start: Charles Leclerc kept the lead of the race, while George Russell stayed behind him in P2, followed by Daniel Ricciardo in P3, as Lando Norris wasn't able to keep up with the pace and dropped to P6, behind Pierre Gasly.
Lap 5: After a stellar start, Max Verstappen climbed up to P2, being 2 sec away from Leclerc.
Lap 8: Sergio Perez entered the pits in order to complete his first tyre change, coming out to the track with his front right tyre smoking.
Lap 12: Sebastian Vettel reported some power loss, triggering a VSC. Charles Leclerc completed his first pit stop of the race, dropping in P3 behind Verstappen and Russell.
Lap 17: Kevin Mangussen received a 5-sec penalty for "leaving the track and gaining an advantage"
Lap 24: George Russell pitted from P2, to switch to a fresh set of hard tyres, rejoining at P4.
Lap 25: Max Verstappen entered the pits and switched to mediums, rejoining between Leclerc and Sainz.
Lap 31: Ferrari summoned Carlos Sainz, so he could switch to softs.
Lap 32: Fernando Alonso retired from the race due to an engine issue.
Lap 41: Both Aston Martin drivers' race came to an end, as Lance Stroll was called into the pits by his team, to retire the car.
Lap 49: Daniel Ricciardo stopped his McLaren at the side of the track, triggering a safety car. Lap 55: The race ended under SC conditions, as it took way too long for the track to clear, and the marshals judged the situation unsafe.
Max Verstappen, starting the Italian GP from P7, cruised to an easy victory, followed by Charles Leclerc in P2 and George Russell in P3.
Carlos Sainz finished in P4, having started from P18, followed by Lewis Hamilton in P5 and Sergio Perez in P6.
Another top 10 finish for Lando Norris, who ended up in P7, followed by Pierre Gasly in P8.
On his F1 debut, subbing for Williams' Alex Albon who has appendicitis, Nyck de Vries finished in P9, and also got the fans' vote as DOTD, with Zhou Guanyu in P10, completing the top 10.
Nyck de Vries' P9 finish marks a rather embarrassing statistic, as Nicholas Latifi hasn't been able to score any points this season, while the 2021 Formula E champion managed to do that on his first F1 race.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen extended his lead over Charles Leclerc, and could even win the 2022 Drivers Championship title in Singapore.
Full Race Classification:
