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Charles Bradley

F1 race results: Max Verstappen wins Italian GP under safety car

Leclerc led from pole position, elbowing MercedesGeorge Russell wide at the first corner, but he made an early pitstop during a virtual safety car period on Lap 12. That allowed Verstappen, who charged his way up from seventh on the grid, into the lead.

Leclerc led again when Verstappen pitted near the half distance point, but the Ferrari team leader went for a second stop when it became apparent the reigning champion would easily overhaul him in the final 20 laps.

Leclerc didn’t have the pace to make substantial inroads into Verstappen's lead, and a late safety car to retrieve Daniel Ricciardo’s stranded McLaren meant the race ended under yellows, so Verstappen literally cruised to his fifth consecutive win.

2022 Italian Grand Prix race results

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Points
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 53 1:20'27.511   25
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 1:20'29.957 2.446 18
3 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 53 1:20'30.916 3.405 15
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 53 1:20'32.572 5.061 12
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:20'32.891 5.380 10
6 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 53 1:20'33.602 6.091 9
7 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 53 1:20'33.718 6.207 6
8 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 53 1:20'33.907 6.396 4
9 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Williams 53 1:20'34.633 7.122 2
10 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 53 1:20'35.421 7.910 1
11 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 53 1:20'35.834 8.323  
12 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 53 1:20'36.060 8.549  
13 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 52 1 lap    
14 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 52 1 lap    
15 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 52 1 lap    
16 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 52 1 lap    
  Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 45      
  Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 39      
  Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 31      
  Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 10      
 

How the Italian Grand Prix unfolded

Leclerc (who started on soft tyres) held his pole position advantage on the long run to Turn 1, ahead of Russell (also on softs, with the majority behind starting on mediums) who straightlined the first chicane after Leclerc shoved him wide beyond the first apex. Further back, his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton – who started 19th – followed his teammate’s route and dropped to last.

Ricciardo ran fourth ahead of Verstappen (up from a penalised seventh on the grid, also running softs) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri). McLaren’s Lando Norris made a terrible start from third, dropping to sixth. Verstappen outdragged Ricciardo for third at the start of the second lap, as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (who started 18th) got past Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for 15th in the early exchanges.

Verstappen quickly caught Russell and outbraked him at the Rettifilo chicane at the start of Lap 5 to take second. Leclerc was 2.2s up the road at this point.

As Sainz carved his way into the top 10, up to seventh by Lap 10, former sparring partner Perez fell to the rear with a burning right-front brake after stopping for hard tyres. Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin was forced to a smoky halt with ERS failure on Lap 12, causing a brief virtual safety car.

Leclerc took this opportunity to pit for mediums, as Verstappen stayed out and picked up the lead ahead of Russell. Leclerc rejoined in third, just ahead of Ricciardo, who was passed by Sainz at Ascari. Behind the leaders, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso grabbed seventh when Norris overshot Rettifilo, but Norris got him back there on Lap 18.

Gasly pitted from sixth for hards on Lap 19, triggering much of the DRS train behind Ricciardo into pitting a lap later. Russell pitted from second for hards on Lap 24, rejoining in fourth behind Sainz.

Just before half distance, Verstappen pitted for mediums with a 14-second lead, handing Leclerc a 10-second advantage out front. Sainz pitted from third for softs on Lap 31, rejoining behind the long-running Perez and it took two laps to pass him, at the Roggia chicane.

With Verstappen having halved his lead advantage, Leclerc pitted for softs on Lap 34, rejoining in second but 19.5s behind the leader.

Norris suffered a slow 5.1s stop, losing potential spots to Ricciardo, Gasly and Hamilton. On softs, Norris quickly regained places from Gasly and Ricciardo. Also charging on softs, Hamilton stormed up to sixth and Perez made a late stop for softs, dropping him back to seventh.

Ricciardo pulled off with no power at the Lesmos with five laps to go, costing him a points finish and brought out the safety car. All the leaders pitted for softs with nothing to gain by staying out, but this was all irrelevant as the race never went green again as Ricciardo’s car was stuck in gear and required a cherry picker to move it.

Verstappen cruised home to yet another win, well clear of front row starters Leclerc and Russell, and back-of-gridders Sainz and Hamilton. Perez was sixth, ahead of Norris, Gasly, impressive debutant Nyck de Vries (Williams) and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo).

Alonso joined Vettel in retirement with overheating on Lap 32, and Stroll was also forced out with 12 laps to go making it a double DNF for Aston.

2022 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix fastest laps

Cla Driver Chassis Laps Time Gap Interval km/h
1 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull 46 1'24.030     248.182
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari 38 1'24.336 0.306 0.306 247.282
3 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 43 1'24.434 0.404 0.098 246.995
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari 41 1'24.446 0.416 0.012 246.960
5 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren 43 1'24.718 0.688 0.272 246.167
6 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull 38 1'24.745 0.715 0.027 246.088
7 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes 40 1'25.288 1.258 0.543 244.522
8 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas 43 1'25.298 1.268 0.010 244.493
9 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 45 1'25.706 1.676 0.408 243.329
10 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 41 1'26.361 2.331 0.655 241.484
11 France Esteban Ocon Alpine 37 1'26.593 2.563 0.232 240.837
12 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 39 1'26.603 2.573 0.010 240.809
13 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Williams 41 1'26.624 2.594 0.021 240.750
14 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 30 1'26.718 2.688 0.094 240.489
15 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams 17 1'26.798 2.768 0.080 240.268
16 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas 37 1'26.798 2.768 0.000 240.268
17 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 43 1'26.857 2.827 0.059 240.105
18 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine 7 1'27.203 3.173 0.346 239.152
19 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin 34 1'27.467 3.437 0.264 238.430
20 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 4 1'27.501 3.471 0.034 238.337

2022 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix pitstops

Cla Driver Chassis 1 2 3 4
1 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull S 25 M 23 S 5    
2 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari S 12 M 21 S 15 S 8
3 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes S 23 H 24 S 9    
4 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari M 30 S 17 S 6    
5 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes M 33 S 20        
6 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull M 7 H 35 S 11    
7 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren M 35 S 14 S 9    
8 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri M 18 H 36        
9 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Williams S 19 M 34        
10 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo M 18 H 35        
11 France Esteban Ocon Alpine S 19 H 34        
12 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas M 33 S 20        
13 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo M 35 S 17        
14 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri M 19 H 29 S 5    
15 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams M 15 H 32 S 5    
16 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas M 24 H 22 S 6    
  Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren M 19 H 26        
  Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin M 19 H 22        
  Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine M 31            
  Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin M 11            
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