Tifosi booed but Verstappen had too much pace: 2022 Italian Grand Prix report
F1
- Last updated: September 13th 2022
A late safety car ended racing at the 2022 Italian Grand Prix, along with Charles Leclerc's hopes of beating Max Verstappen. There were jeers from the tifosi but it was the right result, says Chris Medland
A race that started to huge cheers from the tifosi ended with loud jeers from those same fans, but for once it wasn’t aimed at Ferrari’s strategy as the Italian Grand Prix had an unsavoury ending.
The cheers were for the polesitter, as Charles Leclerc was wheeled onto the grid to start alongside George Russell, with Max Verstappen a distant seventh after another power unit penalty. The pace Ferrari had shown during practice and qualifying had increased hopes that Leclerc could convert, so the crowd roared their approval as he held Russell off on the opening lap and started to edge away.
Verstappen’s race hinged on how quickly he could make progress in a car that didn’t appear to have the straight-line speed advantage that it has in recent rounds, and whether the tight Rettifilo chicane that opens the lap could create trouble.
In the end it was a bit of a disservice to the championship leader to suggest he could get caught up in any issues, such is the level he’s performing at right now. Verstappen emerged from the opening lap in fourth place behind only Leclerc, Russell and Daniel Ricciardo, and by the exit of the chicane for a second time he was third.
He repeated the move down the inside into Rettifilo on Russell just three laps later, and with Leclerc only two seconds ahead he was instantly in the mix for victory.
Verstappen was quickly up to and past George Russell to move into second place
Remko de Waal/ANP via Getty Images
“The start was very good,” Verstappen said. “I had a clean chicane, and then I could quickly get back into my rhythm and get into second.
“Today was very hot and we could really look after our tyres. Of course, it helped a lot that I had a great first lap, and I could clear most of the cars before they got into a DRS train.”
Aside from Verstappen, the big mover had been Norris going backwards from third after a poor start saw him swallowed up, and Nyck de Vries impressively holding station in eighth place on debut. It was a false position with the likes of Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez to climb through the field, and it was Sainz who made quick progress as he ticked off car after car into the first corner.
The Spaniard had just cleared Pierre Gasly for fifth place when the virtual safety car was deployed to clear Sebastian Vettel’s stricken Aston Martin on Lap 12, and it was at this point that Ferrari potentially made another strategic error.
The hard tyre was already looking usable on Perez’s car as he’d opted for an even earlier stop, with his front brake duct catching fire due to debris that duly burned itself out over the following lap. And that meant all three strategies were open as those who had started on softs – Leclerc, Russell, Verstappen, de Vries and Esteban Ocon – could use the hard or medium to go to the end, while the rest of the field could opt for the soft if they got far enough into the race.
Leclerc made an early stop under the virtual safety car
Dan Istitene/F1 via Getty Images
Trying to take advantage of the VSC, Ferrari suggested a pit stop to Leclerc that would see him switch to medium tyres and attempt to go to the end, and Leclerc replied that it would be tight but to go for it, and duly entered the pits just as the VSC was signalled as ending.
It was hardly a disaster as the stop was complete before the track went green again, but the gain wasn’t as big as it could have been and Leclerc only just squeezed out ahead of Ricciardo in a crucial exit. The Ferrari driver was also soon told he was on “Plan C” as it became clear the 40-lap stint was going to be too much to ask on the mediums.
“I think if you look at our season as a whole, for sure there’s been mistakes and we need to get better,” Leclerc said. “If today was a clear mistake, I don’t think so because it was just our choice and looking back at it, you just cannot predict whenever the VSC is going to end.
“If I was not stopping Max would have pitted and he would have had the same problem as I did. So nothing to blame on anybody there. Just a little bit unlucky, and probably missing a little bit of pace too.”
To be fair to Ferrari, it was only just too big a stint, as de Vries opted for mediums on Lap 19 and retained position in the middle of the Ricciardo train that had formed including Pierre Gasly, Norris and Zhou Guanyu.
Nyck de Vries keeps cool under pressure from Zhou Guanyu
Remko de Waal/ANP via Getty Images
That battle had also featured Fernando Alonso but he started to fade and asked his team if he had a problem with his deployment, to which he was told: “Everything looks OK from our side.”
“Wow,” came Alonso’s response. And it was pertinent as he soon retired with a suspected water pressure issue.
By then, Verstappen had made his pitstop for mediums, enjoying an offset of 13 laps over Leclerc. That was followed by Sainz coming in on Lap 30 for a set of softs that would allow him to attack, in what was proving to be an impressive fightback from 18th.
As Sainz muscled his way past Perez for sixth place into the Della Roggia chicane, Leclerc was called into the pits for his second stop, giving up the lead and being left with a 19-second gap to close in as many laps.
Was the chase on? No, it wasn’t. Verstappen responded to peg the gap for a number of laps before it only closed by a few seconds. But Red Bull still thought softs was a better bet for Perez having lost position to the second Ferrari, dropping him between the two McLarens with Norris now running ahead of Ricciardo.
The tifosi may have dreamed of a last-gasp 2022 Italian Grand Prix win for Leclerc, but Verstappen's inherent pace all weekend meant it was never likely, writes Mark Hughes
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Then came a twist, as Ricciardo lost power and stopped between the two Lesmos, leading to a safety car with six laps remaining. Verstappen, Leclerc and Russell all took to the pits for an additional set of softs and prepared for a shootout that never came.
Ricciardo’s car was stuck in gear, and then the wrong car was picked up by the safety car, meaning that by the time Verstappen was at the head of the queue the cars were totally strung out and a restart couldn’t take place. The prospect of a dramatic end gone, the field rolled across the line to a chorus of boos.
“Normally, I think everyone wants to finish under green flag, but unfortunately we were just short of laps,” Verstappen said. “But I mean, I had a new soft as well so I was not too worried, even if it was one lap shootout.”
Late safety car signalled the end of the day’s racing
DPPI
Leclerc criticised the call, but felt the way Ferrari fans voiced their dissent at Verstappen on the podium afterwards was a step too far.
“The end was frustrating,” Leclerc said. “I wish we could have ended up racing, but unfortunately then we were second at that point because of what happened before. So, it’s a shame.
“Obviously I really wanted this race to start again. From the car, I didn’t understand because the last time we passed through, the track was clean. So, I really thought that we will restart again, but it didn’t happen. Maybe there are things in the background that I didn’t know that didn’t make the restart possible.
“I think nobody likes booing and I think it shouldn’t happen.”
Tifosi disgruntled at safety car finish, but Leclerc would only have had an outside chance of victory
That said, Ferrari fans have had plenty to be frustrated about so far this season, and being robbed of a grandstand finish was just another thing to add to the list. But it wasn’t due to the Scuderia’s wrongdoing on this occasion, and Verstappen once again just had too much pace for the rest of the field. For once, though, that wasn’t the headline when it came to Dutch drivers.
De Vries produced a remarkable debut drive despite being in a high-pressure battle for points throughout, fending of Zhou and putting pressure on Gasly, Norris and Alonso at different stages. His one error came under the safety car at the end, as he braked in front of the Alfa Romeo believing he was above his delta time and set to be penalised, but an investigation into erratic driving only resulted in a reprimand and he earned two championship points with a hugely impressive performance.
The Monza grandstands roared Charles Leclerc to pole position for the 2022 Italian Grand Prix. And with his main rivals facing grid penalties, the crowd will be dreaming of victory on Sunday
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“The whole of the last 24 hours have just been a dream,” de Vries said. “I didn’t really have much time to think because everything was so rushed. I had a very bad sleep, it went from excitement into nerves and I didn’t dare even look into my sleep tracking because basically I spent the whole night awake. But perhaps it helped me. I couldn’t think and I just had to get on with the job.
“My start wasn’t great but it was enough to maintain position, and I think it was key for me to get into a rhythm in the beginning and not lose position [because] then your tires are dirty and you’re always on the back foot. That’s why I was really happy with our strategy and how we managed that.
“And actually the pace was really good, the car was great and we made a small adjustment from stint one to stint two. I asked a lot of help from the team to use the tools in the car to influence the balance. Again, I know that we had a little bit of help from outside with grid penalties and all that. But hey, no one takes these points away from us.”
De Vries is right, nobody does. And the final positions were all fully deserved, even if it would have been nice to see the points handed out after a racing finish.
