The sixteenth race of the year, 172nd (1072) in absolute terms, took place on Sunday 11 September 2022. on the Monza circuit in Italy.

The match went without surprises. The tifosi’s faint illusions of a victory for their beloved Leclerc in Ferrari’s homeland were shattered early on when Verstappen found himself comfortably in the position of chasing the Monegasque on lap 5 with a pace that predicted overtaking after a few laps. Verstappen started in seventh place due to a penalty for replacing vital car components. We had five such permutations in the respective riders in connection with Saturday’s qualifying tests. Giving up Vettel and pitting for Leclerc with a ten-second gain when switching to medium tires – due to a 40 percent reduction in speed when the virtual safety car (VSC) was announced – was nothing more than a lazy feeling of prolonging the illusions. and the chatter that accompanies them.

Hypothetical speech of the first order (if…then…), but composed not to cover any future options for a plan or thought, but to maintain mortal interest and ambition for a good day full of emotions. , although he did not defend anything. The end of Ricciardo’s career with five laps to go revived interest in a possible clash between the two gladiators on fresh tires. As a result, only sad memories of last year’s race at the Emirates, in Dubai, surfaced and faded almost immediately after the team leader applied to the letter the rule that the safety car (SC) must leave after the race order, the cars on the track are restored, go to them without problems, as on the field: the phrase is almost untranslatable, meaning that the condition for the restart is that the cars behind the lap must return to the correct position, and not to where the race stopped found them. That is, “gather” behind the safety car.

The memory of the last lap of the last race of the 2021 season will not only remain indelible in the memory and hearts of the people and spectators of Formula 1, but tends to grow into a standard of unfair behavior and circumvention of the rules. Unfortunately, the way Toto Wolff handled the situation left an open wound. If Hamilton was offended, then in this particular case he should have exhausted all legal and reasonable means, even if the credibility of the FIA ​​was undermined. Since Wolf, despite his initial statements, chose the internal unity of the team and the federation, where the head coach did not properly adhere to the rules of the sport … he fatally left open a window of doubt and questions, followed by ridicule. by his spectators, the race when it – correctly – ended with the leading safety car. The audience wanted Leclerc to have a chance to claim first place, whether it was practically possible or formally consistent.

Although Pérez finished sixth, starting thirteenth, having encountered a flat spot (slightly untranslated terminology, hard braking creates a flat surface in the tire, destroying it locally) and debris in the brake system only on lap 8, he does not look capable. driving a championship car with championship powers. On the contrary, for example, from Bottas, when he was in Mercedes or Rosberg in the same team. The latter even took the title from teammate Hamilton. Of course, one could argue that he does not have a car of the quality that Verstappen has. But the statement will be clearly false. Obviously, at Red Bull everything revolves around Verstappen. The second driver is clearly the second, but to such an extent to have a car that cannot threaten a loved one? I do not think so. Pérez should ride closer to his teammate’s racing pace (Greek: omostaulo, racing terminology). Can not. Especially after Monaco, he seems to be moving away from the progress he should be aiming for.

Start off: Russell’s attempt to become captain failed due to Leclerc’s determination. The first two, Verstappen, who replaced Albon Davis and Ocon, played on c4 rubber (soft).

5/53: Verstappen easily overtakes Russell for second place and is moving at 25.8 inches per lap. Chef Leclerc has the same rhythm.

8/53: Saind passes Zhou for ninth place. Perez suffers from hard stopping and brake problems. He enters and exits with c1 (hard) tires in twentieth place. Verstappen is 1/10 second faster than Leclerc, who is 5/10 faster than Russell. But Verstappen has orders to charge the batteries. It is clear that the wider aerodynamic profile allows it to ride with significantly less tire wear than the Leclerc.

11/53: In the context of Binotto’s democratic understanding of running a racing team in combat, Leclerc’s engineer requests his approval of plan B over the radio (are you happy about that? An interesting approach is to insist on the consent of the driver, whose observation is limited to the cockpit. If you cut the intercom, he will forget his name in a few rounds. When the head of Ferrari was asked about these behavioral decisions, he calmly replied that it should be so.

12/53: After Turn 7, the infamous Lesmos, Vettel parked on the left. The fight is over for him. For Ferrari, it was an opportunity to revive the illusions of the Italian tifosi crowd. He uses a virtual safety car, placing Leclerc in c2 (middle) to change tires. He enters the track in third, 12 inches behind first Verstappen and a temporary advantage of 12 inches if the Dutchman’s expected pit stop is included in the calculations. But he entered 6 rounds ahead of the proposed “window” of change.

21/53: Verstappen is still moving at the same pace as Leclerc despite reasonable tire wear.

24/53: Russell comes out of the pits on c1 (hard) tires in Mercedes’ desperate attempt to shuffle the deck. But we don’t have a card game here. We don’t even have a game. Verstappen’s car moves along the railway tracks.

25/53: Verstappen is switching to mid-size tires and aims to finish on them, unless, of course, the unexpected happens. He comes out, as expected, 12 inches behind Leclerc. In the next pit stop, the Monegasque will play a major role.

29/53: Verstappen is 5/10 seconds faster than Leclerc. After a few laps, given the deterioration of the Monegasque, he will reach him without needing the help of a pit stop, which, however, is an inevitable prospect.

31/53: Saint pit stops and trips on soft tires are in eighth place, almost in fourth place, as the necessary pit stops of the leaders are expected.

34/53: Leclerc puts on soft rubber with absurd hopes of catching up with Verstappen. Maybe something similar could happen after the termination.

38/53: Hamilton overtakes Ricciardo and takes sixth place.

43/53: Perez moved up to seventh place.

47/53: Riccardo leaves between Lesmos. Everyone goes to the pits hoping to give the last fight almost from scratch, on fast soft tires. This will never happen. The race ends with Verstappen behind the safety car celebrating his first victory at Monza to date. Davis’ compatriot in his first F1 race finishes ninth and picks up two points and self-confidence.

Verstappen leads the drivers’ standings by 116 points, while Leclerc leads Perez by 9 points. Red Bull leads Ferrari in the constructors’ standings with 139 points. Mercedes is in third place, 35 points behind second. Red Bull is confidently leading the race.

The next race will take place in three weeks at the Marina Bay circuit in Singapore, which opened in 2008 as a night track. Suitable for weight loss and discomfort due to 23 revolutions and humidity. Riders lose 3 kg per race. Red Bull, that is, Verstappen, is not in danger.