Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates on the podium after winning the Italian Grand Prix. Picture: Marco BERTORELLO / AFP
Max Verstappen won a record-breaking 10th straight Formula One race on Sunday after coming out on top at the Italian Grand Prix in a show of force from Red Bull at Monza.
Reigning world champion Verstappen dominated on a beautiful day in northern Italy which left Ferrari fans disappointed, with Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez finishing second ahead of home hope and pole-sitter Carlos Sainz.
Spaniard Sainz crossed more than 11 seconds back in third, unable to resist the power of Verstappen, the runaway leader of the drivers’ championship.
Verstappen extended his lead on teammate Sergio Perez at the top of the drivers’ standings to 145 points and also ensured that Red Bull maintained their perfect record with 14 wins from as many GPs this season.
The 29-year-old has now won 12 of this season’s races and is all but certain to claim his third consecutive F1 title after breaking a record he shared with Sebastian Vettel by winning in Zandvoort last weekend.
The Dutch driver made it 10 in a row in a race which was delayed by 20 minutes and cut to 51 laps after Yuki Tsunoda’s Alpha-Tauri car suffered power-unit failure during the race’s formation lap.
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