maximum verstappen (Red Bull), extraordinary leader of the World Cup, will seek his tenth consecutive victory at the Monza Autodrome this weekend, The temple of speed, hosting the new edition of the Italian Grand Prix, the fourteenth race of the 2023 calendar. The 25-year-old Dutch driver is having the sweetest moment of his sports career, with a third world crown that could come with great anticipation in October in Qatar (8) or the USA (22), with nine races left in his career. He currently has 339 points and earns 138 according to his second-place teammate Sergio Pérez.

But also, Verstappen could have the longest streak in history this Sunday Formula 1, After beating Sebastian Vettel’s record of 9 wins between Belgium and Brazil in 2013 at Zandvoort with Red Bull. Max’s current lead is almost humiliating: he’s won 20 of the last 24 races, and his last win against his countrymen also raises Red Bull’s 13-wins-score rating; this was the best start in the team’s history and moved up to 14th place in a row. Victories, if we add the last race of 2022.

Alonso and Aston Martim on the defensive

Monza and his long straight are synonymous with speed, and in this episode, Red Bull once again asserts itself as the big favourite, not forgetting McLaren, which has been prominent in this regard recently. On the other hand, this is one of the weak points of Aston Martin, which stood out last week with new ground and post-summer improvements at Zandvoort. Fernando Alonso He squeezed them to the max to return to the podium two and a half months after Canada He finished the race in second place, 3 seconds behind Vertstappen. 33 was closer than ever this year, but Italy will be another story.

Continuing to drive at his best level at 42, Alonso is third overall in the championship, with 171 points well behind leaders Verstappen, but on the prowl for second place, 33 points behind Checo Pérez. He’s already had seven podiums this season, bringing his special harvest to 105 victories two decades after Formula 1’s elite teams.

Last Sunday he set two records: the longest time between his first podium run and his last (7,462 days: almost twenty-and-a-half years from Malaysia 2003 to last Sunday); and the longest time between the first sprint and the last sprint (7,378 days). If Aston Martin continues to run the development race properly with the AMR23, Fernando will choose to continue to expand these brands. For now, he can boast of being the only driver to always make it into the 3rd quarter this year, improving or keeping his starting position in all but one race.

Opportunity for Ferrari and Sainz

The Italian Grand Prix is ​​an excellent party of tifosi. ferrari, Although this year Scuderia arrived at home event in low hours and had to improve. The team’s last victory was in Austria 2022 with Charles Leclerc. Before that, Carlos Sainz had won at Silverstone. Last year, Leclerc battled Verstappen for the World Cup until mid-court, while this season the team is in fourth place in the World Cup, more than 400 points behind Red Bull.

Leclerc had won at Monza in 2019, but the previous victory stretched back to Fernando Alonso in 2010, and Michael Schumacher’s last victory here with Ferrari was in 2006. Hope is the last thing to lose and a podium Sainz or Leclerc this weekend it will definitely have a balsamic effect. An improbable victory will unleash the delirium in the stands.

Sainz has failed to reach the podium so far this year and is currently fifth in the championship. Leclerc considers second place (Austria) and two-thirds (Baku and Spa) the biggest trophy this year, and is sixth in the World Cup, three points behind his partner. Maranello fans will wear a special decoration this weekend as a tribute to the endurance team that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans centennial in June.

Watch out for tires

A legendary track that utilizes powerful engines and requires minimal downforce setup, Monza boasts a 5,793-metre track and eleven corners (four to the left), achieving the fastest speeds in World Championships. From Friday, when the free practice sessions, which are expected to be dry, begin, tires from the less hard compound range will be used: C3 (hard, recognizable by the white stripe), C4 (medium, yellow stripe) and C5 (soft, red).

This weekend, the mandatory allocation that Pirelli has already tested in Hungary will be used, and the majority of pilots were very critical of it. Eleven matches will be played per driver instead of the usual fourteen, and qualifying will be held on hard tires in Q1, medium tires in Q2, and soft tires in Q3. FIA and F1 aim to reduce costs and pollution with thisAlthough, as seen in The Hungaroring, the result was more muted on Friday, as teams were barely rolling to save the tires in terms of ‘ranking’ and race.