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

Leclerc led from pole position, elbowing Mercedes’ George 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	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	53	1:20'27.511		25
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	53	1:20'29.957	2.446	18
3	George Russell	Mercedes	53	1:20'30.916	3.405	15
4	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	53	1:20'32.572	5.061	12
5	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:20'32.891	5.380	10
6	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	53	1:20'33.602	6.091	9
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	53	1:20'33.718	6.207	6
8	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	53	1:20'33.907	6.396	4
9	Nyck de Vries	Williams	53	1:20'34.633	7.122	2
10	Zhou Guanyu	Alfa Romeo	53	1:20'35.421	7.910	1
11	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	53	1:20'35.834	8.323
12	Mick Schumacher	Haas	53	1:20'36.060	8.549
13	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	52	1 lap
14	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	52	1 lap
15	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	52	1 lap
16	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	52	1 lap
	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	45
	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	39
	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	31
	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	10
View full results

 

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

2022 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix pitstops

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