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Windsor analyses: 'That's the reason Verstappen won the race'
- Sam Godber
It was a brilliant weekend for Max Verstappen. Before the eyes of the Tifosi, the Dutchman managed to win for the tenth time in a row. At the start of the race, the two-time world champion did still have to pass Carlos Sainz, and an overtaking move came a little later than most people were used to from Verstappen.
Sainz was started Ferrari's home race from pole position, with Verstappen starting from second. It was clear that the Red Bull driver was the faster of the two, but the high top speed that the Ferrari actually had all weekend made it difficult to overtake.
'As a result, Verstappen won the race'
Verstappen put pressure on Sainz in the opening stages, causing the Spaniard to manage his tyres less. Peter Windsor says in his analysis video: "That's where Max won the race today. He, very early on in the race, pushed Carlos into a position where he couldn't really do any tyre management. And all he could do was sort of look in his mirrors and try to defend from about six laps onwards, albeit with that top-speed advantage.
Partly because of that top speed, Verstappen came up short in the opening phase. According to Windsor, the Red Bull driver had quickly found a solution to that: "What Max did, was realise that the real pass at Monza is going to be made into the second chicane if he can be on the outside on the run through, out of the chicane and then through the Curva Grande, the long right-hander towards the second Chicane. He was on the inside there, and more or less alongside Carlos, then he was going to be on the grip under breaking, and then he was going to get the lead into that second chicane."
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