Red Bull’s Max Verstappen revealed that he chose to play a “patient” game for his record tenth consecutive win at 2023 Italian Grand Prix.
Verstappen arrived at Monza chasing a record tenth consecutive Grand Prix win but found himself qualified second on the grid behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz by just 0.013 seconds, following a tense Qualifying session with Sainz’s teammate – Charles Leclerc in third position.
After an aborted and delayed race start, Verstappen struggled to fight his way past Sainz until he completed a race-winning overtake round the outside of Curva Grande on Lap 15, which saw him sprint away to win by 6.802s ahead of teammate, Sergio Perez.
Speaking post-race about his strategic gameplay to clinch his record tenth straight win, Verstappen revealed that he had played a “patient” race in the opening stint with a trimmed down DRS due to the low downforce nature of Monza.
The 25 year-old proceeded to explain how the trimmed DRS enabled him to eventually get the win, as he commented: “That meant we could never have a good run down into turn one, so I had to be patient and force Carlos into a mistake.
At one point, when his tyres were wearing a little, we tried to make him brake late, he locked up a little bit and I thought, “perfect” and was able to pass him on the exit to turn two. From there it was about managing things and bringing the car home safely.”
On what it meant to become the first F1 driver to record ten consecutive Grand Prix victories, Verstappen admitted that he is “very happy” with his latest record achievement, which he described as “very unlikely” so wasn’t on his mind much.
F1 now will conclude the season with eight flyaway races across Asia, Americas and Middle East, but Verstappen was reflective of his campaign so far as he looks destined for a third consecutive title.
Summing up the season so far and his new record, Verstappen quipped: “I am very proud it has happened and proud of what the Team has done again today, the whole year has been pretty incredible so far.”
Red Bulls Team Principal, Christian Horner added that Verstappen’s record tenth straight win is “a very special victory” achieved “the hard way.”
Verstappen’s win also meant that he broke his joint record of nine consecutive wins shared with Sebastian Vettel, with Horner delighted to see the record smashed as he said: “It’s a fantastic achievement and a huge effort from every single faction of The Team.”
Red Bull are also yet to not stand on the top step of the podium this season which has left Horner happy heading into the flyaway races, as he added: “That’s now 14 victories in a row.
“We are leaving Europe unbeaten which is a truly remarkable achievement and something we look to extend as we head to the next race in Singapore in two weeks time.”