The fight and the mistakes we didn’t see and the big surprise that the Italian GP has in store for us

Guest room. No matter what has been done before, no matter how many battles have been fought for victory or for places at the bottom, ending a Formula 1 Grand Prix with the cars riding behind the safety car on a rollercoaster is not a pretty sight for any of us , also not a nice feeling for the drivers. Is there anything else you can do? Given the circumstances, no. But let’s see what the Italian GP left us.

The TOP-5 results from the Italian Grand Prix

• 01. Someone is stopping them

Battle; What battle? The only fight is the one that did NOT happen. As Max Verstappen said on the radio, he felt lonely in the race. The Dutchman started seventh after the engine change penalty and improved to second after just four laps. He easily passed everyone except Charles Leclerc, who pitted on lap 12 and gave Max the lead.

We don’t have much to say here. The Max-Red-Bull combo is on another level and no one seems able to stop it.

• 02. Good but not good enough Ferrari

It’s new: the Italians made NO mistake. And don’t rush to tell about the pit stop they made early at Leclerc. The Scuderia saw that Verstappen had the better pace and took a risk that just didn’t get them ahead in the end.

Could Leclerc win if he follows the same strategy as Verstappen? The answer is no”. Ferrari’s car is now well behind Red Bull’s. Can the Italians make up lost ground? In terms of performance, it can. In the rankings, the world should be turned upside down…

• 03. An amazing Saint and a mediocre Perez

Sergio Perez confirms what we have written over the last few weeks. The Czech is still struggling to find a way to go fast in a car that’s completely bespoke to Verstappen and doesn’t suit his own driving style at all.

Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, had another very good race. He started 18th, five places behind Perez and finished fourth, two places ahead of the Mexican. If Ferrari improves in the next few races we will see a lot more from Carlos.

• 04. Mercedes bag…

…that fills you up, bean – bean! Another podium for the German team and George Russell and more valuable points from Lewis Hamilton’s 5th place. The two have been the most consistent duo this year and while Ferrari picked up more points in Italy, they will not easily escape the points battle with Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.

However, we cannot comment on the fact that Russell will do better than the seven-time world champion of Formula 1 in another Grand Prix. The score in the best results between them is 10-6 in favor of the young man and everything shows that Hamilton himself and if Mercedes manages to build a top car, it will have a very big rival right next to it, in its own team. And remember: Russell is not Bottas!

• 05. The big surprise of De Vries

In his very first race in Formula 1 and with the worst car of the season, Nick de Vries surprised us in both qualifying and the race!

Agreed: Williams is more comfortable at tracks with high hourly averages like Monza. But on the other hand, qualifying for Q2 with a car designed for the much larger Alex Albon is impressive.

Especially when he moved perfectly in the race and finished ninth, giving Williams two points! The young Dutchman, champion with Mercedes in Formula E, has a bright future in Formula 1.