Reigning Champion Max Verstappen is on course to break yet another record this weekend, but not all his colleagues are convinced that he will be able to do so with ease.
His former Red Bull teammate Pierre Gasly, a winner at Monza in 2020, stated that it would be tough for the championship leader to win in Monza for the second year in a row, due to the characteristics of the track layout and because of the drama that historically happens at the beginning of the race:
“I think this weekend is actually probably the trickiest one for Max. It’s Monza, it’s a very different track, you’re very low drag. Quite a lot of incidents can happen into Turn 1, you have a massive gain with DRS, so if someone is fast enough to stick to your DRS they always could get a chance.”
“I’ll be surprised if he pulls like a 30-second lead like he can do on some other tracks,” added the Frenchman.
Verstappen was very assertive in denying Gasly’s quotes, as he said ahead of the Italian GP:
“People are allowed to wish for these kinds of things, but I think it’s going to be a good track for us.”
Photo Credits: Oracle Red Bull Racing
The Dutch driver is on a quest to break the record for most F1 wins in a row, after equalling Sebastian Vettel’s previous highest number of 9 at Zandvoort. But he doesn’t have the best record at Monza, in spite of his recent win last year, he retired in 2021 due to a collision with Lewis Hamilton and in 2020 due to a power unit issue.
“I mean, I never thought that I would win nine in a row, first of all. But yeah, now that we are here, of course I’ll try to win ten, but it’s more that I want to just win, it’s not about the number ten in my head.”
Although there’s a good chance the two-time World Champion can succeed in improving his winning streak, he doesn’t give much thought to the importance another win would have, rather focusing on how to secure the top trophy instead. This weekend sees the return of the ATA.
“I think that also just helps a lot to focus on the weekend. I mean, it’s already difficult enough with the different tyre choices that we have to deal with. We’ll just get on with it and see what happens.”
Verstappen also recalled the incredible run that allowed the four-time World Champion to set the record in 2013 and the feelings that such a dominant display arose in him as a fan at the time:
“Watching it, I remember when he did it and I was like ‘wow, that is just a crazy number, I think that no one ever will do something like that’, and (yet) here we are. It’s a crazy number, but I’m also not really too fixated on it.”
Asked which race had been the toughest so far, the Red Bull driver mentioned that his home GP had felt like the most difficult round out of all his nine wins in a row, due to the very variable weather conditions and severe rain, which also led to a red flag.
“Last weekend, with the rain. I mean, it’s so easy to make a mistake or go off the track, or put it in the gravel, so I was happy we just stayed disciplined and calm, and we still won the race.”
