He beat the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc into second place at Monza, where the Scuderia tried an alternative strategy but once more were simply unable to match the pace of Verstappen. Verstappen has now taken five wins in a row in an indomitable run that has ensured he has one hand on his second championship. The Monegasque driver stuck at it however, with Verstappen taking only a tenth a lap out of his lead. His gains were, nonetheless, inexorable and the gap was down to a second by lap 12. Verstappen stayed out, while Leclerc now had to complete the rest of the race on the medium tyres.Verstappen led from Russell, with Leclerc 17 seconds back, while Hamilton was finally moving through the field, up to 11th by lap 18. Red Bull pitted Verstappen on lap 25 to take the medium rubber, with 28 laps to go. He emerged in second, 10 seconds back from Leclerc but with much fresher tyres. They duly pitted Leclerc on lap 33 to take the soft tyres to hunt down the Dutchman. He emerged 18 seconds back with 20 laps to go, a tall order of almost a second a lap. Red Bull pitted Verstappen and Leclerc had to match them but there was to be no late drama.

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