Max Verstappen’s pursuit of F1 history is the storyline at the Italian Grand Prix

Only one extra win.

With only one extra win, Max Verstappen won’t solely add one other line to his already-impressive racing resume, however the Crimson Bull driver will etch his title within the hallowed halls of Components 1 historical past. With a victory in subsequent Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza — the Temple of Velocity — Verstappen will safe his tenth-straight win, setting a brand new mark in F1 historical past.

Verstappen tied Sebastian Vettel’s mark of nine-straight victories, set again in 2013, along with his win on the Dutch Grand Prix.

His pursuit of historical past is the storyline this weekend.

However it’s not the one one.

Is Monza the place Alex Albon secures his podium for Williams?

It’s time for a daring prediction.

Alex Albon scores a podium end at Monza.

Maybe, given what we have now seen from Albon and the FW45 in current weeks, this isn’t precisely a daring prediction. Albon has completed within the factors in three of the final six races, and is coming off a Dutch Grand Prix the place he certified fourth and completed eighth, whereas working a masterful 45-lap stint on delicate tyres in assorted situations at the beginning of the race.

Then there may be Monza itself, which could be a super circuit for the FW45. That automobile has been lightning-fast on straights in current races — courting again to the Canadian Grand Prix the place Albon completed a season-best seventh — and at Monza, you will see quite a lot of straights.

Contemplate this telemetry knowledge from F1-Tempo analyzing the Belgian Grand Prix, the place Albon completed exterior the factors. Once you evaluate his quickest lap to the quickest lap posted by Charles Leclerc — who completed on the rostrum — you see simply how briskly Albon was on the lengthy Kemmel Straight:

Once more, Leclerc completed on the rostrum, however you possibly can see how briskly Albon was on the lengthy straight, reaching a prime velocity of 328 km/h on that stretch, sooner than Leclerc’s prime velocity of 316 km/h.

To drive the purpose house, right here is Albon’s quickest lap from Sunday on the Dutch Grand Prix in comparison with Verstappen’s quickest lap:

Once more, you see the energy of Albon and the FW45 on the principle straight at Zandvoort, the place he reached a prime velocity of 322 km/h, sooner than Verstappen’s 304 km/h. Whereas Verstappen was sooner on varied factors all through the monitor, and posted a sooner lap time total, Albon’s energy within the straights bodes very effectively for Monza.

Can Ferrari, effectively, “unbreak” themselves?

I considered a unique subheadline however, effectively, it is a household web site.

I’ve talked about earlier than the varied texts and social media DMs that pour in throughout qualifying and races from forlorn Ferrari followers. This previous weekend was no exception. With Leclerc crashing out of Q3 on Saturday, and retiring early on Sunday after a cavalcade of errors, it was one other troublesome week for the Scuderia fan in your life.

“Why do I watch this?” was one message acquired following Leclerc’s Q3 crash.

“I ******* hate Ferrari. I ******* hate them.” was a message acquired on Sunday.

This previous weekend was in some ways classic Ferrari. First you may have Carlos Sainz Jr. bemoaning the dearth of consistency from the SF-23 throughout Thursday’s press conferences. Then Leclerc crashes out of Q3, forcing him to begin the Grand Prix in P9. Then in the course of the early rain within the race itself, Leclerc comes into the pits, and has to attend for the crew to hold the intermediates over from the storage.

That led to an unbelievable second within the F1TV commentary field when the announcers puzzled simply what, precisely, the workforce members had been pondering Leclerc was boxing for. A recent set of slicks in the course of a downpour?

Then Leclerc sustains some harm on Lap 12, dropping the fitting endplate on his entrance wing. That required one other pit cease, a brand new entrance wing, and by then the harm was actually accomplished.

He would retire after “41 laps of ache” based on F1TV.

So the query dealing with them this week is, as it’s many different weeks:

Can they “unbreak” themselves, this time in entrance of their house crowd?

Recreation on for second within the Constructors’ Championship?

A mixture of current success from Mercedes, and a few struggles from Aston Martin, had seen the Silver Arrows pull 51 factors away from Aston Martin within the battle for second within the Constructors’ Championship.

However with Fernando Alonso’s second-place end at Zandvoort — coupled with a sixth-place end from Lewis Hamilton and a P17 from George Russell after beginning third — Aston Martin clawed just a few factors again in that struggle.

Past the outcomes, nonetheless, was how effectively Alonso regarded within the AMR23 this week. Whereas the workforce began sturdy — and Alonso scored podiums in 5 of the primary six races of the season — Aston Martin slid again to Earth in current weeks. That opened the door for Mercedes’ rise to second.

However now, maybe the Silver Arrows have opened that door once more.

What’s going to we see from Liam Lawson this week?

Liam Lawson was thrust into an almost-untenable place this weekend.

He discovered after FP2 that he could be taking Daniel Ricciardo’s place within the Grand Prix after the AlphaTauri driver suffered a damaged bone in his left hand throughout that second observe session. That gave Lawson only one observe session earlier than qualifying, and that got here in slightly moist situations.

As one would possibly count on given simply an hour of observe in tough situations, Lawson certified P20. He began the Grand Prix in P19 after Kevin Magnussen was pressured to begin on pit lane after taking some new parts, and he scraped collectively a Thirteenth-place end which, all issues thought-about, is an inexpensive debut.

Now he will get to go to Monza and revel in not solely the good thing about a full slate of observe classes, however he will get to race on a monitor the place he has some expertise. Lawson scored factors in just a few completely different races on the Temple of Velocity over his profession.

Lawson scored a P2 at Monza within the Euroformula Open in the course of the 2019, and a pair of factors finishes in F3 at Monza in the course of the 2020 season, one within the Dash Race and the opposite within the Function Race.

Throughout the 2021 F2 season, Lawson completed within the factors in two completely different Dash Races at Monza, in addition to ending within the factors at Monza within the 2022 F2 Dash Race.

May he safe his first factors in F1 this weekend?

The primary storyline, nonetheless, is Verstappen

Whereas there are different storylines, comparable to those we have now famous, the main storyline is Verstappen, and his pursuit of historical past.

The Crimson Bull driver brushed apart questions in regards to the report following his win at Zandvoort declaring that he would take into consideration that later within the week. “I’ll give it some thought subsequent week. I’m first going to get pleasure from this weekend,” stated Verstappen. “ it’s all the time robust. The strain is on to carry out and really completely satisfied in fact to win right here.”

Properly, that week is right here, and the strain might mount on Verstappen set the report on Sunday. It additionally comes at a monitor the place different groups would love nothing greater than to disclaim Verstappen his style of historical past.

However we have now seen Verstappen overcome challenges earlier than, and this previous Sunday is simply the newest instance. The RB19 was nonetheless the dominant automobile within the subject, nevertheless it checked out varied occasions this weekend that the hole could be closing to Crimson Bull. Verstappen additionally needed to overcome just a few completely different climate conditions all through the week, and in the course of the Grand Prix itself.

He overcame all these challenges, and there’s no cause to doubt that he’ll overcome the following hurdles he faces, together with maybe the “Monza Curse.” Latest winners at Monza have seen misfortune come their approach the next season. In 2020 Charles Leclerc, who had received the yr earlier than, crashed after an early-race restart and didn’t end.

Then in 2021 Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton crashed in spectacular style, a yr after Hamilton received at Monza. That noticed Verstappen’s Crimson Bull land on prime of Hamilton’s Mercedes, and Hamilton credited the halo system for “saving” his neck. Verstappen was given a three-place grid penalty for the next race, however as soon as once more, the earlier yr’s winner didn’t end.

The winner in 2021? Daniel Ricciardo, who solely accomplished 45 of the 53 laps within the 2022 race at Monza, along with his McLaren struggling an oil leak that pressured his retirement. Three-straight winners who retired early the next yr.

Who received at Monza final yr?

Verstappen.

Will the Crimson Bull driver overcome the Monza Curse as effectively? If it does, it would make historical past.