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Max Verstappen
won the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia 2023, taking the chequered
flag ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez, to give Red Bull its 28th one-two
finish. Max took his tenth consecutive win, a Formula 1 record, as well as
his second Italian Grand Prix victory in a row. Joining them on the podium
was the pole-sitter Carlos Sainz, with his team-mate Charles Leclerc
finishing fourth.
Apart from the top three drivers and the Red Bull team representative,
another star of the prize giving was Typhon, the trophy created by Italian
artist Ruth Beraha, inspired both by Greek mythology as well as the shape of
the exhaust pipes on a Formula 1 car. Typhon is a mythological figure – the
giant son of Gaia – who is traditionally characterised by his extraordinary
strength and a hundred snakes wrapped around his head, symbolising a
shocking personification of nature.
The 2023 Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d’Italia trophy was commissioned by
Pirelli and contemporary art space Pirelli HangarBicocca. It represents a
fusion between an idea from the artist and a production process that unites
cutting-edge technology and robotics such as 3D cutting and production, as
well as the work of craftsmen specialised in welding, polishing, assembly,
and gilding. The end result is reminiscent of the art from the finest
goldsmiths.
THE DAY ON
TRACK:
The race evolved in a completely linear way with, as expected, two
compounds, the Medium and Hard, playing their part. The Softs were not used
at all. 17 drivers out of 20 chose to start on the C4, with just Hamilton,
Bottas and Magnussen preferring the C3. Six drivers pitted twice, but in
Piastri’s case that was because he had to come in to change the damaged
front wing after an incident with Hamilton, while the other five (Gasly,
Zhou, Lawson, Hulkenberg and Magnussen) chose this route as the drop in
performance from their tyres was too high in the first stint. Of the three
drivers who started on the Hard, Hamilton and Bottas finished higher than
their grid position, two better for the English Mercedes driver and four for
Alfa Romeo’s Finn. Magnussen however only made up one place because the two
drivers ahead of him did not make it to the chequered flag.
MARIO ISOLA - MOTORSPORT DIRECTOR
“Even if Verstappen and Red Bull once again picked up all the points on
offer, the Italian Grand Prix was truly spectacular with plenty of thrilling
and close duels. Today’s track temperature was always above 40° C, which led
to slightly higher tyre degradation. Despite this and even with a trio of
compounds that were softer than last year’s, the drivers definitely did not
have to worry about tyre management as could be seen from the many duels we
witnessed, some going on for several laps. In terms of strategy, our
predictions from yesterday were pretty much confirmed in the race. The
one-stop was definitely the quickest and those who pitted earlier than the
predicted window then had to make a second stop, except for the Williams
duo, who once again proved to be particularly adept at tyre management.
Finally, I want to thank the crowd of hundreds of thousands of fans who
packed out the grandstands at this historic circuit over the three days.
This is our home race and, even if we are not competing with opponents on
track, we feel part of the great show that is Formula 1, especially here at
Monza.”
Formula 2
The Prema team exerted a stranglehold on the penultimate round of the
FIA Formula 2 Championship, winning the Sprint Race with Frederik Vesti,
while Oliver Bearman was victorious in the Feature Race. The ART Grand Prix
team also visited the podium on both days, with Victor Martins second on
Saturday and Theo Pourchaire third on Sunday morning, to maintain his lead
in the championship. The other two podium finishers were Richard Verschoor
(VAR), third in the Sprint, and Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS), second in the Feature
Race. Monza was also the backdrop to the presentation, put on mainly for the
media and those involved in the category, of the new Formula 2 car that will
be used as from next year, again fitted with 18” Pirelli tyres. As for tyre
performance one can only really take into consideration Saturday’s Sprint,
as today’s Feature Race was neutralised so often. The Medium showed very
limited degradation, but that in no way affected the show on track.
Formula 3
This year’s FIA Formula 3 Championship reached its conclusion this weekend,
with Italian teams finishing in style. The Trident team’s Gabriel Bortoleto
only needed the two points for pole position to secure the Drivers’ title.
The Argentinian driver added to the celebrations with a second place in
Saturday’s race behind Franco Colapinto (MP) and ahead of Mari Boya (MP).
The teams’ title was not decided until Sunday morning with Prema getting the
upper hand over Trident partly thanks to a second place for Zak O’Sullivan,
enough to assign him the runner-up spot in the Drivers’ championship. The
winner of the last race of the season was Jonny Edgar (MP) with Taylor
Barnard completing the podium trio for the Jenzer team. This last round of
the season made use of the Soft compound, which performed as expected, with
an acceptable level of degradation, so that the drivers were able to push as
much as they saw fit. |
