2023 Italian Grand Prix

2023 Italian Grand Prix
The 2023 Italian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio d'Italia 2023) was a Formula One motor race held on 3 September 2023 at the Monza Circuit in Monza, Italy. It was the fourteenth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship.
The race was won by Max Verstappen for Red Bull Racing for his tenth consecutive win in a row, breaking previous Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel's record of nine consecutive race victories of , and extending Red Bull Racing's consecutive race wins record as a constructor to 15. Verstappen, Sergio Pérez and polesitter Carlos Sainz Jr. of Ferrari made up the podium, Sainz's second podium at Monza Circuit.
Background
The event was held across the weekend of 1–3 September. It was the fourteenth round of the 2023 Formula One World Championship and the 93rd running of the Italian Grand Prix.
Championship standings before the race
Coming into the weekend, Max Verstappen led the Drivers' Championship by 138 points from teammate Sergio Pérez, with Fernando Alonso third, a further 33 points behind. Red Bull Racing led the Constructors' Championship, leading Mercedes by 285 points and Aston Martin by a further 40 points.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list, with the exception of Liam Lawson, who was in the seat originally held by Nyck de Vries. Felipe Drugovich drove for Aston Martin in place of Lance Stroll during the first practice session.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C3, C4 and C5 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event.
A reduction in allocated tyre sets from the standard 13 to 11 was trialled again during this Grand Prix, with the intention of making tyre usage more sustainable. This is the second and last time this season that it was trialled after the Hungarian Grand Prix. The usage of tyre compounds during qualifying was mandated as hard in Q1, medium in Q2 and soft in Q3, assuming that the weather is dry.
Practice
Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first practice session was held on 1 September 2023, at 13:30 local time (UTC+2). Max Verstappen topped the session, with Carlos Sainz Jr. recording the second-fastest time and Sergio Pérez recording the third-fastest.
The second practice session was held later that day at 17:00 local time (UTC+2). It was topped by Carlos Sainz Jr., with Lando Norris recording the second-fastest time and Sergio Pérez recording the third-fastest. The session was red-flagged early when Lance Stroll's fuel system failed, forcing him to sit out the rest of the session. It was later red-flagged again when Sergio Pérez spun into the gravel at turn 11. However, Pérez's crash was late enough in the session to retain the third-fastest time.
The third practice session was held on 2 September 2023, at 12:30 local time (UTC+2), with Sainz topping the session ahead of Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on 2 September 2023, at 16:00 local time (UTC+2).
Qualifying report
Max Verstappen topped the first session, which was to be set on hard tyres, ahead of Alexander Albon and Charles Leclerc while Zhou Guanyu, Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll did not advance to the second session. Zhou, Oscar Piastri, who would recover by recording the eleventh-fastest time, Fernando Alonso and Verstappen had their lap times deleted due to track limits violations.
The second session, set to medium tyres, was also topped by Verstappen, ahead of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. This time, Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Nico Hülkenberg, Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant did not advance to the final qualifying session.
Alexander Albon appeared in the third session, which was set to soft tyres, as Verstappen's left-rear snapped into the gravel but set the provisional fastest lap. However, the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Sainz beat Verstappen to pole – Leclerc beaten out by Verstappen and Sainz winning out by 0.013s and taking pole position in front of the Tifosi.
Qualifying classification
Race
The race was held on 3 September 2023, and was scheduled at 15:00 local time (UTC+2), but was delayed by 20 minutes due to an aborted start procedure.
Race report
The formation lap was aborted after Yuki Tsunoda broke down on track; his car was wheeled off via truck. Initially, the drivers were sent round for an additional formation lap, before a 20-minute delay was imposed. During this time, members of the teams' pit crew went to the track. A third formation lap was held at the end of the delay, before the race start. As two unscheduled formation laps had taken place, the race distance was reduced by two laps.
Polesitter Carlos Sainz Jr. had a good start and held off second-placed Max Verstappen for the first 14 laps. Even when Verstappen was allowed DRS, he was unable to make an overtake as Sainz continued to hold a strong defence. Sainz locked up coming into the first corner on lap 15, giving Verstappen a fighting chance. He eventually passed Sainz and led the race for the next five laps until he came in for a stop. Meanwhile, George Russell and Sergio Pérez were having their own fight for fourth place behind Charles Leclerc. On lap 14, Pérez was able to pass Russell at the first corner, but both cars missed the chicane and Pérez had to give the position back. Due to another incident against Esteban Ocon at the same corner after his stop, in which Russell overtook Ocon off the track, Russell was given a five-second penalty.
Behind Verstappen, who quickly pulled several seconds ahead, the other drivers were having close battles, with Pérez and Leclerc having a duel at the second corner. Lewis Hamilton made an error trying to pass Oscar Piastri, cutting across him in the braking zone of turn 4. Piastri's front wing was damaged and he had to make an unscheduled pit stop for repairs. Hamilton was given a five-second penalty for the collision but he had enough of a gap over Alexander Albon at the end to avoid losing any positions when the penalty was applied. Hamilton would make easy work of Albon, who was sizing up Lando Norris and defending against him. Meanwhile, Sainz would run out of room at the first corner. He was forced not to only take the run-off area, but give Pérez second place. As the race was reaching its closing stages, Leclerc locked up twice and almost collided with Sainz. Sainz himself would lock up into the first corner as Verstappen won his second consecutive Italian Grand Prix. With ten consecutive wins since the Miami Grand Prix, this broke Sebastian Vettel's record of nine consecutive wins in a row – and Red Bull Racing extended their record of most consecutive wins for a constructor to 15, having won every race since the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Race classification
Notes
– The race distance was scheduled to be 53 laps before being shortened by two laps due to an aborted start procedure.
– George Russell received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
– Lewis Hamilton received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Oscar Piastri. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
– Oscar Piastri finished 11th, but he received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
– Logan Sargeant received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas. His final position was not affected by the penalty.
– Yuki Tsunoda did not start the race due to an engine failure during the formation lap. His place on the grid was left vacant.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Constructors' Championship standings
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also
2023 Monza Formula 2 round
2023 Monza Formula 3 round
Notes
References
External links
Italian
Grand Prix
2023
Italian Grand Prix