Max Verstappen ‘consoles’ Carlos Sainz after Monza battles: “I felt sorry for you”. Verstappen 'consoles' Carlos after Monza battles.

Carlos Sainz’s Resistance
The first 14 laps of the Italian Grand Prix represented the longest consecutive laps this season in which a Red Bull car did not lead the race. This data confirms, on the one hand, the overwhelming dominance of the RB19, but on the other, it credits the strenuous defense put up by Carlos Sainz. In Ferrari’s home race, the Spaniard made the fans of the Scuderia dream before Verstappen, aided by his considerably more competitive car, managed to take the lead.

Max Verstappen’s patience
The reigning world champion stated to the journalists at the circuit after the race that he never really feared not achieving his tenth consecutive victory. Max had indeed noticed the massive traction problems affecting Carlos Sainz’s SF-23 in the desperate attempt to close every gap on the orange #1 car. Verstappen only had to wait for the inevitable mistake of his red-clad rival, which duly came in the form of a lock-up of the front right tire at the First Chicane.

The conversation ahead of the podium
In the area behind the podium, at the end of the race, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen found themselves discussing their head-to-head battle, with the Red Bull driver almost showing sympathy for his rival, highlighting the difficulty of managing the SF-23 in that situation. The two Red Bull drivers, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, were then quite surprised when they saw the images of the final ‘duel’ between Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz on the screen, with the Monegasque trying, unsuccessfully, to snatch the last step of the podium from his teammate.

Sainz: “How was it?”
Verstappen: “I felt sorry for you, you were sliding like crazy.”
Sainz: “Did you notice? We had a rear… it was crazy.”
Verstappen: “Yes. I mean, the degradation was obviously high, but the top speed saved you many times.”
Sainz: “Yeah, yeah.”
Perez [to Sainz]: “Did you have track limits?”
Verstappen: “He was deleting them.”

(watching the Sainz-Leclerc duel)

Verstappen: “Oh lalalala.”
Sainz: “It was close, right? And we were battling at 340 km/h.”
Verstappen: “That was the last lap, right?”
Perez: “The last lap?!”
Sainz: “Yes, he tried. He almost got me. I didn’t enjoy it because I was defending, but the battles were great.”