Race Highlights | 2022 Italian Grand Prix

It's lights out and away we go. It's a good reaction from Charles Leclerc. It's a better reaction from George Russell, though. And Russell already alongside that Ferrari, with Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Pierre Gasly. And Norris has lost places. Into the first corner we go. Charles Leclerc ahead of George Russell, who gets pinched and has to go over the rumble strips. Comes back on behind the Ferrari, and also going off, Joe Guanyu and Kevin Magnussen. The crowd roaring as the Ferrari leads them through the Curva Grande. And that's Max Verstappen, right on the tail of Pierre Gasly in the Alfa Tauri. Towards the next chicane we come now. Charles Leclerc leads George Russell, leads Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly. Max Verstappen on the inside. Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris right by him, as they make their way through that chicane without too much trouble. And Lando Norris, who's looking out the window of the comedy box, just bogged down. And I think he went into anti-stroll. Went nowhere away from the start, and is trying to recover that immediately. And already Fernando Alonso getting a bit bogged down behind Lando Norris too. There's Nick de Vries ahead of the Alfa Romeo of Joe Guanyu. As into the Ascari chicane we go with Charles Leclerc from George Russell, from Daniel Ricciardo. And there is Max Verstappen up into fourth place. He started seventh. We're not even at the end of the first lap. He's already made up three places. Here comes Max Verstappen on Daniel Ricciardo. That Red Bull has straight line speed, and he's showing it to great effect. Didn't really need the slipstream. He's already side by side with Daniel Ricciardo, late on the brakes, into that chicane. Max Verstappen is up into the podium places. The Parabolica not easy to follow close to the car in front, even with the changes in downforce and turbulent air this season. 35 metres it was. Verstappen is gaining, is gaining. It's down to under 20 metres. It's down now to absolute level. Pegging through to the chicane we go. Max Verstappen is ahead of George Russell, and he has put that Red Bull up into second place. There goes Carlos Sainz on the Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel, once the Ferrari darling here at Monza, this weekend racing here for a final time and being overtaken by the Ferrari. 11th place now for Carlos Sainz, who is moving through the field very nicely indeed. Further ahead, there's a bit of a DRS train. There's one Aston Martin before the Parabolica, and there's one Aston Martin before the chicane. The carriage towards the rear is Carlos Sainz, and Sainz has got a bit more straight line speed than some. And as you can see, he is quickly closing down Fernando Alonso. And this is going to get a big round of applause from the Tifosi here, because Carlos Sainz is putting on something of a wonder show for Ferrari fans this afternoon. Vettel, who has found a gap, but in the armcoat to stop his car by, he is out of this race. And there's an Aston Martin stranded by the track. Stop the car, please, when it's safe. Stop the car when it's safe. So will they consider putting out a safety car, which will then mean we get a lot of pit stops? Here goes Carlos Sainz on Pierre Gasly. Sainz, meanwhile, puts his Ferrari into the top five, and there's a virtual safety car. Just a fraction of a second after he pulled off that overtake, the virtual safety car has been deployed. So Leclerc's coming in, Ted, and Mercedes are waiting for George Russell. George Russell is making his way down the main straight, so they've done the opposite, as it's now green flag. So Charles Leclerc will come out in third place. Now he's going to have to babysit those a little bit to the end of the Grand Prix. Sainz comes through on Ricciardo. And you can hear how much the fans are loving Carlos Sainz's action this afternoon. Fourth place now for Carlos Sainz. George Russell will be interesting now because I don't see anybody out there really going that fast on the hard compound tyre. And it's mediums that have gone on too. Who was the leader? Max Verstappen. Very difficult to follow closely behind the car in front, and he's going to have to make up those tenths of a second once more with a bit of help from DRS down the main straight. But he seems to have got a really good exit out of the Parabolica. And, as you can see, he's gaining on the Alpine. Now he's gaining, he's gaining. Is he going to go for it down the inside? Lewis Hamilton is. And before they apply the brakes into that first chicane, Lewis Hamilton is ahead and up into sixth place. In for the soft tyres. He comes back out onto the track. Max Verstappen leads once again this race. 2.6 seconds. There is George Russell in the distance. Charles Leclerc comes out then ahead of George Russell. He's back out onto the track, Lando Norris. Now, is he going to stay ahead of his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo? He's going to slot in, hopefully, for McLaren ahead of Pierre Gasly. This is really, really tight. Gasly goes through, and Lando Norris loses a place there to Gasly. And Lewis Hamilton on the scene says, Thank you very much. I've got new soft tyres. I've got a lot more grip. I'll get past Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly. Dispatched earlier on the previous lap. Nick de Vries and Hamilton now up into seventh. Motoring along quite nicely. Daniel Ricciardo under pressure from Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton up into sixth. Norris has got ahead of Pierre Gasly. Leclerc has finally switched on those soft compound tyres. And there goes Lando Norris past his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, and up into seventh place. And the Haas hasn't quite got the speed there down the straights to try and get past the Williams. But under braking, Schumacher locks up, trying to force his way through. Gets very aggressive through that chicane, but in a very nice way. Mick Schumacher locked up. Looked to have lost control a little bit, but he absolutely kept control, and he makes the place. Yeah, it was good. And he locked the wheel, but he cranked some steering lock into it, but immediately gets re-passed. But cranked some steering lock, and the car obediently turned into what's a very tight corner. And this battle is going to continue on. Latifi got ahead and into the Lesmos. Mick Schumacher just gives it a little wiggle of the rear, and during that wiggle, forces the Haas past Nicolas Latifi. Has Daniel Ricciardo got a problem? Yes, he has. I've lost the engine. I think Lewis Hamilton retired at that very point. Now we are going to get a safety car. And we will finish the race behind the safety car. Come on! It's clear! Come on! Yeah, copy. It's a fifth consecutive win for Max Verstappen. Behind the safety car, he wins the Italian Grand Prix. He will stand on the podium at Monza for the first time in his Formula 1 career. Very lovely, mate. Great race set again. It finished behind the safety car. It perhaps was an unsatisfactory ending for many, as we like to see action all the way to the chequered flag. But Red Bull and Max Verstappen won't mind that at all. It's another win on their seemingly unstoppable march to a world title or two in 2022. Max Verstappen wins the Italian Grand Prix.