Max Verstappen admitted that it was hard to believe he had set a new all-time Formula 1 record today, with victory in the Italian Grand Prix making it ten back-to-back victories for the Red Bull driver.
Having equalled the existing record set by Sebastian Vettel in 2013 last time out in Zandvoort, this week's success means he now holds the record for the most consecutive wins in his own right.
"I never would have believed that it was possible," he told the media afterward.
Although another victory didn't seem too much in doubt, it wasn't the sort of walkover that the dominant Red Bull squad have enjoyed in previous races so far this season.
For one thing, Verstappen narrowly failed to secure pole position in yesterday's qualifying session, getting narrowly pipped to the top spot by Ferrari's Carlos Sainz to the delight of the Tifosi.
While many expected Verstappen to coast into the lead when the lights went out on Sunday afternoon, he actually find it harder to get past Sainz than he had been expecting.
In the end he finally managed to pull it off on lap 15. He dropped back again during the early round of pit stops with Lewis Hamilton taking over at the front having started on hard tyres for a long first stint.
But a new set of mediums meant that Verstappen soon charged down the Mercedes and took back control of the race which he held on to fore the rest of the afternoon, comfortably winning by six seconds from his team mate Sergio Perez.
"We had to work for it today and that definitely made it a lot more fun," Verstappen said in parc ferme. “We had good pace, we were good on the tyres but they had a lot of top speed.
“I was just trying to stay patient. It was a long race. I could see they were struggling a lot with the rear tyres, so I just had to pick my moment.”
“It was so hard to get close and get a move into turn 1," he said, recalling his battle for the lead with Sainz. "I had to force him into a mistake. Luckily it came at some point where he locked up, and I had better traction out of turn 2.
“From there onwards we could do our own race," he added. “Everything felt good. We had to nurse a little issue at the end, but we had the gap behind so I could easily back out.”
Verstappen was joined on the podium by Perez who battled his way up from fifth on the grid with passed on Sainz, Charles Leclerc and George Russell to make it a Red Bull 1-2.
The only thing that Verstappen missed out on was the bonus point for fastest lap. That was set by McLaren's Oscar Piastri, but the McLaren driver didn't get the pont as he finished outside the top ten after clashing with Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen now has a 145-point lead over Perez in the drivers standings with eight laps remaining in 2023. Red Bull's margin over Mercedes in the constructors standings has now reached 310 points.
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