Race Recap: A Look into the Season

Kate LaPlaca

Staff Writer

The first race back from summer break, Max Verstappen roared back to the top step after a 4-month drought from winning by taking charge of “The temple of speed” at the Italian Grand Prix.

In free practice on Sept. 5th, Ferrari topped the charts at their home race of the year with their newest addition to the team, 7-time world champion, Lewis Hamilton, as well as Charles Leclerc, the “il predistine” being P1 and P2. In P3, ex-Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in Williams shows there is hope for the team this weekend. In free Practice 2, there was a turn of placements with Lewis Hamilton falling down to P5 at the end of FP2 and Lando Norris rising from P6 to P1, showing how dominant McLaren still is after the break. The next day, for FP3, McLaren once again tops the chart with Lando Norris in P1 and Oscar Piastri in P3, giving the impression that this weekend will be like the past, with McLaren winning and the rest of the teams fighting for third.

On Sept. 6, shortly following Free Practice 3 with Mclaren topping the charts, there was a turn of events no one saw coming, Max Verstappen became pole sitter for the 45 in the Red Bull that is following down the rankings with lack of luck. Going into the weekend, Red Bull brought upgrades to try and improve their car, although throughout this season they have been infamous for the upgrades to only harm their performance more, but at this moment it seems like it is playing out in favor of Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko.

Come the afternoon of Sept. 7, the lights are about to go out with Verstappen in P1, closely followed by Norris and Piastri. Going into the first corner, Verstappen comes out on top, coming out of Variante del Reffito leading the rest of the grid into front of the Tsfosisi. There were hard-fought battles throughout the race with Lewis Hamilton climbing back from his sixth-place grid penalty in front of his new home crowd. Papaya rules comes out once again showing the teams favoritism towards Norris, even with Piastri’s 31-point lead in the standings, leading to swapping in places at the end of the race, resulting in the third win of Red Bull and Verstappen’s season.

In second and third place was Norris, then Piastri, due to being forced to change positions. Even with the eventful week, the Trossi cheered for Verstappen on the podium due to the lack of their home team being up there, something that would not have happened one year ago. With Verstappen’s win and Piastri in third, it still leaves hope in the championship battle on who could possibly win.