Italian GP takeaways: Verstappen unstoppable again with F1 title now in reach

It was a successful "drive for five" for Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen as he took his fifth consecutive Formula One race victory, and 11th of the season, during Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion now holds a 116-point lead over Charles Leclerc, who came in second place in front of Ferrari's home fans. Mercedes driver George Russell completed the podium picture in third.

Here's what you need to know from the Italian GP.

It doesn't matter how many grid penalties you throw at Verstappen, he'll still find a way to win.

Verstappen, who was fastest in the final practice session and second during qualifying, had to settle for starting seventh due to a grid penalty but quickly proved he had the pace through the "temple of speed."

The Dutch driver already ascended into a provisional podium position by just the second lap as he passed McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo for P3 on the first corner. Two laps later and with the drag reduction system (DRS) enabled — not that he really needed the extra boost — Verstappen caught Russell for P2 with just pole-sitter Leclerc as the final obstacle.

Running on different pit strategies saw the pair swap the lead back and forth. Leclerc looked to take advantage of a "cheap" pit stop when the Virtual Safety Car came out on Lap 12 as Sebastian Vettel experienced engine problems. The gamble didn't pay off, however, as the VSC ended during Leclerc's stop resulting in a loss of precious seconds.

Verstappen was cruising along even before McLaren's Daniel Ricciardo stopped on the track — bringing out the Safety Car and ending the race under caution — and he pitted for fresh soft tires whereas Leclerc was left with a used set if the race had resumed.

"We had an amazing start and I was able to quickly get in my rhythm," Verstappen wrote on Twitter. "The car was absolutely flying and really enjoyable to drive all weekend, great work once again team!"

Maybe Verstappen's Red Bull has wings after all.

The Italian GP ended with an anticlimactic parade rather than a thrilling shootout to the finish line after Ricciardo's car gave out with only a handful of laps remaining.

The race never resumed as the Safety Car led the field to the checkered flag with the boos raining throughout the tifosi faithful.

Considering Verstappen's pace and the tire situation, it probably would have been an uneventful ending anyway, but it's still disappointing not to see a race end like, well, a race.

It's easier for series like NASCAR or IndyCar to attempt a red-white-checkered flag finish as their cars are allowed to refuel while F1 cars carry their full fuel load from the start and don't bank on their being OT.

Besides, the FIA probably doesn't want another race to ever finish like Abu Dhabi did last year. Once was enough and the loophole that allowed that to even happen was closed during the off-season.

It would be easy to chalk this up as Ferrari screwing up yet again — with Leclerc qualifying on pole position and being unable to convert — but it's tough to blame them for taking a risk to pit under the VSC. That and they've been piled on enough already this season.

It's impossible to know when the VSC period will come to an end and it was just unfortunate timing for Leclerc that it happened during the end of his stop.

There's also the risk if Leclerc hadn't pitted, would Verstappen have instead? What if the VSC doesn't end earlier than expected? Ferrari would have then been criticized for not bringing in Leclerc. A real damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

"Nothing to blame on anybody there," Leclerc said after the race. "Just a bit unlucky and probably missing a little bit of pace too."

Nyck de Vries was a late substitution for Williams driver Alexander Albon, who missed qualifying and the grand prix due to appendicitis. De Vries, who won the 2019 F2 and 2020-21 Formula E championships, has been biding his time for a seat in the big leagues and proved Sunday he belongs on the grid.

The 27-year-old Dutch driver, who started eighth, finished P9 to pick up two points in his F1 debut. That matches Albon's best finish of the season and also bests teammate Nicholas Latifi, who has yet to score any points in 2022 and is now ranked 21st in a 20-car field.

The Toronto native Latifi started P10 right behind de Vries but faded on the first lap losing four positions off the bat and ended up finishing a lap down in 15th. De Vries' strong performance now makes Latifi's case to remain in Formula One next year even harder.

P.S. Here's hoping de Vries got a shoulder massage after the race.

New rules and regulations introduced for the 2022 season were designed to increase competitiveness. The question is: have they?

So far we've seen some exciting battles in the midfield but up front, it's been a familiar picture with only four drivers across two teams actually winning races: Verstappen and Sergio Perez of Red Bull Racing plus Leclerc and Carlos Sainz from Ferrari.

Even looking at the podium and you're only adding the Mercedes drivers Russell and Lewis Hamilton — hardly underdogs — plus the lone podium finish from McLaren's Lando Norris at the Emilia Romagna GP all the way back in April.

We haven't had anything close to an upset as we've had at the Italian GP during the previous two seasons with Ricciardo victorious last year and AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly in 2020.

You could chalk that up mostly to Verstappen's dominance winning 11 of 16 races plus his reliability as he's only failed to cross the finish line twice this year. We also haven't had a race yet this season where both Verstappen and Leclerc miss the podium. There just haven't been as many opportunities for an outlier to rise up.

That wraps up the European tour of the F1 schedule as the series now heads to Asia for the Singapore Grand Prix in three weeks. Sebastian Vettel, then with Ferrari, was victorious the last time the series was in Singapore in 2019.

Verstappen could actually clinch his second consecutive championship during the Singapore GP, so you definitely don't want to miss it.