2022-09-11 SF-75 (16) Charles Leclerc ITA - Monza 2
The 2022 Italian Grand Prix was held on 11 September 2022 at the Monza Circuit in Monza, Italy. Daniel Ricciardo entered the race as the defending winner, having won the previous Italian Grand Prix. The race finished with a controversial safety car period and was won by Max Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc and George Russell taking second and third place respectively.
Charles Leclerc led away from pole at the start, George Russell and Lando Norris behind. Max Verstappen came to third position on lap 4 and second on lap 5. Sergio Pérez came to the pit earlier on lap 10 for hard tyres and rejoined the track with an ongoing brake fire, which later extinguished itself. On lap 10, Sebastian Vettel stopped his car due to engine issues resulting a deployment of a virtual safety car (VSC). This prompted Leclerc to change his tyres, as less time is lost when pitting under VSC conditions, surrending the lead to Verstappen. On lap 26, Leclerc retook the lead after Verstappen changed his tyres, Verstappen rejoined the track ten seconds behind Leclerc. Alpine decided to retire Fernando Alonso car on lap 31 in the pitlane due to a water pressure issue. Leclerc made a second pitstop on lap 34, giving Verstappen the lead. Lance Stroll retired on lap 39 due to similar engine issue suffered by his teammate Sebastian Vettel on lap 10. Daniel Ricciardo stopped his car due to the oil leak suffered from his car resulting in the safety car being deployed until the end of the race. The race was ended on lap 53 with Verstappen winning the race behind safety car.
Safety car criticism
The safety car procedure following Ricciardo's retirement drew scrutiny, with discussions surrounding the decisions taken, after it turned out that marshals could not move the car expeditiously. The incident caused the race to be ended under the safety car. Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris expressed their frustration over the safety car race ending.
