Max Verstappen tells Carlos Sainz 'I felt sorry for you' after Italian GP win

03 September 2023 , 15:19

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Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz spoke as they waited for the podium (Image: Sky Sports)

Max Verstappen said he felt sorry for Carlos Sainz as they waited for the Italian Grand Prix podium ceremony.

The Dutchman won the race, making it 10 victories in a row for Formula 1's dominance force. To do so, he had to get past Sainz who started on pole ahead of him.

He was made to wait before he could do that. Sainz defended well in the opening laps and did everything he could to give Ferrari a chance of winning their home race.

But it was not to be. On lap 15, after a lock-up from the Spaniard, Verstappen took his opportunity. He moved past and never looked back, going on to take another win for Red Bull unchallenged from that point onward.

It was the tyres that played a major role in the result. Ferrari had very impressive top speed at Monza but, as has been the case all season, degradation has been a challenge for the Scuderia.

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It was very hot during the race and that meant the cars were chewing up tyres even quicker than usual. The whole time Verstappen was behind Sainz, he was reporting that the Spaniard was struggling with his tyres and that all he needed to do was bide his time.

In the cool down room after the race, as the top three were waiting for the podium ceremony, Verstappen expressed his sympathy to the man he bested. "I felt sorry for you, you were sliding like crazy," he said to the Spaniard.

Sainz was understandably disappointed after the race, but was still in good spirits overall as he played to the crowd during his parc ferme interview. "It cannot get any tougher than what it was today," he said, after taking the appreciation of a crowd which knew he had done everything he could out on track.

"Honestly, the whole race I was pushing very hard to keep the Red Bulls behind. That made me use the rear tyres a lot, trying to keep up with them and trying to keep them behind. In the end, I ended up paying the price.

"Today it was obvious that we were wearing the tyres a bit more and we were lacking a bit of pace. But it was definitely a step forward compared to Zandvoort. This weekend we were best of the rest, which is a good result for the team given the circumstances."

Daniel Moxon