Max Verstappen ripped through Ferrari dreams in Monza by winning a controversial Italian Grand Prix for the first time – beating Charles Leclerc into second place as the race effectively ended behind a safety car to boos from the grandstands. Leclerc has started on pole for Ferrari and was leading on lap 12 of 53 when he was asked: ‘What do you think about pitting for Plan A?’ That was as a virtual safety car phase came into play after Sebastian Vettel parked up his Aston Martin. We are onto the final lap and this race will finish behind the safety car. Leclerc is 16 seconds behind Verstappen and is looking very unlikely to catch the championship leader. Leclerc has just registered the fastest lap of the race but it’s not enough at the moment. Leclerc has a huge job on his hands to catch Verstappen. It is down to 9 seconds, having been just over 10 seconds just two laps ago. Despite being on far older tyres, Verstappen is still keeping Leclerc around 14 seconds behind him. Leclerc is up to second, Sainz into third and Russell comes out in fourth. With a number of cars pitting, Perez has moved into the top 10 for now. Leclerc is clocking the fastest laps of the race at the moment, but is still around 15 seconds behind Verstappen. The drivers are now free to race once more and Leclerc comes out in third behind Verstappen and Russell. Leclerc is 1.2 seconds clear of Verstappen at the moment. Leclerc is holding his own against Verstappen so far.

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