‘He’ll only win by 25 seconds’ F1 Twitter’s hilarious reactions to Max Verstappen taking a grid penalty in the Italian GP
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Max Verstappen
Spa had been a race where multitudes of drivers had taken penalties. Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, and Valtteri Bottas had been among those drivers. 2 races later, Max Verstappen will be making an ICE change in Monza, and taking a 5-place grid penalty.
The penalty hadn’t really affected him that much in Spa: by lap 12, he was in the lead of the race. This time he will take a much smaller penalty, so considering the speed of the Red Bull recently, his spirits won’t be dampened by the news. There are also other drivers taking penalties, including Carlos Sainz (15 + 10 places), Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez (10 places), and Lewis Hamilton (back of the grid).
Charles Leclerc and George Russell will not be taking any penalties, so it’s likely those two that will be competing for pole position, and a Ferrari taking pole position in Monza will thrill the crowd. But if Verstappen even has a remnant of his speed from Belgium, it won’t matter, and fans seem to agree.
Twitter: ‘Max Verstappen should take a penalty for every race’
Max Verstappen’s pace in Belgium was incredible. In qualifying, he took pole position by more than 5 tenths to second-placed Carlos Sainz. Starting 14th, he took the lead by lap 12, retook it on lap 18 (after pitting), and then kept it the whole race, winning by more than an 18 seconds gap to his teammate, Sergio Perez.
His immense domination in Belgium put to rest most thoughts of anyone else taking home the championship win this season. In Monza, he’s only taking a 5 place grid penalty, so he still has a great chance of winning the race. The general consensus seems to be that the penalty will not have any effect on race.
One fan had an interesting proposal to end Verstappen’s domination.
There were indeed a lot of musings that he is taking the grid penalty just to make things competitive for the others.
There is a very good chance that Max Verstappen will finally triumph in the Temple of Speed. And not many will bet against him – such has been his form this year. The track, on paper, suits the RB18 as well, so the Dutchman will certainly have all to play for. It will also be their first victory in Monza since Sebastian Vettel won it in 2013.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)