Carlos Sainz believed in the early laps that he had the Italian GP under control and could keep Max Verstappen at bay.
The Ferrari driver started on pole and led the opening stanza before dropping back to third by the end of the race – the final laps highlighted by a thrilling battle with team-mate Charles Leclerc.
Sainz held on to his advantage at the race start and resisted intense pressure from Verstappen in the opening laps, though left the championship leader frustrated at his inability to pass.
It was during that phase the Spaniard thought he might be able to claim victory.
“I felt like I had [the race] fairly under control, but then I think… around lap 10 to 12, I started feeling the rear tyre giving up a lot – like, a lot earlier than I would have expected,” he recounted.
“At that point, I released I had used my tyres too much and probably to keep Max behind, I had worn that rear-left tyre too much and that I was going to suffer a lot for the rest of the race because it was going to probably make me box early into a hard tyre.”
Running in Sainz’s wheel tracks, Verstappen observed the Ferrari ahead sliding in the opening laps, reporting as much over the radio.
He was ultimately able to capitalise on the run to the second chicane to take the lead on Lap 15.
From there, Sainz engaged in battle with Leclerc and Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.
“P3 in Monza in front of the tifosi is as good as it can get – at least for this weekend, because clearly Red Bull were, in the end, quite a bit quicker than us today,” he explained.
“It was a day to try and I tried everything I could to keep them behind, especially that first stint in front of Max.
“It probably nearly cost me a podium, because it meant that I was wearing a lot my tyres and using the tyres more than probably what I would have liked, and making me very vulnerable towards the end of the stints, and always under a lot of pressure by Max first, than Checo, than Charles.
“In the end I could make it on to P3 because we made it – but it was a tough one. A very tough one.”
The result was his first podium of the season, and his best result since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at the backend of 2022.
Leclerc finished fourth, having locked up heavily on the final lap when attacking Sainz into the first chicane in what was also Ferrari’s best team performance of the year.
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