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In a somewhat bizarre turn of events for the 2022 F1 Italian GP, Max Verstappen has now joined the extended list of drivers who will take grid penalties this weekend. As reported by Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS), Verstappen will be fitting a new ICE system to his Red Bull RB18 and incur a 5-place grid drop for Sunday's race.
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The Red Bull driver is not new to grid penalties as he has shown the ability to recover from them during the race. Earlier, he started from the back of the grid at the 2022 F1 Belgian GP and went on to win the race. Intending to keep one extra component in the pool for the rest of the season, Red Bull appears to have made a strategic decision to let Verstappen take a 5-place grid drop at a track where overtaking is somewhat easier than others.
With the grid penalty, however, Max Verstappen has now joined the long list of drivers that are taking a grid drop this weekend.
The Dutchman has not had the best of records at Monza. He has not once finished on the podium at this track. The last two races have even seen him DNF in the race. The 2021 edition featured a clash with Lewis Hamilton while the 2020 version featured reliability issues. Addressing his lack of success on the track, Verstappen said:
“I like to stand on the podium everywhere but also this track has never been good to us; we just never really had that top speed and of course on some tracks you can compensate with a lower wing, but here, everyone tries low-downforce [set-ups] so you’re just stuck with it.”
Max Verstappen feels Red Bull has a good chance of winning the F1 Italian GP this year
Speaking about the F1 Italian GP this weekend, Max Verstappen was quite confident of the team's chances as Red Bull appears to have a great low downforce package here. He said:
“I think in the last few years we’ve just never really been competitive here. Plus, this was always a track where we always had to take engine penalties and stuff, which also never really helps to get to the podium. This year we have a good chance and if you look at our car throughout the season, we’ve always been good on the straights.”
Verstappen is chasing a 5th consecutive win this weekend which would bring him level with Lewis Hamilton's career-best winning streak.
