Max Verstappen overcame firm defending from Carlos Sainz at the Italian Grand Prix to earn a record-breaking 10th straight win in F1 on Sunday afternoon.

The Dutch driver has been in a league of his own this season in the sport, and this latest record that he has claimed perhaps underlines that more than anything else, with him now standing alone for the most wins in a row in F1 history.

Indeed, he tied with Sebastian Vettel on nine last weekend at Zandvoort in front of his home crowd and, this weekend, in front of an equally partizan set of supporters - though this time for the drivers in Ferrari red - he wrote another piece of motorsport history to claim for his own.

It was not completely plain sailing for Max, with him starting from P2 on the grid, as pole-sitter Sainz lead them away and into turn one - 20 minutes after the original slated start time thanks to Yuki Tsunoda's AlphaTauri expiring on the initial formation lap, which sparked a delay.

In fact, Verstappen's first genuine attempt at taking the lead from the Spaniard was strongly rebuffed by the Ferrari man, as he shut the door on the Dutchman as they weaved through the first chicane at the start of lap six.

The Red Bull driver, slightly irked, labelled Sainz's defence 'naughty,' though the consensus was it was hard but fair driving from the leader.

Indeed, Sainz was pushing hard to keep the lead for as long as possible and was doing a fine job, though ultimately there did feel an air of inevitability about Verstappen eventually taking P1, and that is what would come to pass on lap 15.

Again, the pair flew into turn one and Sainz found himself locking up, compromising his exit from the first two turns. Verstappen saw, and seized, his chance as he swept up alongside the Ferrari around the Curva Grande and completed the overtake into the Roggia chicane.

Such is the pace advantage of Max in the Red Bull, too, it was not long at all before he was out of DRS range and free to take yet another victory in this all-conquering campaign.

As ever this year, then, focus quickly turned to the action behind Max, with the Ferrari pair of Sainz and Charles Leclerc running close together, though the Spaniard would eventually leave his team-mate in the clutches of Sergio Perez, as the other Red Bull man made progress towards the podium places.

Perez eventually saw off George Russell, before taking Leclerc on lap 32, and set about trying to reel in the other Ferrari of Sainz in the closing stages.

Behind them, Oscar Piastri was one driver to be having a more eventful time of things at Monza, with him tapping team-mate Lando Norris at turn one, before having a coming together with Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes - something the Briton would get a 5-second time penalty for.

In the final stages, meanwhile, the two Ferraris threatened to upset the majority in the grandstands. Perez had eventually gotten past Sainz after more firm defending from the Spaniard, and Leclerc was soon harassing his team-mate, trying to take the final podium spot.

They avoided touching one another, just about, but it was certainly hide-behind-the-sofa stuff for the Tifosi, and those in the Ferrari garage, as the pair pushed one another hard - with Leclerc locking up on the final visit to the first chicane and nearly spearing into his team-mate.

Sainz, then, would take P3 - joining the Red Bull pair of Verstappen and Perez on the most iconic podium in F1.

Italian Grand Prix classification

1. Max Verstappen

2. Sergio Perez

3. Carlos Sainz

4. Charles Leclerc

5. George Russell

6. Lewis Hamilton

7. Alex Albon

8. Lando Norris

9. Fernando Alonso

10. Valtteri Bottas

11. Liam Lawson

12. Oscar Piastri

13. Logan Sargeant

14. Zhou Guanyu

15. Pierre Gasly

16. Lance Stroll

17. Nico Hulkenberg

18. Kevin Magnussen

R. Esteban Ocon

R. Yuki Tsunoda