The Italian GP marked the second race in three races to be marred with grid penalties. After taking additional power units, nine drivers on the grid had to take grid penalties. Only a few drivers have capitalized on starting a race further back from where they originally qualified. The best example of that is Max Verstappen in the current season.

The Dutchman is unaffected by all the grid penalties with wins in races that he’s started after incurring penalties. However, starting a race in the midfield is always perilous, despite Verstappen proving otherwise.

Former driver Jolyon Palmer showcased exactly that with the dashcam footage of Carlos Sainz and Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez.

Sainz started the race from P18 and Perez from P13 after incurring grid penalties. Palmer used the incident between Sainz and Perez during the Ferrari man’s climb.

He explained with the help of Sainz’s dashcam footage, “Now Sainz is looking at the back of Sergio Perez. This is an important here that Sainz needs to put on the Red Bull, that we know is very quick and it gets so tight between the two of them.” 

“Here, Checo just puts a huge squeeze on Carlos — they are so close to wiping each other out of this race at this point. That would’ve been on Checo. Sainz reeds it, backs out. He’ll fight for another day but a little bit rude there from Perez,” added Palmer.

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Palmer sums up the disadvantages of racing from the midfield there. However, these disadvantages do not seem to affect Max Verstappen. Such is the racing superiority of the Red Bull champion in the current season.

Max Verstappen can start early title celebrations in Singapore with another race win

Verstappen’s unwavering and relentless championship charge is almost over. The Dutchman is 116 points ahead of his closest rival Charles Leclerc. Realistically, it’s a matter of when and not if. However, Mathematically the title race is still on but Verstappen can put that to an end in Singapore.

If Verstappen wins the Singapore GP with Leclerc finishing eighth or lower and Perez finishes fourth or lower, he wins the championship.

This is keeping in mind if Verstappen secures the fastest lap as well. However, even without the fastest lap, if Leclerc drops one position below ninth in Singapore, Verstappen will have his second title.

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The championship is almost in touching distance for the Dutchman, as he looks to become the reigning world champion for the upcoming 2023 season as well.