Max Verstappen closes on title with Monza victory

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Max Verstappen continued his charge towards a second world title with a victory from seventh on the grid at the Italian Grand Prix.

The win at Monza was Verstappen's fifth straight victory in a row and means he could clinch the championship as early as the next round in Singapore.

The race ended amid boos and jeers from a partisan home crowd who had hoped a late safety car could offer Ferrari's Charles Leclerc a shot at victory.

However, the slow removal of Daniel Ricciardo's stricken McLaren from the side of the track (which brought out the safety car) and the safety car struggling to find the lead car on track meant racing did not resume before the chequered flag came out, locking Leclerc into second place behind Verstappen.

Leclerc, who had started on pole, was more than 15 seconds off Verstappen when the safety car came out and would have stood no chance of challenging for victory without the late caution period. Ferrari's decision to pit Leclerc out of sequence on Lap 12 under an earlier virtual safety car meant he was committed to a two-stop strategy that was slower than Verstappen's one-stop -- although ultimately it seemed Ferrari could not match Red Bull for outright performance regardless of strategy.

The safety car coming out five laps before the end of the race offered a glimmer of hope, but only if the race restarted. Both Verstappen and Leclerc made a pit stop for soft tyres under the safety car, meaning they would have had a straight fight to the finish had racing resumed.

However, confusion reigned as the laps counted down, with Ricciardo's stricken car stuck in gear at the side of the track and unable to move. What's more, the safety car failed to pick up the lead driver initially, instead picking up George Russell in third, which meant the cars circulated at a faster pace than normal, limiting the available time to get the race restarted.

The situation had shades of last year's season finale in Abu Dhabi, when race director Michael Masi controversially bent the rules to end a safety car period in time for the end of the race, but this time the lap count hit the full 53 laps before the racing could resume.  

Verstappen now leads the championship by 115 points over Leclerc with six races remaining and will clinch the championship if he leaves the next race in Singapore with a 138-point lead. 

Russell finished third for Mercedes ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, who started from back of the grid. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth after he also started from the back of the grid, with Sergio Perez sixth in the second Red Bull following an earlier issue with his front brakes.

Nyck de Vries scored two points on his F1 debut for Williams after substituting for Alex Albon, who was ruled out of the race on Saturday with appendicitis.