McLaren had a 1-2 finish after Daniel Ricciardo won F1 Italian GP from Lando Norris, with Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in third after clash between title rivals.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen did not have a superb start in F1 Italian GP, as McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo took the race lead. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton had a better start on the hard tyres to be with the Dutchman, as the two made minor contact in the chicane.
Hamilton had to take the escape route and rejoined to lose out to McLaren’s Lando Norris. Behind, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi ran over the chicane too and rejoined unsafely, where he was tagged by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, which spun him around.
There was a VSC period as Giovinazzi made it into the pits to change his front wing and tyres, as he was handed a 5s time penalty for unsafe rejoining. Behind the Top 4, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc steadied in fifth from Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was eighth from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon, as Williams’ Nicholas Latifi jumped up to 11th. The one to lose out in the melee was Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, as he had to avoid Giovinazzi spinning in front.
There was double disaster for AlphaTauri as Yuki Tsunoda did not start the grand prix due to brake issues, while Pierre Gasly retired after taking the start from pitlane due to continued throttle issues he reported ahead of the start.
At the front, meanwhile, Ricciardo continued to held off Verstappen, as Norris kept Hamilton behind despite the duo being quicker. At the fag end of the Top 10, Perez passed Sainz for sixth, as Latifi cleared Ocon for 10th to get himself in the points.
It wasn’t for long as Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas was the man on the move, having brought himself up to 10th within the first 15 laps of the F1 Italian GP. Outside the Top 10, there was contact between Ocon and Vettel at the chicane, with the move under investigation.
Few laps changed the course of the grand prix. As Ricciardo pitted on Lap 22, Verstappen did so on Lap 23, but it was a disaster stop for him. There was some issue with the front-right, which left him 10th in the order, when he finally rejoined the track.
Meanwhile, Hamilton passed Norris to have track position, with both pitting and rejoining ahead of Verstappen. It was just for the former, who rejoined side-by-side. The Dutchman went around the outside of the Mercedes driver at Turn 1.
But the two touched after Verstappen went over the kerb as his right-rear touched with the front-left of Hamilton. The Dutchman was launched over the Mercedes car and banked over it, with the Halo saving the head of Brit there – which opened up the grand prix.
This incident brought out the safety car, with Ricciardo leading F1 Italian GP from Leclerc, Norris, Perez, Sainz, Bottas, Stroll, Alonso, Williams’ George Russell and Latifi in the Top 10. The re-start was perfect from the Australian as his Norris hustled Leclerc.
The two had a minor touch but Norris made the move stick through Curva Grande to make it McLaren 1-2. Leclerc dropped behind Perez then, where the Mexican cut the chicane but kept the position. Behind them, Bottas passed Sainz for fifth.
Stroll steadied in sixth from Alonso and Russell, as Ocon passed Latifi for 10th. There was contact behind between Vettel and Haas’ Mick Schumacher, with the latter then being spun around by teammate Nikita Mazepin, while the Russian tried a move on him.
Mazepin was handed a 5s penalty for colliding with Schumacher, as Perez was handed the same for unsafe rejoin against Leclerc. At the front, McLaren asked Norris to hold position against Ricciardo, after the Brit noted about being faster than the Australian.
Behind them, Bottas tried to push on Perez for third but had a bit of a wide moment at the chicane, which allowed the Mexican to retain the place. There was a brief VSC period for Mazepin, who stopped at the side of the track due to apparent engine issues.
There was investigation for Stroll for failing to slow under the yellow flags, as at the front, Ricciardo had enough to win the F1 Italian GP ahead of McLaren teammate Norris in a 1-2 finish. It was his first win since the famous 2018 Monaco GP.
It is McLaren’s first win since the 2012 Brazilian GP, while their first 1-2 since the 2010 Canadian GP. Perez ended up third on the road, but the 5s dropped him to sixth, with Bottas making it on the podium from the back of the grid.
He had one extra point for the fastest lap until Ricciardo took it away on the final lap, as Leclerc was fourth from Perez, Stroll, Alonso, Russell and Ocon in the Top 10. Latifi chased the Frenchman for 10th all-through, with Vettel just behind him.
Giovinazzi recovered from the Lap 1 incident to be 13th ahead of teammate Robert Kubica, as Schumacher rounded out the 14 finishers.
DNF: Mazepin, Hamilton, Verstappen, Verstappen, Gasly. DNS: Tsunoda.
UPDATE: Following the discussions between the stewards along with Hamilton and Verstappen, they came to a conclusion that the Dutchman was to be blamed for their incident, whereby he has been handed a 3-place grid drop for Sochi, with two penalty points on his superlicense.
Going through the footage, the stewards reckoned that it was too late an attempt from Verstappen on Hamilton at Turn 1. Although the Brit could have moved away from the kerb to avoid the incident, but his position was still reasonable enough considering he was marginally ahead, which therefore meant that the Dutchman was predominantly to be blamed.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of car 33 (Max Verstappen), the driver of car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) and team representatives, reviewed the video evidence and determined that the driver of Car 33 was predominantly to blame for the collision with Car 44 at Turn 2. Car 44 was exiting the pits. Car 33 was on the main straight.
“At the 50m board before Turn 1, Car 44 was significantly ahead of Car 33. Car 33 braked late and started to move alongside Car 44, although at no point in the sequence does Car 33 get any further forward than just behind the front wheel of Car 44. During the hearing the driver of Car 33 asserted that the cause of the incident was the driver of Car 44 opening the steering after Turn 1 and “squeezing” him to the apex of turn 2.
“The driver of Car 44 asserted that the driver of Car 33 attempted to pass very late and should have given up the corner either by backing off sooner, or by turning left behind the kerb. The Stewards observed on CCTV footage that the driver of Car 44 was driving an avoiding line, although his position caused Car 33 to go onto the kerb. But further, the Stewards observed that Car 33 was not at all alongside Car 44 until significantly into the entry into Turn 1.
“In the opinion of the Stewards, this manoeuvre was attempted too late for the driver of Car 33 to have “the right to racing room”. While Car 44 could have steered further from the kerb to avoid the incident, the Stewards determined that his position was reasonable and therefore find that the driver of Car 33 was predominantly to blame for the incident. In coming to the penalty the Stewards emphasise that they have only considered the incident itself and not the consequences thereof.”
UPDATE 2: The stewards left off Stroll with a warning for not respecting the double yellow flag waved at Turn 8. They found that the marshalling system was not showing yellow at that moment, but the marshals were waving it. The stewards found the Canadian to be slowing, but he didn’t do so early enough, which is why he was left off with a warning.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 18 (Lance Stroll), team representative and reviewed video and telemetry evidence,” it stated. “Although the marshalling system was not showing yellows, the marshals were showing yellow flags from the entry to Turn 8 to the exit of Turn 10.
“There was one flag point that was not easily visible to the drivers that was showing a double yellow, however this was parallel to an easily visible flag point that was showing a single yellow. The Stewards were able to determine that the driver slowed as required in the regulation, however could have done so earlier. The Stewards therefore issue a warning.”
