Daniel Ricciardo won the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix, on McLaren’s one-two day, in Monza – something that hasn’t happened since Canada 2010. It was Woking’s team’s 183th victory, which hasn’t won a race since Brazil 2012 with Jenson Button, and eighth in Ricciardo’s career – the last was in Monaco in 2018, still with Red Bull. The Australian took 27 points this weekend, after also securing the extra point for the fastest lap in the race.
Lando Norris was second, in the best result of his Formula 1 career. Sergio Perez crossed the finish line in third, but was penalized with five seconds after cutting turn 4 in a dispute with Valtteri Bottas in the final stages of the race .
The race was marked by a clash between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, the two contenders for the 2021 title. The two played tough and ended up touching each other in turn 1, with the Dutchman’s Red Bull finishing over Hamilton’s W12.
Bottas, who made an irreparable recovery race to finish in P4, was promoted to the podium. Perez lost yet another position to Ferrari’s Charles Lerclerc and finished fifth.
Carlos Sainz, Leclerc’s teammate at Scuderia, was sixth.
Lance Stroll was the best Aston Martin in seventh place, ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. His teammate Sebastian Vettel finished in P12.
Williams’ George Russell and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon completed the Italian F1 GP scoring zone.
Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda, the AlphaTauri duo, ended up not starting with different problems in the cars.
The race
Ricciardo started very well and passed Verstappen in the first corner, taking the lead. Hamilton won Norris’s position at the start, but ended up touching Verstappen at turn 4, went off the track and lost the position to Norris.
A little while ago, Giovinazzi was under heavy pressure from the Ferraris. Leclerc passed the Italian at turn 1 and left the problem to Sainz. Coming out of the chicane between turns 4 and 5, Sainz ended up touching the rear of the Alfa Romeo driver he was riding.
The incident brought the virtual Safety car, while Giovinazzi went to the pits and returned to the track at the end of the grid. The incident went to the stewards’ investigation and the Italian received a five-second penalty for unsafely returning to the track.
On lap 8, Ricciardo kept a second ahead of Verstappen. Norris was third and also had a gap of one second to Hamilton, who started with the tough ones.
A lap later, Perez passed Sainz at turn 1. The two rode side by side at Big Turn, but the Mexican braked inside Turn 4 and kept overtaking by taking sixth place.
A few turns later Hamilton used the DRS and paired with Norris down the straight, but the McLaren driver defended himself very well.
On lap 16, Ocon and Vettel crashed into turn 4. The Frenchman left no room for the Aston Martin driver and the two touched. The incident was the commissioners’ investigation and Ocon was punished within five seconds.
Back then, Bottas had been doing an excellent recovery run. The Mercedes driver won Saturday’s qualifying race, but changed his engine and started at the bottom of the grid as a penalty. On lap 17, Bottas passed Alonso and took ninth position.
On spin 20, Red Bull asked Verstappen to change its engine to the “seven” position. The Dutchman immediately tried to attack Ricciardo at turn 1, but he went straight and lost time.
On lap 23, Ricciardo went to the pits and came back with hard tires. Verstappen did the same on the next lap, but Red Bull lost a lot of time with the Dutchman’s pit-stop. The Red Bull driver returned to the track in ninth position after a stoppage of more than a second.
On the same lap Hamilton passed Norris and took the lead of the race. A lap later Hamilton made his stop and immediately returned ahead of Verstappen. The two walked side by side at turn 1, but Verstappen pushed and ended up on top of the Brit’s car. As a result, both withdrew from the race.
The restart came on lap 31. Ricciardo held the position, while Leclerc and Norris battled for P2. The two bumped into each other at Turn 1, but Norris got the better of Big Turn and regained the position.
A lap later, Perez cut corner 4 and passed Leclerc. The Mexican was punished and lost five seconds.
Bottas continued to make his recovery run and was already placed four on lap 38. The McLarens were guaranteeing the double, with Ricciardo in P1 and Norris in P2.
On lap 43, Bottas passed Perez at turn 4, but the Mercedes driver lost traction at the exit of turn 5 and Perez regained his position.
A lap later, Mazepin stopped on the track with problems with his Haas. Virtual Safety Car has been activated.
With three laps to go in the race, Ricciardo led Norris by 1.4s. Victory number 183 was headed for Woking’s team.
Ricciardo won the Italian Formula 1 GP, the eighth victory of his career – the last was Monaco 2018. Norris finished second, securing a one-two for McLaren. Perez crossed the finish line in third, but with a five-second penalty, he lost the podium to Bottas.
The championship
Max Verstappen opened up an advantage for Lewis Hamilton in the fight for the title of the 2021 season of Formula 1, thanks to two points achieved with the second position in the qualifying race on Saturday. The Dutchman now has 226.5 points against 221.5 for the Mercedes driver.
Valtteri Bottas is third with 141, after 18 this weekend in Monza. Lando Norris is fourth, nine points behind the Finn.
Sergio Perez is in fifth place with 118 points, while Charles Leclerc is sixth with 104. Carlos Sainz (97.5) is seventh, followed by Daniel Ricciardo (83), Pierre Gasly (66) and Fernando Alonso (50) completing the top 10.
Among builders, Mercedes has opened up an advantage for Red Bull. The German team arrived in Italy two points ahead of their rivals, but saw the gap widen to 18 points. McLaren is establishing itself as the third force on the grid. There are 215 points for Woking’s team, against 201.5 for their rival Ferrari. Alpine is fifth with 95 and AlphaTauri is sixth with 84.
Check out the result of the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix:
1) Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren / Mercedes)
2) Lando Norris (McLaren / Mercedes)
3) Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
4) Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5) Sergio Pérez (Red Bull / Honda)
6) Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)
7) Lance Stroll (Aston Martin/Mercedes)
8) Fernando Alonso (Alpine/Renault)
9) George Russell (Williams/Mercedes)
10) Esteban Ocon (Alpine/Renault)
11) Nicholas Latifi (Williams/Mercedes)
12) Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin/Mercedes)
13) A.Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo / Ferrari)
14) Robert Kubica (Alfa Romeo/Ferrari)
15) Mick Schumacher (Haas/Ferrari)
DNF) Nikita Mazepin (Haas/Ferrari)
DNF) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
DNF) Max Verstappen (Red Bull/Honda)
DNF) Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri/Honda)
DNF) Yuki Tsotaka (AlphaTauri / Honda)
