Race Review: Italian GP
- Sophie Almeida
- Sep 13, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 14, 2021
What a weekend for McLaren. The papaya orange team is back on top after a stunning performance. It's certainly another Italian GP to remember!
FP1 finished with Hamilton fastest followed by Verstappen and Bottas. Going into qualifying on Friday, it was announced that Bottas would be taking a new power unit, and other parts, which would push him to the back of the grid for Sunday's race. Russell nearly didn't make it into Q2, however, a track limit violation for Tsunoda meant his time was deleted and George made the cut. Friday's qualifying finished as follows:
P1 Bottas, P2 Hamilton, P3 Verstappen, P4 Norris, P5 Ricciardo, P6 Gasly, P7 Sainz, P8 Leclerc, P9 Perez, P10 Giovinazzi, P11 Vettel, P12 Stroll, P13 Alonso, Ocon, P15 Russell, P16 Latifi, P17 Tsunoda, P18 Schumacher, P19 Kubica and P20 Mazepin.
FP2 had the same three fastest as in FP1. The sprint was very enjoyable but fairly uneventful. However, a great move from Ricciardo put him P3 into the first corner, with Norris able to keep Hamilton behind him for the 18 laps. Sadly Gasly retired from the sprint on the first lap after making contact with Ricciardo, breaking his front wing and then sliding off and crashing into the wall.
The sprint finished as follow::
P1 Bottas, P2 Verstappen, P3 Ricciardo, P4 Norris, P5 Hamilton, P6 Leclerc, P7 Sainz, P8 Giovinazzi, P9 Perez, P10 Stroll, P11 Alonso, P12 Vettel, P13 Ocon, P14 Latifi, P15 Russell, P16 Tsunoda, P17 Mazepin, P18 Kubica, P19 Schumacher with Gasly DNF.
After grid walks from Usain Bolt and Vin Diesel, the lights went out on Sunday, but not after Tsunoda was wheeled from the grid, pre-formation lap due to break issue. As a result, he did not start the race. Ricciardo rocketed into P1 with a battle ensuing between Hamilton (who made up one place) and Verstappen, which saw Hamilton run wide and Norris slip past to take P3 back from him.
Giovinazzi managed to tag Sainz and spun, losing his nose cone and having to pit as a result. This meant a virtual safety car and a 5-second penalty for the Italian. Stroll then had a tangle with Vettel which dropped the German 3 places. It also wasn't great for the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly either who had to retire on Lap 3.
Ricciardo was holding his own with Bottas rocketing up the grid from P19 to P10 by Lap 13. Lap 22 saw Ricciardo pit for hards before Verstappen came in a lap later. It was not good as the dutchman's pit took 11.1s and at the same time, Hamilton overtook Norris. Norris then pitted and came out ahead of Verstappen as a result of the Red Bull's bad stop. Hamilton pitted in a 4.2 stop, releasing him out as Verstappen came past.
And then there was drama. The pair headed into T2, making contact with Verstappen hitting the curb and going aerial, taking out Hamilton with him and landing on top of the Mercedes. This threw the race wide open, particularly as Leclerc has taken advantage of the safety car and pitted but held his P2 spot.
Bottas continued to charge up the field, making it to P3 after a great battle with Perez and then overtaking Leclerc, who had lost P2 to Norris a few laps before. However, his pace levelled out and the McLarens brought it home for a 1-2 finish.
There were penalties throughout the race on top of Giovinazzi's. Ocon received 5 seconds for causing a collision with Vettel, Mazepin received 5 seconds for causing a collision with Schumacher and then retired after losing power. Perez, who initially finished P4 was given a 5-second penalty for leaving the track and rejoining unsafely, gaining an advantage, dropping him to P5.
The final classifications were as follows:
P1 Ricciardo, P2 Norris, P3 Bottas, P4 Leclerc, P5 Perez, P6 Sainz, P7 Stroll, P8 Alonso , P9 Russell, P10 Ocon, P11 Latifi, P12 Vettel, P13 Giovinazzi, P14 Kubica, P15 Schuamcher with DNF Mazepin, Hamilton, Verstappen and Gasly and DNS for Tsunoda.
However, both Hamilton and Verstappen were called to the stewards over their crash. It was determined that Verstappen was more at fault that Hamilton and could have back out, as he was not alongside Hamilton going in to the turn, therefore giving him a 3 place grid penalty at the next race in Sochi, Russia. Stroll was also investigated post race for speeding under yellow flags, however no further action was taken.
However, both Hamilton and Verstappen were summoned to the stewards over their crash. It was determined that Verstappen was more at fault than Hamilton and could have backed out, as he was not alongside Hamilton going into the turn. As a result, he has been given a 3 place grid penalty at the next race in Sochi, Russia. Stroll was also investigated post-race for speeding under yellow flags, however, no further action was taken.
Driver Of The Day: Ricciardo
The honey badger is back on top. There can not be a single fan who isn't ecstatic that he won the GP after a very rocky season so far. He's absolutely deserving of driver of the day.
Biggest Crash: Verstappen and Hamilton
Who would have thought the Italian GP would have ended with Verstappen's car on top of Hamiltons? The two were battling into Turn 2 and Hamilton was slightly ahead, pushing Verstappen wide, who then hit the curb and flipped up. Hamilton could have left more room and Verstappen could have backed out but it was safe to say it was all a bit odd. You can watch the crash here:
Thank goodness for halos. Without it, the end result could have been fatal for Hamilton as the wheel ran over his head. Thank you to everyone who has made the sport safer. You can watch the crash here.
Sainz also had a pretty horrible crash in FP2 as well as Gasly in the Sprint on Saturday.
Overtake Of The Day: Bottas
What a turnaround for Bottas. From winning the Sprint Race to then dropping to the back of the grid for his power unit changes, the Finn made his way back to finish P3. He put in great move after great move to overtake, what a drive!
Biggest Heartbreak: Gasly
From winning the 2020 Italian GP, to crashing out of the sprint and retiring from the race on Lap 3, it was not Gasly's weekend. Hopefully next weekend will be a little bit better for him.
Best Radio Comment: Ricciardo
There were tears everywhere as Ricciardo crossed the line to take the win. His message to the team was beautiful, finishing with:
"And for anyone who thought I left... I never left. Just moved aside for a while"
It's great to have you back at the top Danny Ric.
You can check out the best of the team radios here:
Takeaways
McLaren is back!! 3213 days since McLaren's last win in Brazil (2012), 4109 days after their last 1-2 in Canada (2010) and 1204 days after Ricciardo's last win, the Australian came home in first, with Norris in P2. What a day for the team and McLaren fans. The podium was magnificent with not one but three shoeys - one each for Ricciardo, Norris and team boss Zak Brown.
Another Hamilton Verstappen crash on a sprint weekend! It's just keeping the battle for the WDC incredibly close... It seems to be a racing incident with slightly more blame on Verstappen.
It's safe to say it was a terrible weekend for the AlphaTauris. Their home GP didn't even start for one driver and finished after 3 laps for the other. Hopefully, it was just a one-off and we will see them back at Sochi. We're sure they'll be wanting to forget this Italian GP quite quickly.
George Russell snuck under the radar and into the points for the 3rd time this season! Great result for the Williams, with Russell in P9 and Latifi in P11. The Ferrari's also had a very solid weekend finishing in P4 and P6. Leclerc put in some great moves however the McLaren 1-2 puts them ahead of the team in red.
We have a week off now before Sochi! See you then.
Comments