Italian GP: Verstappen beats Leclerc as he inches closer to 2022 title
Max Verstappen climbed up from seventh to win F1 Italian GP with Charles Leclerc in second from George Russell.
It was a clean getaway in F1 Italian GP at Monza from Charles Leclerc in his Ferrari from Mercedes’ George Russell, who had to take avoiding action at Turn 1. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen moved up to third from seventh by the end of Lap 1.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo was fourth from AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, with McLaren’s Lando Norris in sixth after a slow start. Alpine’s Fernando Alonso slotted in seventh from Williams’ Nyck de Vries, Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in the Top 10.
Outside the points, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez started to climb up the order but Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was kinda stuck. Among the three, the Spaniard was the man on charge as he was up in the Top 5 in no time.
Perez was following him but he pitted early with front-right brakes issues with the Mexican dropping to last. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, slowed to retire after power unit issue with the Virtual Safety Car deployed.
Ferrari called Leclerc early and returned third with Verstappen leading from Russell. Behind the Monegasque was Sainz who cleared Ricciardo on re-start. The Australian came under pressure from Gasly too where the Frenchman passed him at Turn 1.
But since he went off, he gave back the place, while Alonso cleared Norris for sixth. The Brit came back on him to retake the place as Ricciardo and Gasly pitted where the Australian kept track position over the Frenchman.
At the front, Ferrari switched Leclerc to a two-stop after Verstappen extended his first stint and took the F1 Italian GP lead from the Monegasque, who had to recover a lot after his second stop. Russell slotted in third on the hard tyres from Sainz.
Perez was fifth from Ricciardo as Hamilton passed Gasly and Norris at one go to be seventh. The McLaren driver pitted late and a slow stop cost him track position but he got through his teammate to be seventh behind Hamilton in the order.
Ricciardo was eighth from Gasly, as de Vries hung on the final points place handsomely. The Dutchman had Guanyu on his tail as the two got to fight for points after retirement for Alonso and also Stroll earlier in the grand prix.
While it looked like the end would be smooth but a late safety car for Ricciardo changed a bit after the Australian faced power unit issue. The front-runners pitted with Verstappen leading from Leclerc, Russell, Sainz and Hamilton in the Top 5.
Perez was sixth from Norris with Gasly, de Vries and Guanyu in the Top 10. With the delay in recovering the car, the F1 Italian GP ended under the safety car with Verstappen winning from Leclerc, Russell, Sainz, Hamilton, Perez, Norris, Gasly, de Vries and Guanyu.
Outside the points, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was 11th from Haas’ Mick Schumacher, Bottas, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
DNF: Ricciardo, Stroll, Alonso, Vettel
