Italian GP: Ricciardo Wins, Hamilton & Verstappen Crash

In an action packed race, Ricciardo has won the Italian GP with Norris following closely behind. This gives McLaren their first 1, 2 win since 2010.

Years of bad luck, reliability problems and management issues  are seemingly coming to an end. After a fantastic season so far, McLaren have scored their first win in 9 years. While the race was mostly uneventful for the team, the race didn’t fail to deliver emotions. Hamilton and Verstappen clashed, leaving both drivers stranded in the gravel at T2.

McLaren – The Winning Formula

The last few years in the sport have been hell for the British team. Since 2013, the team was unable to score enough points in the championship for a position better than 4th. That is until last year. In 2020, McLaren beat Racing Point by 7 points in the constructor’s standings, claiming third place.

This year, a similair story is brewing. The team returned to Mercedes engines, and signed on ex Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo. While Ricciardo had issues with getting to grips with the car in the first half of the season, the second half seems to hold greater things for him. This weekend he was able to challenge not only his teammate (something he has failed to do many times this year), but also Mercedes and Red Bull.

All of this combined seems like McLaren has now found the formula for it to start winning races again; something which many McLaren fans will be extremely excited about.

Max vs Lewis – The Battle Continues

Max came to Monza with a 3 point lead in the Driver’s championships, but leaves with a 5 point lead thanks to the second trial of the Sprint qualifying format, where Hamilton failed to score any points after a horrible start.

During the race, on lap 26, Hamilton was leaving the pits after his 4 second pit-stop, while Verstappen aided by DRS was just behind him on the pit-straight. Going into Turn 1, Verstappen was able to brake late and get alongside Hamilton going into Turn 2. Verstappen went over the kerbs on the apex of Turn 2, and his car was projected off them into Hamilton.

Unfortunately at this point, there was nothing either driver could do and both were headed for the gravel trap. Verstappen’s car shot off the ground and onto the Mercedes, with the rear-right wheel from the Red Bull skimming Hamilton’s helmet and halo.

Jean Todt, as well as Lewis Hamilton, praised the halo device, without which the scenario could have been much worse.

Ultimately the stewards placed the pre-dominant blame on Verstappen, giving him a 3-place grid penalty for the Rusian Grand Prix at Sochi.

Italian GP No Match for The Flying Finn

The second Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas, was exceptionally fast this weekend. His car and driving style seemed perfect for the Italian track, and made his way through the field.

His engine was replaced, which meant that while he qualified on pole and finished the sprint in first place, he was forced to start at the back of the grid. This, however, did not stop him from picking his way through the field and finishing in third place.

The Finn’s Mercedes was superb on the straights at the track. While finishing the race 4th, Sergio Perez’s penalty promoted him onto the podium.

Russell Scores Points, Ferrari Compltes the GP

Another exciting feature of the race was George Russell scoring points for the Williams team for the 3rd time in 4 races. This comes after the announcement that George Russell will leave the team and join Mercedes next year. This should affirm the team’s position in P8 in the constructors championship.

More great news was for the tifosi this weekend; last year was horrendous for the Ferrari fans due to both cars retiring at the home race. This year, both drivers completed the GP and narrowly missed out on the podium. Leclerc finished in P4, and Sainz in P6.

Your Take – Italian GP

McLaren seem to be on form; can they continue this throughout the season? What are your thoughts on the Verstappen-Hamilton crash? We always want to see your opinion on the topics we write about! Either use the form below to comment or take a look at our contact page!