Mayhem at Monza!

Mayhem at Monza! - 2020 Italian Grand Prix Review

The roar of the fighter Jets above the world famous Autodromo National Monza circuit, home of the Formula One Italian Grand Prix is certain to put butterflies in your stomach, as the greatest drivers in the world line up along the grid for race start. Nobody was expecting the unexpected coming into round 8 of the highly unusual Formula One season, The Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas had dominated the season up to this point, combining for 6 out of 7 wins for the season to date and were looking to continue their dominance by taking advantage of the downfall of the Scuderia Ferraris. As the lights went out, Hamilton was able to pull away early from a fast starting Carlos Sainz as Valtteri Bottas fell to 6th place after the first couple of laps. Early signs pointed towards another 'boring' Mercedes win as Hamilton was able to create a 15-second gap between him and P2, while the Ferrari pair of Vettel and Leclerc were unable to gain much ground before Vettel was forced into retirement in his teams home grand prix early on due to a left-rear brake failure. Haas driver Kevin Mugnussen was next to retire towards the mid-way point of the race as a mechanical problem forced the Denmark driver to pull over just in front of the pit lane, causing a safety car to allow the Haas to be moved into the pit lane safely. While several teams will usually use a safety car as a 'free pit stop' during any other race, the unfortunate positioning of the broken down Haas meant the pit lane was immediately closed, causing race leader Lewis Hamilton and Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi to pick up 10-second stop-and-go penalties for entering the pit lane at an illegal time, both being proven to ignore 2 warning signs on the left of track before the pit lane entry. A furious Hamilton was unsuccessful in an attempt to overturn the penalty decision, as a red flag was deployed shortly after the safety car restart as Charles Leclerc puts his high-speed Ferrari into the wall at turn 11. As a result, this is the first time both Scuderia Ferrari drivers have retired in their home grand prix at Monza since 1985. As the cars lined up on the grid for the second time, it was evident that we were on for a highly unusual finish as with just over 20 laps to go, Pierre Gasly got a perfect start to take the lead of a Formula one race for the first time in his career as Hamilton entered the pits on his first lap to serve his stop-and-go penalty, being followed by Racing points Lance Stroll, McLarens Carlos Sainz and Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen, who was soon to fall back in the grid at a rapid pace.

Red Bull young star Max Verstappen, who many would expect to win the race in expense of the Mercedes drivers was next to retire due to mechanical problems. As the race was coming to a close, race leader Pierre Gasly was able to hold off a fast-firing Carlos Sainz in the McLaren and Racing Points Lance Stroll to take away his first career victory in one of the most unprecedented races in well over a decade. The Alpha Touri win is the first win not coming from a Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull since 2013. As well as a first race finishing without a driver from the big three teams on the podium. “Honestly, it’s unbelievable,” Gasly said after the race. “I don’t think I’m realising what’s happening right now. “We’ve been through so much in the past 18 months. I have no words.” The Frenchman was lost for words after the race, and showed his emotions as he stepped down from the top step of the podium for the very first time in his career. Carlos Sainz was pleased with a career best second place, yet disappointed as a few extra laps may have resulted in a first ever race win. While the Williams team were pleased with an impressive 11th place finish while a family affair finally comes to an end, with a sale going through during the week. Aussie Daniel Ricciardo finished in a solid 6th place, after some unfortunate race circumstances.

Full Classifications:

1. Pierre Gasly 1:47:06.056

2. Carlos Sainz + 0.415s

3. Lance Stroll + 3.358s

4. lando Norris + 6.000s

5. Valtteri Bottas + 7.108s

6. Daniel Ricciardo +8.391s

7. Lewis Hamilton +17.245s

8. Estaban Ocon +18.691s

9. Daniel Kvyat + 22.208s

10. Sergio Perez +23.224s

11. Nicholas Latifi +32.876s

12. Romain Grosjean + 35.164s

13. Kimi Raikkonen + 36.312s

14. George Russell + 36.593s

15. Alexander Albon + 37.533s

16. Antonio Giovinazzi + 55.199s

17. Max Verstappen - DNF

18. Charles Leclerc - DNF

19. Kevin Magnussen - DNF

20. Sebastian Vettel - DNF