George Russell finished on the podium again, snatching a P3 in the Italian Grand Prix. The showman of the race was actually his teammate, Lewis Hamilton. Having started from P19, he finished fifth.
Lewis Hamilton had to deal with a grid penalty in Monza, that sent him straight to P19. His teammate, though, benefitted from the others’ penalties to start in P3.
But it was, once again, Max Verstappen’s race. Having started on softs from P7, the World Champion made his way into the lead fast, putting a massive gap between him and the rest.
George Russell, also on softs, launched his car straight ahead o Leclerc in turn 1 of Lap 1 and managed to avoid disaster with an excursion over the rumble strips and rejoined second.
Far behind him, Lewis Hamilton avoided a potential collision himself, as Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas made slight contact at the start. By lap 24, he was already in P7, battling with Fernando Alonso for the 6th. He whizzed past him three laps later. Meanwhile, Verstappen’s lead was growing at over 13 seconds over Russell, before the Dutch pitted for medium tires on Lap 26.
After going into the pits, Hamilton had to build his way up again, breezing past Zhou, the debutant de Vries, Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly.
Max Verstappen was feeling like on a walk in the park in Monza. He had already put a 17-second lead over Charles Leclerc with 10 laps left to go. But he felt pole sitter breathing down his neck towards the end. It was the moment the Safety Car had to cover Daniel Ricciardo’s McLaren. The first four (Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc, and Russell) went in two put on softs, in anticipation of a restart. But the race finished under the Safety Car and in major chaos, and he secured a new win this season, but his first in Monza.
But Charles Leclerc, the home favorite, desperate to have a restart, was furious in the end. He had to settle for P2, ahead of George Russell. Lewis Hamilton finished fifth in the Italian Grand Prix.
He will shoot for the podium in two weeks’ time, when Formula 1 moves to Marina Bay in Singapore.
