Daniel Ricciardo gave McLaren their first win since 2012 at the Italian Grand Prix after Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton crashed into each other at Monza.
McLaren secured their first victory since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix and their first one-two since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix as Lando Norris held off Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas to secure second.Bottas took third on the podium after Perez was demoted by a five second time penalty. Verstappen and Hamilton are under investigation after crashing out midway through the race at the Rettifilo chicane.
Before the cars had pulled away for the formation lap, Yuki Tsunoda was pushed into the pit lane with an apparent issue on his AlphaTauri. He would not take the start of the race.
When the lights went out, Ricciardo got a much better getaway than polesitter Verstappen and leapt out into the lead before the field had reached the breaking zone of the Rettifilo.
Verstappen came under pressure then from Hamilton, with the pair making minor contact as they drive through the Roggia, with Hamilton taking to the escape road and allowing Norris to move up to third.
Antonio Giovinazzi was spun around after contact with Carlos Sainz Jnr exiting the Roggia, prompting a short Virtual Safety Car as Giovinazzi limped back to the pits for a new front wing.
The race quickly resumed, with Verstappen looking to hunt down the leader. But despite sitting within DRS range of the McLaren out front, Verstappen was unable to get close enough to attempt a move for the lead.
Ricciardo kept the lead until the end of lap 22, when McLaren brought in the race leader for a set of hard tyres. Verstappen was in the very next lap as Ricciardo went four tenths faster in the middle sector alone. But a lengthy delay to his right-front wheel saw him lose any hope of taking the lead and be passed by Norris.
Hamilton eventually pitted to move onto the medium tyres a few laps later and rejoined the circuit right in front of his championship rival. As the pair rounded the tight Rettifilo side-by-side, they collided, with Verstappen bouncing on top of the Mercedes.
Both rivals were out of the race on the spot and the safety car was deployed. As Verstappen and Hamilton climbed out of their crashed cars thankfully unhurt, those who had not yet pitted immediately came in to switch to new tyres. This saw Ricciardo in the lead from Leclerc, Norris, Perez, Sainz and Bottas.
When the race resumed, Norris stormed through into second by charging up the inside of Curva Grande. Perez and Bottas both made their way past Leclerc in the later laps, demoting the Ferrari to fifth.
With a McLaren one-two out front, McLaren gave Norris the instruction to hold position in second. Perez was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage and held off the advances of Bottas as the Mercedes looked to pass him on track.
Despite the top six cars covered by seven seconds, Ricciardo and McLaren were able to soak up the pressure from the pack behind. Ricciardo held on to take the chequered flag, end McLaren’s almost nine-year wait for a victory and score his first win since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix.
Norris crossed second to secure a one-two for McLaren, with Bottas taking third after Perez’s penalty was applied. Perez fell to fifth after the penalty, behind Leclerc and ahead of Sainz.
Lance Stroll finished seventh, ahead of Fernando Alonso, George Russell and Esteban Ocon rounding out the points in tenth.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2021 Italian Grand Prix reaction
- Check back shortly for more race reaction
jlb
12th September 2021, 15:39
Take note, Mr. Ross Brawn. Competition is to see the two biggest and most egocentric drivers in the world to fight for win even if they crash for it. Having 20 cars in 20 seconds and a different winner every weekend is a lottery, and I don’t want to see that, I don’t want super development-limited cars which stop the talent and farcical races like Brawn’s wet dream of Super Mega Crypto Qualifyings. Let’s learn of the good ole Senna-Prost, Hakkinen-Schumacher, Alonso-Hamilton times!
Alan Dove
12th September 2021, 16:23
” forced fake ADHD excitement ”
Clearly never met anyone with ADHD.
Dave
12th September 2021, 16:42
The hell? You bringing ADHD in here?
Nick (@nick101)
12th September 2021, 18:17
A hyperbolic comment from someone who clearly knows nothing. The Brawn was NEVER, 2+ seconds per lap faster than the rest of the grid in 2009. EVER. Take a breath and calm down.
Red Pill (@redpill)
13th September 2021, 0:56
I’m going to jump in here late and have to give a big shout out to McLaren for their first win in F1 since 2012!
They won the weekend 1,2 @Monza. Congrats to McLaren’s whole team!
That’s quite an achievement for an F1 team to do this in this era and when you look back at where they were during the Honda days; which wasn’t too long ago.
They got their act together, pulled their boots up and came up with a game plan to improve and get back on the podium; I believe this weekend is a direct result with all that design shuffling, work, strategizing and reorganizing that they did. I was also glad to see Zak Brown up there, as he was the one that lead to all this, making the changes and getting Seidel on the team.
Perhaps we should be recognizing this win for McLaren more than all the finger pointing of a crash that we’re seeing flooding the threads. Anyone who loves watching F1 should love seeing a team come back and win.
IMOLAFTW
13th September 2021, 2:52
Nah competition is great. We are happy to mclaren win again. Max and Lewis have had enough wins this season.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
12th September 2021, 15:40
I’ve got a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye!
Ross
13th September 2021, 5:49
Mega from Danny Ric.
Aussie Rod (@aussierod)
12th September 2021, 15:41
An unstoppable force met an immovable object.
Two great drivers, neck and neck in the championship, not giving each other an inch. I couldn’t care less who is slightly more to blame, it’s just so entertaining week in week out. What a titanic championship battle.
Manto
12th September 2021, 15:44
Wish all the salty fanboys think like you
JackL
12th September 2021, 15:47
Agreed. The only thing I didnt like was Max didnt bother to check on Lewis when he jumped out. He was still on top of him and could surely see the danger when jumped out. That was low.
Mike Davies (@nanotech)
12th September 2021, 15:53
When he jumped out, Lewis was still spinning his wheels trying to get his car moving. Not exactly safe to approach and clear he was OK.
Learon
12th September 2021, 21:06
Cars with spinning wheels is not a reliable test for brain and spinal cord damage. For all we know Ham could have been having convulsions and his foot pressed hard on the pedal…
x303 (@x303)
12th September 2021, 21:44
Isn’t it better to have a battle that last till the chequered flag though? Crashes get tiresome really fast.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
13th September 2021, 8:57
@aussierod Thats because you see F1 as entertainment first. You’re probably in a majority, but some of us think it’s a sport first where fairness, sportmenship, hard work are valued above the entertainment factor. That’s why it’s hard to just watch through ‘unjustice’ and not get emotional.
Aussie Rod (@aussierod)
13th September 2021, 11:17
@ivan-vinitskyy With all due respect I don’t need you telling me how I see F1.
Having been following F1 religiously since 1992 I can assure you I too have plenty of emotional moments.
But the polarisation of Lewis v Max fans in social media is out of control.
JL (@j-l)
12th September 2021, 15:41
Two egos of that size simply can’t fit into that tiny chicane. Thank god for the halo.
René (@)
12th September 2021, 15:44
This was nothing compared to Silverstone
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 15:49
@rvg013 Thanks to the halo. Otherwise, far, far worse.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
12th September 2021, 16:53
@david-br
Totally agree, though 51G is basically an airplane crash.
DaveW (@dmw)
12th September 2021, 18:12
You ride some slow airplanes lol.
OOliver
12th September 2021, 15:45
Norris has pushed this team to achieve great things all season, it seems a bit unfair that he doesn’t get the first win.
Congrats to Ricciardo and Mclaren, this one was long overdue. The great Mclaren first win in 9 Seasons.
Luca Goodoer
12th September 2021, 16:05
If drivers were rewarded for past performances on the basis of sympathy most of the grid would have wins and there’d be far more drivers with championships. Norris couldn’t and didn’t win today, and nothing about it was unfair
OOliver
12th September 2021, 16:42
I never said it was unfair, but seemed a little bit unfair. I am not the creator of the phrase “Poetic Justice”, but it exists in the minds of humans so I can relate it to this situation just as some can say who the driver of the day was without it having a usefulness to reality.
Learon
12th September 2021, 21:07
A bit of the same happened with Russell and Mazepin recently.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
12th September 2021, 21:24
Guess you mean latifi instead of mazepin.
Ancient1 (@ancient1)
13th September 2021, 9:49
Wasn’t NOR in front of RIC on the grid for the sprint. On the last lap of the GP RIC did 1:24.8 whilst NOR did 1:24.9, so RIC was the quicker. Even though RIC was having settling-in problems, history would dictate that RIC was giving feedback as well.
Kudos for the NOR pass on LEC [left & right ones there!!!].
Manto
12th September 2021, 15:46
AMG44 after a 51 g crash in Silverstone presumably: “penalty was a bit unfair, but get in there Lewis”
Denis (@denis1304)
12th September 2021, 15:46
LOL Cry me a river.
John
12th September 2021, 15:47
Once again the halo proved essential to the safety of F1. Otherwise, that tyre rolling over LH could easily have caused a fatal injury.
erikje
12th September 2021, 15:48
Great to see ricciardo on top again.
Nice podium and surprising race.
Not boring at all.
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
12th September 2021, 15:48
A great outcome for McLaren but the most important thing, Hamilton is fine as Halo fully protected him.
I’ll start with the accident that’s gonna be talked for a while. Hamilton defended hardly but fairly as exiting the pits but eventually he didn’t leave enough space for Verstappen into turn 1, as Verstappen was 2/3 of a car width alongside. I’ll consider this a racing incident, with Hamilton having a bigger part of guilt (55-45%).
Great result for McLaren, really glad to see them returning to winning. Same applies for Danny Ricc, who struggled this season but bounced back beautifully today.
Great recovery for Bottas, who didn’t manage to clear Perez and lost a good opportunity to win. Still a great recovery drive for the Fin.
I believe that both Leclerc and Norris should get a penalty, Leclerc for his “Hamilton Spa 08” move on Bottas and Norris for exceeding track limits at Parabolica during the restart.
Ninjenius
12th September 2021, 15:49
Comparing lap 1 turn 4/5 incident and the turn 1 crash tells you everything really. Lewis risking round the outside but sensibly bailing out to cut the chicance. Max instead risking around the outside and trying to poke his nose into the apex of the left-hander for a gap that was always going to close. If Lewis had done on lap 1 what Max tried to do at turn 1, they’d have both been out on lap 1 instead. And the cheek of Max to complain in the garage that Lewis didn’t leave space. When Max did the exact same on lap 1. Hypocriticy at its finest.
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 15:55
My immediate thought was that Max had a sniff of a chance but got blocked and should have backed out – but I just knew he wouldn’t, even though a collision was then completely inevitable. Flying over Hamilton’s car was unexpected, though. But I agree, there’s a standard response in these incidents that ‘X’ had the racing line and Max has used that repeatedly to push off Hamilton. This time Lewis had the racing line, but the fact Max was inside gave him the ‘advantage’ in terms of where the cars might end up and he went for it, typically. Another between ‘racing incident’ and ‘mostly one driver’s fault’, in this case MV. I’m sure that will be a resounding consensus here :)
Miltiadis (@miltosgreekfan)
12th September 2021, 15:50
2 sprint races, 2 big crashes for the contenders
notZack
12th September 2021, 15:50
What a marvelous return not just to form but to the podium and top step for Ricciardo. Got the jump on Norris yesterday at the sprint, got the jump on Max today, and just had it under control throughout. Even without the championship leaders clashing, Ricciardo very likely would’ve won after those two’s dodgy stops.
Also really pleased to see Russell bag two more points, it’s good to see Williams back in the top 10 again.
As for two caught in the wars, I don’t think the consequences will be anything more than a war of words. It was messy and ultimately costly, but that’s the risks of going for it and having sausage kerbs at that part of the track. Reminiscent of the opening lap scuffles at Imola Turn 1, and today at Turn 4. Lewis chickened out and survived, Max was more willing to go for it, and they both paid the price.
(This isn’t putting the blame on Max, just so I’m clear. That’s just the results of two drivers not giving space, but let’s see what the stewards have to say)
Bill
12th September 2021, 15:50
Gutted for Perez Charles was at fault as well. Anyway great race from Perez and Congrats to Daniel.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
12th September 2021, 15:58
Perez could have just given up the position immediately and gone for it again next lap while the Ferraris were still struggling with tyre warm up. Instead he went the obstinate route and was classified behind the Ferrari. Sometimes you just need to be pragmatic.
ttongsul (@ccpbioweapon)
12th September 2021, 17:10
Perez is useless number 2 driver in one of the fastest cars on the grid , he could’ve been a race winner if he was not fighting with midfielders.
If I'm not wery much mistaken (@ifiamnotwerymuchmistaken)
12th September 2021, 15:52
Great win for McL, and on merit.
The racing incident helped, but I think it would’ve still been a McL win and a 2nd or 3rd, even if the pits for Ver\Ham were smoother.
A very entertaining race, possibly the best so far in 2021.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
12th September 2021, 21:27
I think so too, a likely order without any pit stop trouble would’ve been ricciardo, verstappen, hamilton.
Mr Squiggle
13th September 2021, 1:26
Key point. Lewis and max weren’t competing for the lead. They were both looking at a podium at best. McLaren have stepped up.
there will be other tracks where they are quicker than Red Bull and Merc.
I’m not sure if the paddock have thought through the implications of this.
G_Berger
12th September 2021, 15:53
You’re obviously not biased AMG44… ;-)
I see it as a racing incident, the likes of what happened in Silverstone. They both wouldn’t budge. Again. As drivers should do. To bad car 33 was thrown up and over 44.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
12th September 2021, 15:53
I have to admit, if this victory came last year for Sainz here, I would be ecstatic. This way I take it as a natural progression of things and I’m already hungry for more success for McLaren. I hope they hit the sweetspot in the next year’s rules and are up there with Mercedes and Red Bull for most of the season.
Also, I think Max is up for a 5-place grid penalty in Russia. The move on Hamilton was too hasty and he didn’t take his foot off the gas even when he was clearly off the track. Red Bull might want to join this with the engine change and just try to minimize the losses in Sochi.
Ninjenius
12th September 2021, 16:05
Stewarding consistency once again called into question. Ocon v Vettel today, and Leclerc v Lewis 2019. 5 second penalty for Ocon, black/white flag for Leclerc.
Ninjenius
12th September 2021, 16:06
@pironitheprovocateur wasnt meant to be a reply to you sorry!
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 16:11
@pironitheprovocateur
Good point, if the data backs that, could well seal his fate for a penalty as it led to a dangerous incident.
erikje
12th September 2021, 16:25
But he never left the track. The yellow curbs are so close his right side still was on track.
But compare with the lewis/Norris pass earlier and see how Lewis gives space.
Still, racing incident by two over optimistic drivers
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 16:35
I agree about the racing incident bit. Again a case of neither driver wanting to cede, though I’m sympathetic to Hamilton having the racing line as it has been used so often against him in this kind of incident (and he’s been driven off track, way back to Raikkonen at Spa 2008). There are some amazing double standards at work when it comes to Lewis. But Verstappen was sufficiently close to be entitled to look for a pass. The real question here, for me, is whether Verstappen kept his foot down when the crash was inevitable/already happening, out of anger/over-aggression, and that led to his car flying over the top of Hamilton’s. If so, he deserves a penalty.
Dave
12th September 2021, 15:54
Racing incident 100%.
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 15:59
Great victory for McLaren, Ricciardo, Norris, totally deserved over the weekend, clearing their way through the ‘wreckage’ of the RBR/Mercedes skirmishes.
What most annoyed me was Perez again going off track to get past someone and Red Bull again going ‘yeah, we’ll just take the penalty thanks.’ Completely cynical. The 5 second penalty should be there for end of race incidents when the driver (supposedly) lacks the time to give the place back. Not in the middle of the race. Weak officiating.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
12th September 2021, 16:20
@david-br
Listening to Horner at the post race interview talking about the Perez penalty, ‘we weren’t asked to give the place back’ That’s just such a rubbish mentality. Leclerc was in a similar position and immediately gave the position back he didn’t have to be asked.
RB are a very slick operation with two very good drivers, they don’t have to resort to tactics they use.
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 17:05
@johnrkh Maybe they do think they need it in Perez’s case, though, given that overtaking isn’t a strong area of his driving. Really he should be told to give the place back, full-stop, or he’s black flagged. It shouldn’t be negotiable unless the driver he passed is no longer racing. If that driver is now 5 places further back, that’s just his problem for not doing so earlier. I don’t see the issue. The incident was 100% clear to anyone.
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 16:01
@amg44
I think that is indeed pretty much indisputable. The question is whether than mentality will win him a championship. Still unclear.
AMG44 (@amg44)
12th September 2021, 16:19
@david-br
Immediately afterwards he said “that is what you get” which clearly shows that Max was angry and there was some intention involved in that crash. Hope such dirty drivers never win championships.
erikje
12th September 2021, 16:27
That was not anger, but a very mature reaction. And indeed this is what you get for both…
Fact is Lewis gave enough room with Norris in exact the same situation earlier. So he knows how to do it.
AMG44 (@amg44)
12th September 2021, 17:18
Yeah Lewis give room, Lewis Yields, Lewis Backs off…
Even on Lap 1, Lewis backed out of that move on Max in turn 4. Again Lewis backed out of a move and lost against Norris.
Yesterday Lewis backed out to avoid contact and lose so many positions.
Has that angry kid ever backed off?
Waiting for the day when this angry reckless kid will yield and back off from a move avoiding contact. For him it is always the other driver who has to yield.
Aapje (@aapje)
12th September 2021, 18:27
@amg44
Lewis was obliged to leave room, but he didn’t. That’s all there is to it.
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
12th September 2021, 16:02
Bruh
Ninjenius
12th September 2021, 16:06
Stewarding consistency once again called into question. Ocon v Vettel today, and Leclerc v Lewis 2019. 5 second penalty for Ocon, black/white flag for Leclerc.
Balue (@balue)
12th September 2021, 16:29
Indeed
Le Jimster (@lejimster82)
12th September 2021, 16:06
Really nice to see this from Ricciardo. A lot of “fans” wrote him off early in the season, glad he proved them wrong again.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
12th September 2021, 21:35
To be honest he drove terribly slow early in this season, but I like to see finally a good performance (all weekend).
Patrick (@anunaki)
12th September 2021, 16:11
I seems that Max’s slow pitstop had something to do with the new rules to make the stops “more safe”. What a joke if this is true
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
12th September 2021, 21:35
Absolutely.
DaveW (@dmw)
12th September 2021, 16:11
What a sight to see a mclaren 1-2. Even after growing up watching these 1-2s and being a mclaren fan as a kid it seems incredible. And ricciardo winning really on pace over Norris here is a feel good story of the year after his struggles.
Pironi the Provocateur (@pironitheprovocateur)
12th September 2021, 16:31
When you think of it, it’s even more special considering how rare the 1-2s used to be for McLaren even during their strong seasons until 2012. Kovalainen or Montoya nearly never delivered.
DaveW (@dmw)
12th September 2021, 18:14
Yeah even with button and Hamilton it was rare.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
12th September 2021, 21:37
Guess most mclaren 1-2s were with senna and prost, they had good cars also with hakkinen and coulthard but not a lot of 1-2s if I recall.
Alan Dove
12th September 2021, 16:11
I know people watch the invidents with an immense amount of bias with regard to Halo, but watch carefully. The Halo hit the side of Max’s car as it was mounting the Merc. In pre-Halo days that might have slid right over and not been an issue. Instead it acted like a pivot point and landed the tyre on Hamilton’s head. Not absolutely ideal if you ask me. One could say the Halo caused the tyre to land on Hamilton, but overal the protection is still there. BUT the tire probably wouldn’t have landed there int he first place without the Halo.
ttongsul (@ccpbioweapon)
12th September 2021, 17:03
yes , I am sick of the kneejerk “thank God for the Halo” fanboys worshiping the device, What about SAFER barriers, HANS device, race harnesses ,flexible fuel cells, mandated crash structures, tethered wheels, fire retardant race suits, helmets which have saved 1000s more lives in Motorsport?
ironically all of this modern safety can cause an aura of invincibility for ‘some drivers causing them to use their car as a weapon taking ridiculous risks on track.This plus the increasing number of talentless pay drivers(plus liberty’s obsession with drama filled racing ) in F1 is going to end in tragedy soon.
Dave
12th September 2021, 19:28
There’s the Tecpro barrier you know?
Niefer (@niefer)
12th September 2021, 18:52
Spot on! I had the same impression when I saw the replays.
It is trendy to over-glorify the halo, though. But today, it became clear the push for a closed canister is the next right move.
Will they do it? I don’t think so.
Not only the halo, but DRS shows us, day by day, nothing lasts longer than an interim measure.
Ross
13th September 2021, 5:47
I genuinely don’t understand why you felt it necessary to rage against a safety device that just saved the life of a 7x World Champion, and that’s what it did. The RBR impacted the engine cover, moved up over the roll hoop and slide off onto Lewis’ head and the halo before sliding down the halo and onto its resting place. Without the Halo Lewis would have been severely injured if not dead. The halo has proved itself time and time again over the last seasons not only in F1 but the junior series as well. Halo has saved drivers in F2, F3 and W series at the very least if not more series that don’t get coverage, and no one is arguing that the other safety devices haven’t helped save lives.
Ruben
12th September 2021, 16:14
Red Bull the first victim of the silly pit stop rules? Also wonder if the 1st lap touché between Max and Lewis had anything to do with it.
Lewis showed on lap one that he was very much capable to go through that corner with another car next to him. In this case neither driver wanted to yield. Glad the halo did its work and Lewis is ok. Max leaves a Mercedes track with two points extra points.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
12th September 2021, 21:49
A shame though for the slow pit stop, it was the catalyst to a bad situation cause I see a likely result of ricciardo, verstappen, hamilton otherwise, so verstappen could’ve gained a further 3 points, he lost out because of a super slow pit stop, then ofc fastest lap point would’ve been difficult to predict.
Balue (@balue)
12th September 2021, 16:28
So sweet for McLaren. Just a shame it wasn’t Norris as he’s been leading the team the whole year.
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
12th September 2021, 18:14
The better driver on the weekend won, what’s wrong with that?
Balue (@balue)
13th September 2021, 7:42
@homerlovesbeer Nothing in itself. It’s just that Norris has led the McLaren’s charge the whole with Ricciardo floundering, and then he gets lucky when the win is on offer.
Ross
13th September 2021, 20:36
Being the better driver on the day isn’t luck.
Peyton
13th September 2021, 8:46
I think it’s better for the team dynamic that Ricciardo won. He needs a boost, Norris drove a great race as well and knows he could have easily won if one or two things were different but Ricciardo needs a confidence boost.
Dave
12th September 2021, 16:43
This is what I’ve been waiting for.
ttongsul (@ccpbioweapon)
12th September 2021, 16:47
AMG44 100% AGREE. this is 1994 all over again.
MAX clearly has manic rage issues, he had a case of red mist after the botched pitstop and IMO tried to over compensate by attempting a deliberate low percentage kamikaze torpedo overtake over the sausage curb causing a crash , the lack of empathy from VER after almost crushing HAM shows how much of a cold character VER is.
VER had nothing to lose, if LEW got out of the way VER would’ve driven away and finished ahead extending his lead in WDC, if they made contact LEW on the outside would always come off worse benefiting VER, even when they both dnf it would harm HAM more because it would deny closest rival 2nd in the WDC any points scoring opportunities.
Due to the above VER needs a severe grid penalty for the next race, even if you argued that Lewis did not give space it was still RECKLESS to not abort the botched overtake before driving off track to be launched by the sausage curbs torpedoing another driver.
I guess Liberty/FIA will do nothing to VER because they want the WDC to be artificially close and love the fake drama
DaveW (@dmw)
12th September 2021, 18:23
Looks like you were right on the penalty outcome. I think Hamilton, looking at this right after, should have let him through. He had faster fresher tires and still had a mclaren to bottle up verstappen—-this was basically a dream scenario after Saturday’s disaster for him. And verstappen with a points lead had less to lose barging through. But I’m sure he has not time consider. Hamilton’s own slow stop meant no one knew they be neck and neck there.
Roger (@rogerzzz)
12th September 2021, 18:11
This is why I love going to Monza. Awesome race!
It’s great to see McLaren return to winning ways. This was exactly what I was hoping for; that they were capable of keeping the Red Bull at bay on merit. Ferrari put in a decent performance as well, with Leclerc at times showing promising speed.
Bottas was my driver of the day with an inspired performance. Too bad he wasn’t able to clear Perez on track.
I think Verstappen is at fault for the crash. He could have and should have backed out: he’s expecting this behaviour from other drivers when he’s defending, but is not prepared to do this himself. And he would’ve had a decent chance of catching Hamilton in Curva Grande. Live to fight for another day. And I didn’t like the fact that he didn’t went to Hamilton to check if he was okay. Verstappen is driving a better campaign than Lewis this year, but Verstappen’s way of duelling is off-putting.
David BR (@david-br)
12th September 2021, 18:30
@rogerzzz +1
Dave
12th September 2021, 19:22
McLaren winning again is the greatest thing to happen.
Bottas did a super job.
What Verstappen did was unnecessary, yes. But in the end, racing incident.
Aapje (@aapje)
12th September 2021, 18:25
@amg44
It’s pretty ridiculous how you can’t see that Lewis has been making a ton of dirty moves, while Max has been leaving space.
x303 (@x303)
12th September 2021, 21:48
Great result from McLaren, on pure pace. Still not a championship contender, but they can steal poles or wins to Mercedes and Red Bull here or there.
Really hope they have a great car in 2022!
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
12th September 2021, 22:17
RIC deserves the win. He beat Max at the start and then stayed in front. So Max was extremely frustrated that he blew the start, couldn’t get in front of RIC early in the race, had a 10 second pit stop, and then had HAM come out of the pits in front of him. Frustration meter definitely went to 11.
Ancient1 (@ancient1)
13th September 2021, 9:55
AUSSIE!!! AUSSIE!!! AUSSIE!!!
Watching the presentation with Zak/RIC/NOR on the top steps in beautiful sunshine, in my mind I was thinking of how proud the late Mansour would have been. RIP.