Formula 1 Italian GP LIVE: Max Verstappen claims pole position

Formula 1 Italian GP LIVE: Valtteri Bottas has triumphed in the second ever F1 Sprint at Monza – but it’s second-placed Max Verstappen who claimed pole position for the Italian Grand Prix, with Bottas set to start the race from the back of the grid on Sunday after a raft of power unit changes despite a faultless drive from P1 in the 18-lap, 100km Sprint from the Finn.

Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, finished third, Lando Norris fourth, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth after starting P2.

As the lights went out, Hamilton had a nightmare start, mugged by both of the soft-shod McLarens and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly to sit sixth by the time he reached Curva Grande, as Bottas led Verstappen, the fast-starting Ricciardo and Norris – Ricciardo having passed his team mate after starting P4.

Gasly, though, had made light contact with the rear of Ricciardo at Turn 1, and as he rounded the Curva Grande, the AlphaTauri driver’s front wing went under his front wheels, Gasly spearing into the gravel and hitting the wall. The Safety Car was brought out, but not before Yuki Tsunoda and Robert Kubica made contact, Kubica spinning around.

POSITION	TIME	POINTS
1 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes	27:54.078	3
2 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing	+2.325s	2
3 Daniel RICCIARDO McLaren	+14.534s	1
4 Lando NORRIS McLaren	+18.835s	0
5 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes	+20.011s	0

The Safety Car was in by Lap 4, with Bottas acing the restart to sit 1.5s clear of Verstappen by the end of the lap, Verstappen then ahead of Ricciardo, Norris and Hamilton in P5, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in sixth and seventh for Ferrari – Sainz’s SF21 having been rebuilt after his FP2 crash – with the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi P8.

By Lap 5 meanwhile, Lance Stroll had climbed to P9 after starting on used softs, having passed the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez into Turn 1. Lap 9 saw Perez attacking Stroll back into Turn 1, Perez driving onto the run-off but holding the position for half a lap before his engineer instructed him to give the position back – with Perez pulling off the legitimate pass a lap later at the same spot.

Hamilton, meanwhile, was doubtless frustrated as, lap after lap, he sat on the rear wing of fourth-placed Lando Norris but couldn’t seem to find a way past the Mercedes-engined McLaren – with the Ricciardo-led group having dropped 10 seconds behind the fast-running Bottas and Verstappen fight with five laps to go.

Verstappen wasn’t attempting to make much of an impression on Bottas, knowing full well that a penalty would be afflicting the Finn for Sunday’s Grand Prix. And as the laps ticked quickly by at the Temple of Speed, it was Bottas who swept across the line at the end of Lap 18 to claim three points for the F1 Sprint win, 2.325s ahead of Verstappen who took two points.

Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, has put a McLaren on the front row of the grid for the first time since Mexico 2018, finishing third – set to be bumped to P2 on Sunday after Bottas’ penalty. Lando Norris was able to hold off Hamilton by 1.176s to claim fourth, with Hamilton fifth ahead of the Ferrari duo led by Leclerc.

Giovinazzi, driving for his career at Alfa Romeo, took eighth, holding off the assails of Perez in the Red Bull, who finished ahead of Lance Stroll as the Canadian rounded out the top 10.

Fernando Alonso was 11th, ahead of the second Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon. Nicholas Latifi pipped team mate George Russell to P14, Russell P15 as Tsunoda recovered to P16 after his Lap 1 snafu with Kubica.

Having climbed as high as P15 after starting last, Nikita Mazepin eventually wound up P17, ahead of Kubica and Mick Schumacher, with Gasly the sole retirement.

So, having never qualified higher than P5 at Monza, it’s Max Verstappen who’s set to start on pole in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, with the McLaren duo of Ricciardo and Norris behind – with Verstappen having moved five points clear of Hamilton in the drivers’ standings for good measure.

The key quote

“It feels like it’s been a while since I finished first in a race and unfortunately, you know, I’m starting from the back tomorrow, but the speed is there, so I’ll be fighting, I’ll be coming as high as I can tomorrow. But today, I enjoyed; it was a very clean race and we had a good pace” – Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes

Formula 1 Italian GP LIVE: Lewis Hamilton fastest for Mercedes as Carlos Sainz crashed in final practice – Follow live updates – Carlos Sainz crashed his Ferrari heavily in final practice for the team’s home Italian Grand Prix on Saturday as seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was fastest for Mercedes. The Spaniard halted the session when he smashed head-on into the barriers at the Ascari chicane with just over half an hour remaining.

A heavy crash ended Carlos Sainz’s FP2 session#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/AsGyYx95md

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 11, 2021

“I had a massive crash,” he said over the radio. “That hurt a bit but I’m OK.” Sainz, who also crashed in Saturday practice at last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, was taken to the medical centre and the session resumed with some 20 minutes left. The stricken Ferrari was returned to the pitlane, with the mechanics facing a race against time to get it ready for the afternoon’s sprint which sets the grid for Sunday’s grand prix at the fastest circuit on the calendar.

Fastest sectors for FP2 🚀

Kubica ➡️ Hamilton ➡️ Hamilton #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/r84lLGfFfc

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 11, 2021

FIA race director Michael Masi said Sainz had been given preliminary clearance but would have another check before the sprint. He had qualified seventh fastest on Friday with the sprint awarding points to the top three. The experimental format is being tried out for the second time after a debut at Silverstone in July. Hamilton’s time of one minute 23.246 was 0.222 quicker than Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas, who qualified fastest on Friday.

1-2 for @MercedesAMGF1‘s @LewisHamilton and @ValtteriBottas for FP2 💪#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/rKBknYT2n0

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 11, 2021

Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen was third quickest, 0.416 slower than Hamilton, with team mate Sergio Perez fourth. Mercedes have indicated they will tell Bottas to let Hamilton pass in the sprint race, given the championship situation, if circumstances allow. Verstappen is three points clear of the Briton after 13 races and Bottas will start at the back of the grid on Sunday after an engine change on Friday triggered an automatic penalty.

Mercedes’ outgoing driver Valtteri Bottas has taken the Pirelli Speed King Award at Monza, going fastest in qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix, and meaning he’ll start P1 for Saturday’s F1 Sprint, having beaten teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Bottas, who announced earlier this week that he’ll head to Alfa Romeo for 2022, set a blistering pace on his final flying run in Friday evening’s qualifying session at Monza, stopping the clocks with a 1m 19.555s, 0.096s quicker than Hamilton.

And while Bottas will start Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix from the back of the grid after taking a raft of engine penalties for this weekend, he will nonetheless have a role to play for Mercedes by starting P1 in the F1 Sprint in the hope of taking points away from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

Verstappen had looked off the pace of the Mercedes across Friday. And that was confirmed in qualifying, as the Dutch driver took P3 on the grid for Red Bull, 0.411s off Bottas.

Valtteri Bottas beats Lewis Hamilton

POSITION	TIME
1 Valtteri BOTTAS Mercedes	1:19.555
2 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes	1:19.651
3 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing	1:19.966
4 Lando NORRIS McLaren	1:19.989
5 Daniel RICCIARDO McLaren	1:19.995

McLaren were one of the surprises of qualifying, with Lando Norris ending both Q1 and Q2 in P3 and ahead of Verstappen. But Norris eventually slotted into fourth, just two-hundredths behind the Dutch driver, with team mate Daniel Ricciardo also impressing to take fifth.

Pierre Gasly was sixth for AlphaTauri, ahead of the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc – both Ferraris making Q3 this year, as opposed to last year when neither car made the final segment of qualifying. Sergio Perez was a disappointing ninth for Red Bull, ahead of the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi.

Aston Martin were a surprise Q2 exit, having gone well in Friday’s FP1 session, Sebastian Vettel taking P11 to Lance Stroll’s P12, with the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon behind in P13 and P14, ahead of the Williams of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi.

AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, Haas’ Mick Schumacher, the second Alfa of Robert Kubica and the second Haas of Nikita Mazepin rounded out the 20 cars.

Formula 1 Italian GP: Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen to be fastest in Free Practice, Bottas 3rd: Seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton was fastest for Mercedes in first practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on Friday, comfortably
ahead of Red Bull’s championship leader Max Verstappen.

The Briton lapped the super-fast circuit with a best time of one minute 20.926 seconds on the medium tyres, 0.452 quicker than his Dutch rival on the theoretically faster softs.

Hamilton’s team mate Valtteri Bottas was third on the timesheets.

Formula 1 Italian GP: Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen to be fastest in Free Practice, Bottas 3rd

Verstappen leads Hamilton by three points ahead of the weekend, but they could be level by Saturday evening if Hamilton wins a Saturday sprint race and Verstappen is not in the top three.

Red Bull are 12 points behind Mercedes in the constructors’ standings.

Also read: Formula 1 Italian GP Live: Schedule, Timing, Driver Standings, LIVE streaming; all you need to know

The grand prix is the second to be run to the experimental format, with qualifying on Friday to determine the grid for Saturday’s sprint. That in turn decides the starting order for Sunday’s grand prix.

Points are awarded to the top three on Saturday in a 3-2-1 system.

Canadian Lance Stroll was fourth fastest on softs for Aston Martin in the day’s sole practice session, with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly last year’s winner fifth and Stroll’s team mate Sebastian Vettel sixth.

Carlos Sainz was the fastest Ferrari driver in seventh at the team’s home circuit, ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, whose fastest lap was deleted for exceeding track limits.

Formula 1 Italian GP: Lewis Hamilton leads Max Verstappen to be fastest in Free Practice, Bottas 3rd

Also read:

Ricciardo’s team mate Lando Norris also had what would have been the second fastest time deleted for the same reason, and he finished the session 12th.

Formula 1