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(Motorsport-Total.com) – Twelve years after Sebastian Vettel, AlphaTauri (formerly Toro Rosso) has won another Italian Grand Prix. “And now also dry,” acclaims team boss Franz Tost. In a mad race at Monza, upset by a serious accident involving Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly took the victory ahead of Carlos Sainz (McLaren) and Lance Stroll (Racing Point).
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For the first time since Australia 2013, none of the big three teams win Focus
In the absence of the big favorites, who fell far behind for various reasons, Gasly and Sainz fought an electrifying duel for the victory. On the 34th of 53 laps, Sainz overtook Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo) and has since hunted for the sensational leader. At the time, he had a 3.9-second lead.
Sainz gradually melted him down until he was inside the second DRS for the first time on the penultimate lap at the Parabolica exit. At the end of the start and finish straight, it was Gasly’s turn, but it wasn’t enough for a serious attack. The fact that Gasly’s nerves were shaking was evident from the fact that he drove the Parabolica all the way inside on the last lap.
Tost analyzes seriously: “Of course we were lucky with the penalty for Hamilton. But Pierre drove fantastic. Carlos was mostly faster in the first sector. But in the second, Pierre had a small advantage. And if you can’t get close in the second, you can not exceed the Parabolic output “.
Gasly: first French winner since 1996
“We benefit from the red flag,” Gasly said cheerfully. “I never would have believed that I would win my first race with AlphaTauri. They gave me the opportunity in Formula 1 and my first podium. Now I am giving them my first victory.” By the way, the first by a Frenchman since Olivier Panis in Monaco in 1996.
Sainz wanted to do everything he could to intercept Gasly, even when the McLaren command post told him not to risk second place. “I’m a bit disappointed,” admits the Spaniard. “In a normal race I would have finished second behind Lewis because our pace was really good.”
There are many superlatives that have fallen in Monza. Since Kimi Räikkönen (Lotus) in Melbourne 2013 only Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull had won Formula 1 races, since Budapest 2012 at least one of the three teams has always been on the podium. A series that broke on the power track at Monza, of all places.
Before the restart on lap 28, everything pointed to a sure victory for Stroll. The Racing Point driver was on his favorite track at the start standing second behind Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who, however, was virtually no longer an opponent due to his stop-start penalty. And behind Stroll, the two Alfa Romeos, who weren’t serious opponents, lined up.
But instead of waiting for Hamilton’s penalty, taking the lead and easily taking home the first victory, Stroll took his nerves away. Right at the start (“I just had no grip”) he fell behind Gasly and the Alphas, then went straight on on the della Roggia variant, which luckily turned out to be smooth.
Until the race got out of control with Leclerc’s crash, it all looked like an easy win for Hamilton. The pole setter was so superior that after a few laps he asked if he should upshift earlier to save his gear for the rest of the season. Behind him he had Sainz and Lando Norris in the second McLaren at P2 / 3.
But then Kevin Magnussen (Haas) exited the Parabolica exit and parked his Haas in the pit entrance. The safety car was dispatched and the message “Pit entrance closed” flashed on the timing screen. Fatal: Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows may have overlooked this and ordered Hamilton to change the tires.
Wolff: Hamilton didn’t see the flag
“Lewis said he didn’t see the yellow crosses on the outside of the turn. There are no signs inside the turn, there are no red lights at the pit entrance,” sighs Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. Hamilton took advantage of the break to personally march towards FIA Race Director Michael Masi and defend himself. Failed.
It was clear that he (and Antonio Giovinazzi, who suffered the same mishap) would receive a fine. Everyone else was left outside and only made it to the pit stop when Magnussen’s car was recovered and the pit entrance was cleared again. But shortly after, Leclerc got caught on the railing of the Parabolica and caused the race to be aborted.
From that point on, Hamilton’s career was practically over. After serving the penalty, he was in last place, 18.5 seconds behind Alexander Albon (Red Bull). He worked his way up to P7 all the way, 8.9 seconds behind Daniel Ricciardo and 1.4 seconds ahead of Esteban Ocon (both Renault).
Hamilton finally blames the penalty on his own head: “I didn’t see the ad,” he admits. “P7 is still some points. I will take them with me because I had not thought that it would still be possible. And since Max did not score, it does not hurt so much in the World Cup.”
Max Verstappen actually expected to finish third behind the two Mercedes, but he didn’t get off to a good start and was seventh at the start. Official reason for surrendering on lap 30: engine off for safety reasons. A disastrous race Sunday for Red Bull, because Albon was also empty in 15th place.
Valtteri Bottas did not take the opportunity to make up ground at the World Cup. When he dropped to sixth place at the start, he initially suspected a puncture. “He just lost a beat,” Alexander Wurz commented on ‘ORF’. And his complaints about understeer in right turns also waned.
Engine temperature issues, especially at Turn 11, but no. Already on lap 16, Bottas always left the wake of the vehicle in front to control its temperatures. “I can’t run with this engine setup. Just kidding,” he grumbled.
Mercedes: No problem without “party mode”
With technical guideline TD037 / 20, which came into force for the first time at Monza, “it had nothing to do with it”, Wolff gives the go-ahead. On the contrary, Mercedes benefited from it: “We always said so. If we only drive one power mode for qualifying and the race, we have less strength in qualifying, but more in the race. And that’s exactly what we saw today. “.
Lando Norris completed a great team success for McLaren today in fourth place. Daniil Kwjat (AlphaTauri) finished ninth. And Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) tenth. The Mexican was in P4 at the start of the race and was in the middle of the battle for the podium. A failed pit stop returned him to P12.
Sebastian Vettel was out of the race for a long time. “I mog nimma,” he said in the first television interview. “You think: it doesn’t get worse. But it can always get worse this year.” His rear brakes caught fire on lap five. A few hundred meters later he went straight on at the first chicane and crashed into the styrofoam blocks there.
“It was announced early on that we were having problems with the rear brake line,” he reports. “First in the back on the left, then also in the back on the right. When I braked in the first corner, I just had no more braking pressure. Thank goodness there was still a lot of deviation in the first corner because the last corner wouldn’t have been so good! “
For Ferrari, the double fault means Monza’s worst result since 1995. At the time, Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger were in the lead before being eliminated. Vettel takes the new low with a healthy dose of gallows humor. But he also says, “It’s just annoying. At the moment, the fun factor is definitely not at its peak.”
Nor with Leclerc. Their departure seemed strange at first from an onboard perspective. However, in hindsight, a technical problem could be ruled out: “After the restart behind the safety car, the tires were maybe still a bit cold. He probably hit the car and lost it out of control, nothing more,” says the director of the team Mattia Binotto.
At the World Cup, Monza didn’t change much in the big picture. Hamilton now leads 164 points ahead of Bottas (117) and Verstappen (110). That’s still almost two wins ahead of the defending champion. In terms of designers, Mercedes (281) is ahead of Red Bull (158) and McLaren (98). Next race: Mugello next Sunday.
(F1-Paddock Live: Sunday Race at Monza)
