Monza delivered some magic for the second straight year when Daniel Ricciardo led McLaren’s first 1-2 finish in more than a decade. For some others it wasn’t such a happy time. We picked our six winners and five losers from the Italian Grand Prix.
Winner: Daniel Ricciardo
This was a win for endurance. A victory for faith. A victory for one of the most popular Formula 1 drivers in the world. Daniel Ricciardo didn’t hang his head despite his fights at McLaren and things were finally going well in Monza.
His first front row since Mexico 2018 was followed by an electric start that put him ahead of Max Verstappen. From then on, he didn’t go wrong, executing restarts and pit stops perfectly to secure his eighth career win and the first Monza podium in eleven attempts.
READ MORE: “Deep down, I’ve never lost my faith,” says Ricciardo after the first win since 2018
Ricciardo took his first win since 2018 on a track where he has never been on the podium
Loser: AlphaTauri
All good things come to an end at some point, and so it was for AlphaTauri, last year’s winner in Monza with Pierre Gasly, when they couldn’t score with any of the cars for the first time in 2021.
Gasly’s weekend went wrong since he cut Ricciardo off in the sprint and damaged his front wing, which then came off and threw him into the guardrails in sixth.
READ MORE: Italian Grand Prix Facts & Stats – McLaren ends the drought in style with 170 races
A system error meant that he only had to give up a few laps after a pit lane start. His team-mate Yuki Tsunoda didn’t even get that far, a braking problem even prevented him from using the traffic light.
Not a memorable day for AlphaTauri, who recorded a double DNF in their home race
Winner: Lando Norris
After a difficult trio of races, Lando Norris got his Moloch back on track with a good performance in both qualifying and the race to achieve second place, the best result of his career and fourth podium in 2021.
The disappointment of not being able to attack Ricciardo for victory will be a little disappointed, but the Brit – who is still an impressive fourth in the drivers’ championship – is the ultimate team player and knew it wasn’t worth taking a risk it for the crew. His time will come.
READ MORE: Norris admits he “would have loved to race for victory” at Monza but feared a Hamilton / Verstappen-style accident
Loser: Max Verstappen
It was a weekend of ups and downs for Verstappen. He went into the weekend knowing Mercedes had an advantage on sheer performance but saw things open up for him when rival Lewis Hamilton got off to a bad start in the sprint and fell behind. Although Valtteri Bottas won, his engine penalties would set him back and give Verstappen pole.
Italian Grand Prix 2021: Big moment when Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collide and crash in Monza
Hamilton said at the time it would be an “easy win” for Verstappen. But that didn’t catch on. He lost one place to Ricciardo at the start. Then I had a pit stop that lasted more than 20 seconds after a problem with the front right. And then there was THE collision with Hamilton, which the commissioners believed was his fault and gave him a three-place penalty for Russia.
Winner: McLaren
It is incredible that there have been 170 Grand Prix races since McLaren’s last win (Brazil 2012), which is the second longest distance between victories for any ubiquitous constructor.
But that wait finally came to an end at Monza and made the most of a car that suited the Temple of Speed and the opportunities it offered to be the first team to finish 1-2 in the last three races in total in 2021 seven) brings them back to P3 in the constructors’ championship, 13.5 ahead of Ferrari.
READ MORE: “We still have a lot to do” – Brown and Seidl insist McLaren can’t get carried away after Monza 1-2
Few in the paddock would disapprove of McLaren returning to the top step of the podium
Loser: Lewis Hamilton
To be clear, Lewis Hamilton’s position as a loser relates to the impact the result will have on his championship hopes. He’s a winner after losing his collision with Verstappen where the Red Bull’s rear wheel was still in contact with the Mercedes driver’s helmet while the halo was doing its job.
In terms of performance, this has been a weekend for Hamilton. Outshined by his outgoing team-mate Bottas the whole time, he looked as if he could save a decent result in the race after Verstappen’s slow stop and a good in-lap.
READ MORE: Hamilton says, after the accident in Monza, Verstappen “obviously knew he wasn’t going to corner”.
But a slight delay in his stop left him side by side with his title rival and they collided in the chicane. This is the first time that he has missed the checkered flag in 63 starts and lost two points to Verstappen in the sprint, now five behind Russia. A missed opportunity.
Hamilton only had a narrow miss when he met Verstappen in Monza
Winner: Valtteri Bottas
This was one of the nicest weekends in Bottas’ career. Had he avoided engine penalties, he would have been in very good shape to win the Grand Prix from pole position.
The Finn reacted correctly to his new contract with Alfa Romeo – by showing Mercedes what they will be missing next year. A podium from last place on the grid was an impressive race to catch up, while his three points in the sprint will help the constructors’ battle against Red Bull, which they lead by 18.
READ MORE: “Tactical Foul” or “Racing Incident”? Wolff and Horner have their say in the duel between Verstappen and Hamilton
Loser: Nikita Mazepin
Sunday was a frustrating one for Nikita, who first committed the cardinal sin in motorsport by colliding with his teammate and then retiring for the second time in a row with a suspected engine failure.
P19 to third place was an extraordinary recovery drive by Bottas to increase his P1 in qualifying and sprint victory
To be fair to the Russian, he held up his hands and apologized for his clash with Mick Schumacher, but left Italy upset about the lack of mileage he’d had in the last two grands prix.
Winner: George Russell
George Russell has made a habit of collecting points these days. The Brit made it into the top 10 for the third time in four races on a track where Williams was struggling.
RACE HIGHLIGHTS: Experience the action of a dramatic Italian Grand Prix at Monza
Sure, he benefited from gimmicks up front and starting penalties – but he still had to put himself in a position to take advantage of them. This brings him to 15 points, almost three behind Tsunoda in the drivers’ championship and further consolidates Williams’ eighth place in the constructors’ championship.
Russell now has the hang of how to score with Williams, with his third top 10 in four races
Loser: Antonio Giovinazzi
Antonio Giovinazzi was an outstanding performance in the last two qualifying with two consecutive starting positions in seventh place – but he was unable to convert.
In his home race, the Italian hit the curbs in the second chicane, lost control of the car and when he got back in, Carlos Sainz had nowhere to go, they collided and sent Giovinazzi into the guardrails. Though he went on, his chances of scoring were gone given the damage taken when he had to impress to prove he deserved to keep his seat on the team next year.
READ MORE: Ricciardo leads the stunning McLaren 1-2 after Verstappen and Hamilton collided at Monza
Italian Grand Prix 2021: Dramatic shooting for Antonio Giovinazzi at the start of the Italian Grand Prix
Winner: Alpine
Alpine has found impressive consistency since Silverstone – and that continued with her fourth colon in Monza at five Grands Prix.
Eighth place for Fernando Alonso was his eighth points result in nine races, while Esteban Ocon’s P10 made it into points five times in a row. Since AlphaTauri did not score, they increased their lead in the battle for P5 in the constructors’ championship to 11 points.
READ MORE: What the Teams Said – Race Day in Italy
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