Daniel Ricciardo emerged from Monza as the shock winner and secured the first victory for McLaren since Jenson Button’s victory in Interlagos in 2012. Even better, his team-mate Lando Norris finished second ahead of Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes-AMG.
By the time he crossed the finish line, the joy was clear when Ricciardo yelled “Yes! For everyone who thought I left, I never went. Thank you guys”, which reflects the pressure he’s been under with his younger one this season Teammate stood Norris outperforming him in general.
The Australian got the jump on Max Verstappen at the beginning of the race and looked good from then on. Despite the performances of Verstappen and Red Bull so far this season, the Dutchman has never really threatened, even an unusually slow pit stop.
In terms of the overall standings, Verstappen remains five points ahead of Lewis Hamilton after the two crashed violently just over halfway through the race. The two title protagonists were on the track from the start, Hamilton tried a push into the second chicane on Verstappen, which didn’t work, and let him drop to fourth place behind Norris.
Hamilton eventually found his way past the McLaren and it looked good for his 100th win, but a slow stop for the seven-time champion meant he showed up just before Verstappen. When the two rushed into the first chicane, nobody wanted to give up, the Red Bull bounced off the curbs and onto the tip of the Mercedes, threw both cars into the gravel and was immediately eliminated from the race.
Both drivers were then called to the race stewards, with Verstappen incurring a starting penalty of three places at the next GP in Russia.
Behind all this drama, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fourth, Sergio Perez fifth, Carlos Sainz’s second Ferrari sixth, Lance Stroll and his Aston Martin seventh, the Alpines of Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon eighth and tenth, taking George Russells Williams.
Ricciardo is fine
It was not an easy season for Ricciardo, he qualified only six times before Norris and only scored 56 points up to Monza compared to the 114 points his British teammate had the day before yesterday. But a great ride in Italy was a rich reward for his efforts to come to terms with his car. The popular Australian celebrated on the podium with one of his typical “shoeys”.
Particularly noteworthy is Lando Norris. The train he pulled on Charles Leclerc as he overtook the Ferrari driver with a wheel on the lawn inside the Curva Grande was a real sit-up-and-take moment. There’s minimal run-off there so it was a brave attempt.
The post Ricciardo’s shock victory at the Formula 1 GP of Italy first appeared on monter-une-startup.
