Italian Grand Prix LIVE: F1 updates as Max Verstappen wins in Monza with Charles Leclerc and George Russell on podium
Follow all the latest reaction to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza as Max Verstappen moves to brink of defending title
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Your support makes all the difference.Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix after Charles Leclerc’s pit-stop gamble backfired.
Ferrari driver Leclerc led Verstappen by two seconds at Monza when Sebastian Vettel broke down after a dozen laps and the virtual safety car was deployed.
Leclerc dived into the pits in the hope of making his rubber last to the end, but 125,000 Ferrari hearts sunk in Monza as the Monegasque was forced to concede the lead when he stopped for a second time.
Their hopes were revived when a safety car was sent out on lap 46 of 53 after Daniel Ricciardo stopped in his McLaren.
But the marshals could not clear Ricciardo’s McLaren before the end, and the race effectively finished behind the safety car to boos from the Ferrari fans.
Verstappen took his fifth win in a row, his 11th from 16 this season, and extended his championship lead to 116 points with just six rounds remaining.
Verstappen will have his first shot at sealing his second world championship in as many seasons at the next round in Singapore on October 3.
Mercedes’ George Russell started second and completed the podium. Carlos Sainz took fourth, while Lewis Hamilton, demoted to the back of the grid with engine penalties, crossed the line in fifth.
A one-minute silence was observed by the Formula One grid ahead of Sunday’s race in memory of the Queen. Italian president Sergio Mattarella was present for the formalities.
Leclerc called on his Ferrari team to end their run of blunders and help him convert his dazzling pole position into victory. But Ferrari’s strategy will again be in the spotlight.
It started so well for Leclerc when he blasted away from his marks and held off Russell heading into the Variante del Rettifilo. The British driver was forced to take to the escape road, and the home crowd roared as Leclerc led.
Verstappen, who started seventh following a five-place grid drop for an engine penalty, was quickly on the move.
By the end of lap one he was already up to fourth, before he sailed past Ricciardo for third. On lap five, the Dutchman eased ahead of Russell for second.
Leclerc was comfortably keeping Verstappen at arm’s length when Vettel’s engine expired. The VSC was deployed, and Leclerc’s engineer was on the radio.
“What do you think about boxing for Plan A?” asked Xavier Marcos Padros. “It will be tight but probably the best solution,” replied Leclerc.
In came the 24-year-old for fresh rubber as the rest of the field stayed out. Could Leclerc make his tyres last 41 laps?
The answer arrived on lap 21 when Leclerc’s race engineer was back on the radio to say Ferrari would revert to ‘Plan C’. The message might have been coded, but it was obvious that Leclerc would need to stop again.
Leclerc assumed the lead on lap 26 when Verstappen stopped. He was 10 seconds clear of the Red Bull driver, but the Dutchman halved Leclerc’s advantage before the Ferrari changed tyres for a second time.
Leclerc left the pits trailing Verstappen by 20 seconds, and, despite a late safety car providing him with hope he could challenge for victory, it was the world champion who claimed yet another win.
F1 Italian Grand Prix: Stallone, Ramsey and Mancini at Monza
F1 Italian Grand Prix: Drivers Parade well underway at Monza!
The Drivers Parade is in full flow at Monza as the drivers are chaperoned around the track!
Lewis Hamilton starts from 19th on the grid due to a penalty - how far up the pack can he come? Carlos Sainz will be eyeing some overtakes too from 18th.
But all eyes are on Charles Leclerc as he bids to repeat his 2019 success at Ferrari’s home race!
F1 Italian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc demands ‘no mistakes’ as Ferrari chase home win from pole
Charles Leclerc has called on Ferrari to end their run of blunders and help him turn pole position into victory at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Leclerc sent Monza wild as he saw off Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to take the spoils over one lap. Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton came next. But Verstappen, Sainz, Perez and Hamilton will all be sent down the grid for exceeding their number of allocated engine parts.
It means George Russell, who finished sixth, will join Leclerc on the front row. Lando Norris qualified seventh, but is set to start third in his McLaren once the grid sanctions have been applied.
Verstappen is on course to secure his second world title in as many seasons after winning the last four races, and 10 of the 15 rounds staged so far. But Leclerc, 109 points behind the Red Bull driver, will be out to restore pride in a season in which Ferrari – through mistakes by man and machine – have failed to deliver on early promise.
Following the last round in Zandvoort a week ago, 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg said fundamental changes needed to be made at Ferrari after Carlos Sainz was farcically greeted by only three tyres when he arrived for a pit stop.
Charles Leclerc demands ‘no mistakes’ as Ferrari chase home win from pole
The team’s season has been marred by blunders including providing only three tyres for Carlos Sainz’s pit stop last week
F1 Italian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton considers cockpit distractions due to overtaking issues at Monza
Lewis Hamilton fears overtaking at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix could be so difficult he might be better off watching Game of Thrones on an iPad inside his Mercedes cockpit.
Hamilton qualified fifth at Monza, 1.3 seconds behind pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, but he is set to start in 19th place after taking on his fourth power unit of the campaign – one more than he is allowed.
Overtaking is possible at the so-called Temple of Speed, but Hamilton fears a DRS train – formed when a line of cars get stuck behind one another as they use their own energy boosts – will thwart his progress through the pack.
“I was behind Valtteri Bottas in practice and I couldn’t catch him or pass him,” said Hamilton. “So I hope I don’t get stuck tomorrow. But I imagine I will be in a DRS train, and we will just be sitting there and hoping for chances through strategy and tyre degradation from other drivers.”
Hamilton added with a smile: “I was thinking of taking my iPad with me in the race and, when I am in a DRS line, I will just watch the new Game of Thrones.” Hamilton’s yellow 44 on the side of his Mercedes has been turned to black in honour of the Queen, with a plethora of tributes being paid up and down the paddock to the long-serving monarch.
Lewis Hamilton considers cockpit distractions due to overtaking issues at Monza
Hamilton is set to start the Italian Grand Prix from 19th place
F1 Italian Grand Prix: EXCLUSIVE - Lando Norris on dealing with online abuse and a ‘tough’ year on-track
At the peak of last year’s exhilarating title showdown between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, F1 revealed the results of a survey conducted among over 150,000 fans in 187 countries. Within the number-crunching that followed, the most popular name among female fans and under-25s stood out. Because it wasn’t Verstappen, nor was it seven-time world champion Hamilton. Instead, it was Lando Norris.
The affable 22-year-old, in his fourth season with McLaren, is now a household name but goes about his business nonchalantly; an undeniable swagger which has grown year-on-year in correlation with his booming popularity.
This chat for instance takes place a day after Norris, to use his own words, “shockingly” competed at the BMW PGA Championship Pro-am at Wentworth but where he had “more fans than Rory (McIlroy)… I think!” We speak too whilst his neck is covered in a Daniel Ricciardo-directed honey badger and a love heart, inspired for a video on McLaren’s social channels.
This is what makes Norris so trendy with Generation Z. His golf rounds are viewable to all online. His gaming sessions are streamed live on Twitch. His face on This Morning is now well-known. Yet beneath the warm bravado, bouncing around the motorhome like a spring chicken, is a man all too aware of the dangers of social media and the abuse it can trigger.
“I don’t even have Twitter on my phone,” he reveals to The Independent. “With Instagram, I use it the amount I need to. Of course I read the comments, everyone does. I just laugh at the bad comments.
‘I laugh at the bad comments’: Lando Norris on dealing with online abuse
Exclusive interview: One of Formula 1’s biggest stars talks about the perils of life away from the paddock as well as his deep desire to win his first Grand Prix
F1 Italian Grand Prix: What is the starting grid?
It’s taken a while, but here is the starting grid for this afternoon’s race!
1. Charles Leclerc
2, George Russell
3. Lando Norris
4. Daniel Ricciardo
5. Pierre Gasly
6. Fernando Alonso
7. Max Verstappen
8. Nyck de Vries
9. Zhou Guanyu
10. Nicholas Latifi
11. Sebastian Vettel
12. Lance Stroll
13. Sergio Perez
14. Esteban Ocon
15. Valtteri Bottas
16. Kevin Magnussen
17. Mick Schumacher
18. Carlos Sainz
19. Lewis Hamilton
20. Yuki Tsunoda
F1 Italian Grand Prix: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc puts it all on the line for pole amid disjointed starting grid at Monza
With the humongous roar of the red-clad fanbase in the stands propelling him on, Charles Leclerc put it all on the line to grab pole position at Ferrari’s home race amid starting grid confusion after qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix.
While nine drivers have taken differing grid drops for Sunday’s race at Monza’s centenary event, Leclerc is one of the few frontrunners to be unaffected. Yet in the end, he earnt top spot out on track, surging past teammate Carlos Sainz and holding off Max Verstappen in his “on the limit” final run in Q3.
“It’s a very good surprise today. After Spa we were not expecting to fight for pole here,” a beaming Leclerc – resplendent in his unique yellow race suit for this special weekend – said afterwards.
“We found some pace, we’ve worked in the right direction and hopefully we can show that in the race. Whatever happens in the first lap, I still think we have the pace to win the race. No mistakes and I think we can have a good Sunday.”
Mistakes, of course, are what have overshadowed Ferrari’s emergence from the wilderness this year. Any pit stop or strategy miscalculation tomorrow will be felt here more than anywhere, with the fierce eyes of the tifosi reacting to every move as the Prancing Horse celebrates its 75th anniversary.
George Russell – who qualified in sixth – will start alongside Leclerc on the front row, courtesy of the grid mayhem which has enraptured this Monza weekend due to engine and gearbox penalties aplenty. Lando Norris, a podium finisher last year in McLaren’s one-two, will start in third. Verstappen qualified in second but will take a five-place grid drop and, similarly, Perez was fourth-fastest but has a 10-place drop.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc puts it all on the line for pole position at Monza
Max Verstappen qualified second but has a five-place grid drop while George Russell will start on the front row
F1 Italian Grand Prix: What time is the Italian GP?
When is the Italian Grand Prix race?
Sunday 11 September
- Race: 2pm (BST)
How can I watch it online and on TV?
The entire race schedule will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 with coverage starting at 12:30pm. Highlights will be aired of the race on Sunday on Channel 4 at 6:30pm (BST).
If you’re not a Sky customer you can grab a NOWTV Day Pass here to watch without a subscription.
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