Tag Archives: Monza

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Antonelli storms back from P19 start, overtakes Russell late in race to take stunning victory at epic Italian GP; Verstappen shines en route to P3; Leclerc crashes out early, Hamilton only sixth on poor day for Ferrari

Mercedes’ young Italian superstar Kimi Antonelli added to his growing legend at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Sunday by becoming the first Italian born driver to win the Italian Grand Prix since Ludovico Scarfiotti achieved the feat fifty years ago. But it was the way the only recently turned 20-year old did it that was so astonishing, as Anotonelli continues to run away with the 2026 championship. Starting from way back in nineteenth on the grid due to the team deciding to deliberately take new power unit penalties for this race, Antonelli racked up an amazing 25 overtakes and opportunistically utilized a mid-race pit stop for fresh rubber under Virtual Safety Car conditions to systematically hunt down his race-leading teammate George Russell and finally pass his British rival with just three laps remaining. From there, he ran away to the checkered flag to the tune of nearly four seconds ahead of the dejected Russell, earning not only an improbable and spectacular victory but also a wildly popular one in front of his countrymen, the always ardent tifosi, who pack the grandstands at Monza and then charge onto the circuit in ecstasy when the race has been run. With Antonelli’s lead now a hefty 66 points over Russell after thirteen rounds of this 23-race season, he is well on his way to also becoming the first Italian World Champion since the legendary Alberto Ascari way back in 1953. And if that also happens on top of this epic Italian GP win, Antonelli will never have to pay for a Campari in his home country for the rest of his life.

That Antonelli relegated his Silver Arrows teammate to second place in a race that Russell had led for a majority of laps was a bitter pill to swallow for the Briton, who has simply seemed unable to come to grips with the superior pace of his younger teammate in this year’s new W17.  Russell’s race was somewhat compromised by actually being in the lead at the time of the Lap 28 VSC, brought about by Lance Stroll’s stricken Aston Martin needing to be retrieved from the circuit. As is so often the case in Formula 1, it is the trailing cars and not the leader who can take advantage of the cheap pit stop — around 15 seconds total time compared with around 24 under green flag conditions here at Monza — but credit Antonelli and his side of the pit wall for gambling on making an extra stop for new Medium Pirellis rather than the long lasting Hards being run by Russell as he attempted a one-stopper. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also dove in at that juncture but played it safe by going back onto the Hards after his second stint on Mediums. But Antonelli, who then emerged in P6, was able to maximize his tire advantage by quickly overtaking the Alpine of Pierre Gasly, the McLaren of Lando Norris, and then the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton, who was the only other frontrunner on Mediums, but blew the Turn 1 chicane and had to watch Antonelli sail by him while he wriggled through the escape road. After one more pass on the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, it was game on for the lead against Russell from Lap 37 onwards, Antonelli’s fresher and softer rubber proved decisive, as Russell’s ancient Hards finally gave up the ghost on Lap 50 after a multi-lap and ultra-tense pursuit.

Antonelli’s victory was a much needed salve for the Italian fans on a day when Ferrari had a fairly catastrophic result. Most serious and significant, Charles Leclerc had a wicked sideways shunt into the barriers exiting Curva Alboreto on Lap 2 when his left rear tire lost traction on a drainage grate just off the racing line and his Prancing Horse and then snapped into oversteer. It was a massive lateral impact for the Monegasque measured at something like 60Gs upon deceleration, and Lecerc was visibly shaken and complained of vision issues after the incident, although he was able to get out of his wrecked Ferrari under his own power. That brought out a lengthy Red Flag, which enabled the teams to execute free pit stops for fresh rubber and tempted the majority of them into trying run the entirety of the rest of the race without stopping again. For Hamilton, who had already been involved in a wheel banging kerfuffle with his teammate Leclerc on the opening lap, it proved to be a frustrating day all around. Although Hamilton would at least finish the race, the seven-time champ really struggled after his VSC switch to Mediums and was not only passed by the eventual winner Antonelli in the closing laps but also got knocked even further away from the podium by Verstappen’s excellent run to P3. He was then subsequently overtaken by both McLarens and relegated to a sixth place finish when the laps ran out. Ferrari looked anything but dominant at their home track, with a pronounced lack of starighline speed compared to their rivals. They’ll be hoping Leclerc can recover quickly for next week’s race in Spain and that the new Madring circuit will suit their cars better than the lighting fast straights of Monza

Verstappen was truly superb en route to his P3 finish, maximizing the pace in his RB22 even while complaining about recurring rear axle issues. The Dutch master made a number of bold and forceful passes throughout the race, culminating in a back and forth battle with Piastri for the last step on the podium. Verstappen had the last laugh when he made his final pass stick on Lap 43, securing a hard won third place by subsequently gapping the Aussie. In fact, Piastri may have taken too much out of his tires battling with the Red Bull, as Norris was able to take fourth place from him on the final lap after a really hard fought and sometimes quite sketchy battle between the teammates. Surprise pole-sitter Pierre Gasly faded to the Alpine’s true race pace over the course of the event, still finishing a solid P7. Rookie Arvid Lindblad excelled in P8, while temporary Racing Bulls teammate Yuki Tsunoda also scored in only his second race in the new formula. Tsunoda was drafted into the team when Lawson was promoted to Red Bull to fill in for the injured Isack Hadjar beginning at Zandvoort two weeks ago. The second Alpine of Franco Colapinto finished in P9 but was bitterly disappointed by an unforced error after the post-Red Flag restart when he ran off track at Lesmo 1 and through the gravel. The young Argentine was able to drive it back out but then had to spend the rest of the race in recovery mode, and was left to wonder what might have been when Alpine appeared to be the “best of the rest” at Monza.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:51:15.281 53 2 1:23.504 (53)
2

George Russell

 Mercedes +3.857 53 1 —
3

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull +14.718 53 2 —
4

Lando Norris

 McLaren +19.056 53 1 —
5

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +19.253 53 1 —
6

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +24.655 53 1 —
7

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine +27.351 53 1 —
8

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +45.136 53 1 —
9

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine +47.353 53 1 —
10

Yuki Tsunoda

 Racing Bulls +58.187 53 1 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in but a week’s time as the teams travel westward to Spain and the debut of what looks to be a fascinating Madring circuit in Madrid. Can anyone stop Antonelli’s seemingly irresistible momentum as he seeks to become the first Italian to win the F1 title since Alberto Ascari in 1953? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

Alpine’s Gasly stuns with upset pole at Monza, betters both Russell in P2 and P3 Piastri; Ferrari stumble in front of tifosi 

Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza is usually about Formula 1’s big hitters trimming out and unleashing their maximum engine capacities at the fastest circuit on the calendar, with the midfield runners and backmarkers fighting over the scraps. Only rarely does an upstart team display surprise speed and completely flummox any given season’s top three or four teams. But on Saturday in the beautiful countryside north of Milan and a stone’s throw from Ferarri’s headquarters in Maranello, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly sent shockwaves through the paddock by wresting pole away from mighty Mercedes’ George Russell with a massively rapid final flying lap in Q3. It was the Frenchman’s first career pole in his ten-year F1 career. Not only was gassy overjoyed but it also came as sweet redemption after losing his third place podium finish in Monaco when his pit lane speeding penalties there were belatedly reinstated by FIA’s Court of Appeal. And this was no fluke nor did his rivals trip themselves up significantly — the Mercedes-powered Alpine looks genuinely fast here at Monza, especially in the hands of the talented Gasly, and the potential for his second career victory is definitely real.

Russell and Mercedes were not only bested by a customer car but also felt their final effort in Q3 was compromised by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on a day where the slipstream and getting it just right lead directly to faster lap time. After settling for P2, Russell, who had been the favorite all weekend, will simply have to prove that he’s the fastest man in the race come Sunday. Adding to Mercedes somewhat meh post-quali feelings, they already knew their championship leading pilot Kimi Antonelli would be starting from the back of the grid no matter how he qualified — he ended up P7 while mainly trying to lend a hand to Russell — having taken a raft of power unit component changes that put the young Italian into the penalty zone. Antonelli will be looking to harness his natural pace and the superiority of his Silver Arrow to fight his way back to the front and limit the weekend’s damage in front his home fans, with perhaps some creative tire strategy helping him out from the pit wall.

As if the grid wasn’t already shuffled enough, while McLaren’s Oscar Piastri qualified a solid P3, the Aussie was hit with a three-gird spot penalty for blocking the second Red Bull of Liam Lawson earlier in Q2. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who qualified P4, will be promoted, as will Lewis Hamilton, who qualified P5. To be fair, though, the Prancing Horses seemed to be nowhere in front of the hungry tifosi, either lacking the straight-line speed required here or else fumbling their team tow tactics. It will be interesting to see if they may have more race pace than single lap speed on Sunday. Lord knows Italy expects it! Rounding out the Top 10, an unhappy Verstappen was P6, the second Alpine of Franco Colapinto was P8, the second McLaren of reigning world champ Lando Norris was way down in P9 and rookie Arvid Lindblad made it into Q3 for Racing Bulls and was P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:22.612 1:22.077 1:21.786 18
2

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:22.779 1:22.161 1:21.846 17
3

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:22.924 1:22.017 1:21.966 18
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:22.902 1:22.509 1:22.004 18
5

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:22.847 1:22.516 1:22.011 15
6

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:22.631 1:22.188 1:22.070 17
7

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:22.758 1:21.882 1:22.093 18
8

Franco Colapinto

 Alpine 1:22.662 1:22.400 1:22.220 18
9

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:22.659 1:22.067 1:22.256 19
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls 1:22.727 1:22.345 1:22.286 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 9 AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Gasly can hold off the surging pack of elite drivers behind him and earn a fairy tale win at the Temple of Speed!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Vintage Verstappen dominates at Monza; McLaren engineer Norris-Piastri to secure P2 & P3; Leclerc P4, Hamilton P6 in difficult weekend for Ferrari at home race

For one race weekend in the countryside of Northern Italy on the occasion of Round 16 of the Formula 1 World Championship and the Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, it seemed just like old times for four-time champ Max Verstappen and the Red Bull team. Imperious on Saturday in setting the Monza lap-record en route to pole, Verstappen survived an early lap kerfuffle with McLaren rival Lando Norris in the Grand Prix that saw the Dutchman have to give up the lead after forcing Norris off track at the very start of the race. But mighty Max would not be denied this Sunday and he forcefully took the position back on Lap 4 with a perfectly gauged late-braking maneuver steaming into the first chicane. And despite being so early in the course of this 53-lap contest, once Verstappen regained the lead, it was lights out for any other aspirant on the day. In a vintage performance by Verstappen and in a Red Bull that more closely resembled the fearsome rocket that dominated the sport just a few years ago, Verstappen ran away from both McLarens with apparent ease, intuited that their overcut gamble would not thwart his pursuit of victory when he pitted some ten laps earlier than the Papaya duo eventually would, and then easily maintained his lead when Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri did finally come in for fresh rubber on Lap 46. And while McLaren denied to run that long first stint purposely to try and get an advantage by running their final short stint on Soft Pirellis in opposition to Verstappen’s older Lap 37 switch to Hards, it didn’t really work out and Verstappen headed the McLaren duo by a whopping 19.2 seconds when the checkers flew. It was Verstappen’s first victory since the other Grand Prix in Italy this year, Emilia-Romagna, way back in Round 7. Now, whether he and Red Bull can replicate this Monza resurgence at the very different animal that is Azerbaijan in a fortnight remains to be seen. But for one race weekend, at least, the Dutch king and his court were back in action.

McLaren, meanwhile, had a bit of a kissing your sister kind of experience here at Monza. Already surprised at their usually superior pace being bettered easily by Verstappen’s Red Bull, the team’s braintrust found themselves at pains to keep everything civil between their two gentlemanly pilots, Norris and Piastri. While their gamble to run a long first stint on Mediums and then make the late switch to Softs was a sound one in the face of Verstappen’s dominance and their own cushion to the runners behind them, things got complicated when they finally did call their drivers in. Running in third behind his teammate, Piastri was first in for service, with Norris being assured that despite staying out an extra lap, Piastri would play the team game and not fight it out via the undercut when they reemerged on track. But Norris’s stop was painfully slow with a sticky front left tire change costing him about four extra seconds stationary compared to his teammate and championship rival. So, Norris now emerged behind Piastri in P3 after all that time spent on pit lane. The team quickly ordered Piastri to swap back since the loss of position was no fault of Norris’s and they had all been down this road together in Hungary last year. With only the mildest grudging hesitation, Piastri ceded P2 back to Norris cleanly. Despite being told he was free to race after that, the young Aussie points-leader could never find the pace to really execute any sort of overtake in the final few laps of this fast moving race. With a lot of extra championship points in hand after Norris’s unfortunate mechanical DNF in Zadvoort last Sunday, Piastri could well afford to spot Norris three here at Monza.

Charles Leclerc was the best placed Ferrari in P4, the Prancing Horses never really in contention for a podium this year with that eventual lightning fast top three in front of them. Leclerc’s teammate Lewis Hamilton did manage a very solid effort to work his way up from a penalty-induced tenth place start on the grid to P6 at the finish, but it was hardly a weekend to remember for the Scuderia or the hoards of loyal tifosi in the stands. Mercedes’ George Russell split the Ferraris in P6, while rookie Silver Arrows teammate got a confidence boosting result with a solid if unspectacular P9. Alexander Albon had an excellent drive for Williams to come home P7, while Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continued his upward trajectory with a P8 finish. And Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar, yet another impressive rookie from this year’s bumper crop, had another superlative drive a week after his first podium in the Netherlands, willing himself from a pit lane start all the way into a points-paying P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

LAPS

TIME / RETIRED

PTS.

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

53

1:13:24.325

25

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

53

+19.207s

18

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

53

+21.351s

15

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

53

+25.624s

12

5

63

George Russell

Mercedes

53

+32.881s

10

6

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

53

+37.449s

8

7

23

Alexander Albon

Williams

53

+50.537s

6

8

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

Kick SGabrielauber

53

+58.484s

4

9

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

53

+59.762s

2

10

6

Isack Hadjar

  

Racing Bulls

53

+63.891s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in two week’s time at the very entertaining Baku City Street Circuit in Azerbaijan. A horse of a very different color than flat-out Monza, it will be interesting to see if Verstappen and Red Bull can keep their Italian mojo working there or if it will be a return to McLaren’s mostly dominant form this season. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2025 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

Verstappen pulls a classic lap out of the bag for pole at Monza, betters P2 Norris, P3 Piastri; Ferrari forced to settle for fourth and fifth fastest at home race

Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen proved once again why he is still a top driver in Formula 1 even without the superior equipment he’s had in the past, pulling out a final lap during Saturday Qualifying  good enough for pole at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Despite the best efforts of the normally blindingly fast McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris, who run one-two in the points, it was Verstappen who wrested pole away from them both with a brilliant final flying lap here at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the Temple of Speed. The put paid to Norris’s brief moment atop the pylon after finally hooking up all three sectors during his final attempt, putting some rather disjointed earlier efforts that risked dropping him perilously down the grid in the rearview. And Piastri, while solid, will have to try and get by both aces, as the young Aussie Drivers’ leader was relegated to P3.

For a brief, shining moment Ferrari’s faithful tifosi thought one of their pilots might just pull off the pole on their home turf. But once Verstappen and the two McLaren’s really found their grooves, Charles Leclerc’s best effort in Q3 was only good enough for P4, ironically the same position the Monegasque started from when he won last year’s race here. But it’s hard to imagine Leclerc repeating that feat with this year’s Prancing Horse consistently being the third or even fourth fastest car over the long runs. Lewis Hamilton qualified P5 in his Monza debut with the Scuderia but will also be penalized five grid spots for a Yellow Flag infraction in last week’s Dutch GP.

George Russell, disgruntled by the team’s decision to put him on the Soft Pirelli tires when he wanted Mediums, could only muster P6 for Mercedes, while rookie teammate Kimi Antonelli represented well in P7. Fellow rookie Gabriel Bortoleto continued to impress by hustling his Kick Sauber up to P8, the ageless Fernando Alonso slotted his Aston into P9 and the second Red Bull of Yuki Tsunoda qualified P10, a ways away from his team leader Verstappen.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS.

NO.

DRIVER

TEAM

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing

1:19.455

1:19.140

1:18.792

18

2

4

Lando Norris

McLaren

1:19.517

1:19.293

1:18.869

21

3

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren

1:19.711

1:19.286

1:18.982

19

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:19.689

1:19.310

1:19.007

20

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Ferrari

1:19.765

1:19.371

1:19.124

20

6

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:19.414

1:19.287

1:19.157

18

7

12

Kimi Antonelli

Mercedes

1:19.747

1:19.245

1:19.200

22

8

5

Gabriel Bortoleto

Kick Sauber

1:19.688

1:19.323

1:19.390

21

9

14

Fernando Alonso

Aston Martin

1:19.658

1:19.362

1:19.424

20

10

22

Yuki Tsunoda

Red Bull Racing

1:19.619

1:19.433

1:19.519

18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 9 AM Eastern here in the States. It should be a dogfight between the elite top three and perhaps a Ferrari will be inspired by the home crowd to get in on the action, as well — hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Leclerc rides audacious one-stop strategy to take surprise victory at Monza for jubilant Ferrari; Piastri out-duels McLaren teammate Norris for P2

With McLaren looking the dominant team heading into the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, it was Ferrari that stunned Formula 1 by pushing their man Charles Leclerc to first place with an audacious, contrarian one-stop strategy and taking a sweet victory at the storied Scuderia’s home race. Lacking the outright pace of the McLaren’s, Ferrari nevertheless capitalized when the pole-sitting Lando Norris scrapped with his teammate Oscar Piastri on the opening lap and was then passed by the young Aussie for the race lead heading into the second chicane. In that tussle, the Prancing Horse of Leclerc was also able to get by the recovering Norris, setting the wheels in motion on Ferrari’s pit wall to come up with a strategy that would enable Leclerc to fight it out with Piastri for the top step of the podium. But few would have guessed that when Leclerc was undercut by Norris on Lap 15 of this 53-lap contest at the ultra-fast Autodromo Nazionale Monza that the fabled team from Maranello would figure out a way to actually win. Leclerc himself was irate at his race engineer & strategist for losing a place to Norris when he stopped a lap later, both drivers making the switch off their opening set of Medium Pirellis onto the more durable Hard compound tires. It seemed more likely that McLaren had set up a duel between their two drivers for the win, with Piastri destined to re-inherit the race lead and Norris P2 after the opening round of pit stops were completed.

But a funny thing happened on the way to that expected McLaren 1-2. With all the front running teams appearing to run the two-stopper as the best way to finish the race, Piastri made his second pit stop from the lead on Lap 39 and Norris in P2 ran a bit longer to Lap 41. But both Leclerc and Sainz stayed out and it suddenly dawned on the paddock that Ferrari were going to run the risky one-stop strategy despite the waning performance from their aging Hard tires. Leclerc’s lead was such that he was more than full pit stop ahead of the P5 Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, meaning that the worst that could happen to Leclerc and Sainz if they absolutely had to bail in the race’s final few laps would be a likely third and fourth place finish respectively. On the other hand, now McLaren had to try to reclaim the top two spots by making overtakes on the Ferrari duo with time running out. Piastri did close down Sainz and passed the game Spaniard for P2 on Lap 45, with Norris managing the same feat three laps later. But Leclerc was able to maintain enough of a lead that the laps ran out before the desperate Piastri could even get into position to try for a pass. When the checkered flag flew, Leclerc came home some 2.66-seconds to the good of Piastri to the delight of the happily stunned tifosi in the stands, who happily stormed the field for the post-race ceremonies, as is tradition here. It was an emotional win for the Monegasque, who earlier in the season won his home race in Monaco and now has won for Ferrari at Monza, the dream of every Formula 1 driver who drives for the Prancing Horse. And it showed that the much maligned braintrust at the Scuderia could take a gamble that actually paid off for a change, leaving them still in the hunt for the Constructors’ Championship when many had already written them off this year.

With higher expectations after locking out the front row in qualifying, Piastri and Norris finished a somewhat disappointed P2 and P3 respectively, while Leclerc’s teammate Sainz claimed P4 after running a fine race of his own for himself and the team, especially in defense of Leclerc as the laps ran down. Hamilton ended up the highest placed Silver Arrow in P5 after teammate George Russell, who started from P3 on the grid, sustained opening lap damage to his front wing amidst the chaos that is the first chicane here, necessitating a premature and lengthy early pit stop for a wing change in addition to tires that set the young Briton on his back foot for the rest of the race. Russell rallied to finish P7 but it wasn’t the race he envisioned when he woke up on Sunday morning. Likewise, Hamilton was left hoping for more when the Mercedes W15 had looked so strong until the final quali session on Saturday. Team Red Bull were also more than happy to put Monza in the rearview, with points leader Max Verstappen only able to advance one spot from his starting position, finishing a relatively lowly P6, while Sergio Perez  was overtaken late by Russel and had to settle for P8. The team will be hoping that the very tricky and specific compromises needed to succeed at Monza were to blame rather than a lasting problem with the RB20’s development, as they uncharacteristically looked like merely the fourth quickest team here in Italy all weekend long.

Williams’ Alexander Albon and Haas’s Kevin Magnussen also rode the one-stopper to some level of success and points, with Albon finishing P9 and Magnussen taking the final point in P10 despite a 10-second penalty for colliding with the RB of Yuki Tsunoda early in the race, which wound up ending the Japanese driver’s day.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

LAPS

TIME/RETIRED

PTS

1

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

53

1:14:40.727

25

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

53

+2.664s

18

3

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

53

+6.153s

16

4

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

53

+15.621s

12

5

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

53

+22.820s

10

6

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

+37.932s

8

7

63

George Russell

Mercedes

53

+39.715s

6

8

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

53

+54.148s

4

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

53

+67.456s

2

10

20

Kevin Magnussen

Haas Ferrari

53

+68.302s

1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight, the always exciting Azerbaijan Grand Prix from the challenging Baku City Circuit, so the teams will get a little breather after the back-to-back rounds coming out of the summer break. For Ferrari and Leclerc and all of Italy, it will mean an extra week to savor an improbable win. For the other contenders, it’ll be trying to figure out how to get back into victory lane in this highly unpredictable season. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2024 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

McLaren mighty at Monza, lockout front row with Norris pole, Piastri P2; Russell P3 ahead of both Ferraris; Verstappen a shock P7

A week after taking the win at Zandvoort, Lando Norris and McLaren’s surge continued during Saturday qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at the Temple of Speed, Autodromo Nazionale Monza. On a beautiful day in Northern Italy at this fatstest of F1 circuits, Norris and his teammate Oscar Piastri set an untouchable pace in Q3, with Norris taking pole over Piastri by nine-tenths of a second. McLaren is proving to be the primary challenger for both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles, something that was hard to envision earlier in the season when Max Verstappen and his Red Bull were laying waste to the entire Formula 1 field with ease. That all changed in Round 6, when Norris took the win in Miami and since then, the overall momentum has swung decidedly away from Red Bull and towards McLaren. As if to put an exclamation point on that fact, Red Bull were completely flummoxed by their lack of pace here in Italy, which saw them stumble to rather a lowly P7 qualifying effort for Verstappen and a P8 by struggling teammate Sergio Perez. It will be fascinating to see if Red Bull can somehow find a way to recover overnight and be able to work their way to the front come race day. But with the sheer amount of teams that look faster than them here, it certainly doesn’t look like that will happen tomorrow.

Looking like perhaps the fastest team overall heading into Q3, things did not exactly work out for mighty Mercedes when the fastest laps were set in Q3. While George Russell was able to vault himself up to P3 on the grid with a fine final effort, teammate Lewis Hamilton left a lot on the table and only qualified in P6, leaving the English seven-time champ furious with himself after the session. Russell did relegate the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to P4 and P5 respectively despite the ardent support of the always enthusiastic tifosi in the stands for the fabled Scuderia’s home race. The Williams of Alexander Albon in P9 and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg in P10 rounded out the top ten qualifiers on the day.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS

NO

DRIVER

CAR

Q1

Q2

Q3

LAPS

1

4

Lando Norris

McLaren Mercedes

1:19.911

1:19.727

1:19.327

12

2

81

Oscar Piastri

McLaren Mercedes

1:20.076

1:19.808

1:19.436

19

3

63

George Russell

Mercedes

1:20.169

1:19.877

1:19.440

18

4

16

Charles Leclerc

Ferrari

1:20.074

1:20.007

1:19.461

21

5

55

Carlos Sainz

Ferrari

1:20.149

1:19.799

1:19.467

18

6

44

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes

1:20.477

1:19.641

1:19.513

18

7

1

Max Verstappen

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:20.226

1:19.662

1:20.022

18

8

11

Sergio Perez

Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT

1:20.598

1:20.216

1:20.062

17

9

23

Alexander Albon

Williams Mercedes

1:20.542

1:20.314

1:20.299

18

10

27

Nico Hulkenberg

Haas Ferrari

1:20.781

1:20.411

1:20.339

18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9 am Eastern here in the States. Can Red Bull and Max Verstappen get back in the fight with so many other teams looking much faster than them here at Monza? Will McLaren hold off the desperate to win Ferraris at their home track in front of the fanatical tifosi? Is it possible for Mercedes to reclaim the pace advantage they had going into Q3 and pull the upset? Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Verstappen outruns Ferraris to make history at Monza with tenth consecutive win; Perez rights back to take second on magic day for Red Bull; Sainz holds off teammate Leclerc for P3

Despite not starting from pole at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen simply wouldn’t be denied in his relentless pursuit of history in what is shaping up to be an individual Formula 1 season for the ages. Bested by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz for the top spot on the starting grid during Saturday qualifying and confronted by the rabid, Scuderia-obsessed tifosi in the stands instead of his usual adoring orange-clad army, Verstappen bided his time during the opening laps, just waiting for his car’s inherent advantages to come to the forefront. Running nose to tail with Sainz after the former’s solid start to begin the race kept him momentarily ahead, Verstappen shadowed the Spaniard and kept the pressure on the lead Ferrari even as he began to gap the third place Prancing Horse of Sainz’s teammate, Charles Leclerc. Despite the ultra-rapid pace that F1 cars run at Monza — it isn’t called the Temple of Speed for nothing and is the fastest circuit in the calendar — passing is actually not as easy as at some other tracks, especially since the DRS is not as powerful here.

But, with the confidence in his RB15’s superior tire performance, Verstappen could see early on in the game that Sainz’s Ferrari was starting to squirm around at the rear on its opening set of Medium Pirellis. When Sainz locked up on Lap 15 going into the first chicane past the start-finish straight, Verstappen saw the opportunity and pounced. The runaway points leader made the overtake for P1 coming out of the Curva Grande and finished it off successfully while steaming into the second chicane. Sainz had been game and valiant in defense from the point but Max simply controlled the race from that moment onward, as he has so many times this year, en route to his record breaking tenth consecutive win and giving the Red Bull team their own record setting 15th win on the trot dating back to last season. It’s worth remembering that the drivers’ record for consecutive wins was previously held by Sebastian Vettel, a feat he achieved also driving for Red Bull in the midst of his four straight titles. It certainly looks like nothing is going to stop Verstappen from winning his third World Championship in a row this season and he’s probably already pondering tying Vettel’s four crowns next year.

With Verstappen dancing away in the distance, the real action took place with many riveting battles up and down the order throughout the race’s 51-lap distance (shortened from 53 after the rescue of Yuki Tsunoda’s stationary AlphaTauri required two extra formation laps before the race could get underway). After the dicing with Verstappen was concluded, the major podium duel was between Sainz, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez and the other Ferrari of Leclerc. Perez, who started P5 after another lackluster qualifying performance, made good use of a slight overcut on the Ferraris for his first and only pit stop and then maximized his second stint on Hard Pirellis to chase down the Prancing Horses. By Lap 31, he was filling up Leclerc’s mirrors and by Lap 32, he had made the decisive overtake on the Monegasque to grab P3.  Pushing hard and driving with precision, the Mexican was soon on Sainz’s gearbox, where the two soon engaged in a many-lap epic ding dong battle, with Sainz using every trick in the book to try to hold off the Red Bull. After several tussles through the tricky first chicane that saw Perez run off the circuit and then give the place back as a result, he was finally able to get by Sainz on Lap 46, gaining ownership of a richly deserved second place on the day. Sainz was then hounded mercilessly by Leclerc for the rest of the contest but was able to hold off his hard charging stablemate to secure the last step on the podium. Three-four is probably not what the tifosi or the braintrust at nearby Maranello were dreaming of after Saturday’s electrifying pole run by Sainz. But the respectable result was about the best the team could do when confronted by the superior race pace of the Red Bulls.

Further down the order, Mercedes also optimized their performance on the day, with George Russell coming home in P4 and Lewis Hamilton crossing the line in P5, albeit nearly twenty seconds adrift of his teammate. The Silver Arrows pit wall used a split strategy, with Russell running the conventional Medium-to-Hard tire one-stopper after qualifying in P4, while Hamilton did the opposite because he was starting from down in P8. It wound up coming good for the team, even after some misgivings by Hamilton over the decision, and both men even survived 5-second time penalties for causing collisions, the latter by Hamilton coming at the expense of the McLaren of Oliver Piastri when he squeezed the young Aussie too much and slapped into the McLaren’s front wing. That destroyed Piastri’s race because he required a nose change on Lap 42 and he wound up finishing outside the points in P12 as a result. Making it a decidedly meh day for the McLaren team, Williams Alexander Albon successfully held off Lando Norris to secure P7, another fine effort by the rapidly improving Thai-British pilot. Aston Martin were pretty much nowhere at Monza and Fernando Alonso had to settle for P9 and a meager two points for the team. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas took the last point in P10 by driving a savvy, veteran race and then watching misfortune strike the faster cars of Piatsri and Esteban Ocon. Special mention should also be given to Liam Lawson, the New Zealand rookie filling in for Mark Webber at AlphaTauri while the veteran recovers from a broken hand suffered at Zandvoort during practice. Driving in his second F1 race, the young Kiwi was solid throughout the day and finished an impressive P11.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 51 1:13:41.143 25
2 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 51 +6.064s 18
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 51 +11.193s 15
4 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 51 +11.377s 12
5 63 George Russell MERCEDES 51 +23.028s 10
6 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 51 +42.679s 8
7 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 51 +45.106s 6
8 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 51 +45.449s 4
9 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 51 +46.294s 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 51 +64.056s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a fortnight’s time — the totally different animal to Monza that is the Singapore Grand Prix. Swap out high speeds for tight confines on that tricky and challenging Marina Bay Street Circuit half a world away and maybe, just maybe Verstappen’s luck will falter and his win streak will end. I still wouldn’t bet on it but hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2023 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

Ferrari’s Sainz bests Verstappen & teammate Leclerc for coveted pole at Monza in front of delirious tifosi

Only a week out from a disappointing showing at the Dutch Grand Prix, team Ferrari was looking for redemption in front of their rabid fans, the tifosi, at their backyard circuit of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza during Saturday qualifying for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Fast through all three practice sessions, the Scuderia maximized that impetus to take the fight to the usually supreme Red Bull of Max Verstappen at the famed Temple of Speed. Perhaps trimmed out ever so slightly more than the RB19, it was Carlos Sainz who eked out the very best fast lap of the day in Q3, earning his first pole in a year and the team’s third of the 2023 campaign by a razor thin 0.013 seconds over Verstappen. The Spanish veteran also bettered his teammate Charles Leclerc, who managed the third fastest time in Q3. While Sainz will start from the point and the SF-23 appears genuinely quick here at Monza, it remains to be seen if the Prancing Horses have the genuine race pace to go toe-to-toe with Verstappen, whose long run racing form has been nothing short of otherworldly this season. One thing’s for sure come race day: Verstappen will not give up his shot at a record breaking tenth win in a row without a fight.

Mercedes George Russell was the quickest of the rest with a time good enough for fourth on the grid. That was well ahead of his Silver Arrows teammate Lewis Hamilton, who has frankly struggled with his straight line speed all weekend long so far. The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was also quite a distance away from team leader Verstappen in P5, nearly four-tenths down on the Dutchman’s P2 time. In contrast, Williams’ Alexander Albon continues to over-perform in what has been a breakout season for the young Thai-British driver. With the Williams quite quick & slippery on the straights, Albon hustled his mount all the way up to a P6 starting spot just a little off Perez’s pace. The two McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris struggled somewhat to put a solid lap together under the stresses of quali and were punished as a result, with Piastri only quick enough for P7 and Norris worse than Hamilton in P9. Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin rounded out the top ten on the day with a rather poky performance in P10.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:21.965 1:20.991 1:20.294 20
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:21.573 1:20.937 1:20.307 21
3 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:21.788 1:20.977 1:20.361 21
4 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:22.148 1:21.382 1:20.671 21
5 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING HONDA RBPT 1:21.911 1:21.240 1:20.688 21
6 23 Alexander Albon WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:21.661 1:21.272 1:20.760 21
7 81 Oscar Piastri MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:22.106 1:21.527 1:20.785 24
8 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:21.977 1:21.369 1:20.820 21
9 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:21.995 1:21.581 1:20.979 23
10 14 Fernando Alonso ASTON MARTIN ARAMCO MERCEDES 1:22.043 1:21.543 1:21.417 19

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. Hope to see you then to find out if Sainz and Ferrari’s qualifying pace was a one lap mirage or if he can truly hold off Verstappen to send the tifosi home in ecstasy!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Verstappen recovers from P7 start to take victory at Safety Car-shortened Italian GP; Ferrari’s Leclerc P2, Mercedes’ Russell P3

Red Bull’s peerless Max Verstappen continued his relentless march to a second consecutive World Championship on Sunday, recovering from a penalty-influenced P7 start on the grid to surge to victory at the Italian Grand Prix, relegating the pole-sitting Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to runner-up status in the process. In somewhat anticlimactic fashion, the tifosi at the jam-packed Autodromo Nazionale Monza were denied a potential late race shootout when the McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo came to a stop between the Lesmo curves on Lap 47 of this 53-lap contest. Hoping for a potential Red Flag to compress Verstappen’s large lead over  Leclerc, the race officials instead allowed the race to peter out behind the Safety Car in non-competitive fashion, despite the fact that extracting the McLaren its parking place required the use of a crane on the track while the cars were circulating behind the SC Nevertheless, Verstappen was clearly the class of the field on this day, as he has been for the majority of the season, and there was little reason to believe that Leclerc could have matched the Red Bull’s pace in a three or four-lap shootout. For Verstappen, it was his first career victory at Monza but his fifth win in a row and astonishing eleventh victory in the 16 rounds of the F1 season so far. Now with a seemingly unassailable 116-point lead over Leclerc in the Drivers’ standings it looks like all but a formality that the Dutch master will wear his second Formula 1 crown when the twenty-second and final round is run at Abu Dhabi in late November.

While Ferrari tried to give Leclerc every strategic advantage, pitting the Monegasque early and cheaply during a brief Virtual Safety Car on L13 to try and gain time on Verstappen in the pits, the on-track pace of the Red Bull was simply too much for the Prancing Horses to handle. Before that final Safety Car, Verstappen’s advantage to Leclerc was some eighteen seconds with only the six laps remaining, an impossible deficit for the P2 Ferrari to overcome under green flag conditions. The second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz did well to haul himself up to a P4 finish after being forced to start from P18 due to engine component penalties, a major issue for not only Verstappen and Sainz but many contenders throughout the field. Mercedes’ George Russell was able to better Sainz for the last spot on the podium in P3 despite running a long stint on the rather poorly performing Hard tires, while Lewis Hamilton drove an outstanding race to recover from a penalty-induced P19 start to a solid P5 finish. Hamilton ran an exceptionally long 34-lap first stint on Medium Pirellis before switching to the faster Soft tires and then carved his way through the midfield and back up to that impressive P5.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez started P13 and finished P6, although he might have done better had the team not been concerned about possible tire failure and called the Mexican in for a late change on Lap 43. Still, Perez was able to nick the point for fastest lap of the race due to that fast and fresh rubber. With Riccardo out after looking like scoring good points, the sole remaining McLaren of Lando Norris salvaged P7 for the team on a day where their closest rivals in the Constructors’ standings, Alpine, scored zero points. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly had a positive P8 finish in what has been a nightmare season for the team that has the talented young Frenchman eyeing a move to the more competitive Alpine team for next season. Rookie Nyck De Vries not only made his F1 debut in the Williams, subbing on short notice for the ailing Alexander Albon who was stricken with appendicitis overnight on Saturday, but the young Dutch Mercedes reserve driver scored points in his first F1 GP by coming home in P9. He showed enough talent and poise to warrant another race start sometime soon and skillfully kept the Alfa Romeo of Zho Guanyu behind him and relegating the Chinese rookie to P10.

Top 10 finishers of the Italian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 53 1:20:27.511 25
2 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 53 +2.446s 18
3 63 George Russell MERCEDES 53 +3.405s 15
4 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 53 +5.061s 12
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 53 +5.380s 10
6 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 53 +6.091s 9
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 53 +6.207s 6
8 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 53 +6.396s 4
9 45 Nyck De Vries WILLIAMS MERCEDES 53 +7.122s 2
10 24 Zhou Guanyu ALFA ROMEO FERRARI 53 +7.910s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

After a grueling stretch of three races in a row coming out of the summer break, the next tilt is in three weeks’ time — the return of the dazzling nocturnal Singapore Grand Prix street race after a two-year Covid-induced absence. While nobody seems able to stop Verstappen these days, the tricky and ultra-tight Marina Bay Street Circuit always throws up it’s fair share of surprises. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2022 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Qualifying results

Pole for Ferrari & Leclerc at Monza, rest of grid scrambled due to raft of engine & parts penalties for multiple drivers

We’re now at the point of the Formula 1 season where qualifying pace gets negated by the necessity of changing engine and transmission components resulting in grid penalties for the drivers and teams who have burned through allowable parts. This silly system was at its most disruptive after Saturday’s qualifying for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix, which is Round 16 of the championship. While Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc delighted the scarlet-clad tifosi in the stands by hooking up a perfect final lap to claim pole for the GP at super fast Monza, he will be one of the very few competitors starting in the position in which they actually qualified. While the provisional grid for the top ten is included below, as far as true pace it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who was second quickest, coming home over a tenth ahead of the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz. While Verstappen was demoted down to P7 on the grid for his own power unit penalties, Sainz will have to start from way back in P18 due to the magnitude of changes made to his engine and gearbox. Likewise, the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was demoted from P4 to P13. Mercedes Lewis Hamilton out-qualified his teammate George Russell but, while Russell gets elevated to P2 for tomorrow’s start as a beneficiary of not taking any engine component penalties, the seven-time Champion is relegated to the penultimate place on the grid, P19. For all the out of place runners, strategy will be key come the race, so look for teams so effected to be aggressive with either early stops for Hard Pirellis or starting on Hards and running them as long as possible to try to eliminate one pit stop during the Grand Prix.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Italian GP via Formula1.com:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 16 Charles Leclerc FERRARI 1:21.280 1:21.208 1:20.161 14
2 1 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:20.922 1:21.265 1:20.306 16
3 55 Carlos Sainz FERRARI 1:21.348 1:20.878 1:20.429 13
4 11 Sergio Perez RED BULL RACING RBPT 1:21.495 1:21.358 1:21.206 15
5 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:22.048 1:21.708 1:21.524 17
6 63 George Russell MERCEDES 1:21.785 1:21.747 1:21.542 17
7 4 Lando Norris MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:22.130 1:21.831 1:21.584 19
8 3 Daniel Ricciardo MCLAREN MERCEDES 1:22.139 1:21.855 1:21.925 20
9 10 Pierre Gasly ALPHATAURI RBPT 1:22.010 1:22.062 1:22.648 18
10 14 Fernando Alonso ALPINE RENAULT 1:22.089 1:21.861 17

Provisional grid after penalties are factored in via Autosport.com:

Cla Driver Chassis Engine Time Gap
1 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 1’20.161
2 United Kingdom George Russell Mercedes Mercedes 1’21.542 1.381
3 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren Mercedes 1’21.584 1.423
4 Australia Daniel Ricciardo McLaren Mercedes 1’21.925 1.764
5 France Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri Red Bull 1’22.648 2.487
6 Spain Fernando Alonso Alpine Renault
7 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Red Bull 1’20.306 0.145
8 Netherlands Nyck de Vries Williams Mercedes 1’22.471 2.310
9 China Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1’22.577 2.416
10 Canada Nicholas Latifi Williams Mercedes 1’22.587 2.426
11 Germany Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin Mercedes 1’22.636 2.475
12 Canada Lance Stroll Aston Martin Mercedes 1’22.748 2.587
13 Mexico Sergio Perez Red Bull Red Bull 1’21.206 1.045
14 France Esteban Ocon Alpine Renault 1’22.130 1.969
15 Finland Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo Ferrari 1’22.235 2.074
16 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1’22.908 2.747
17 Germany Mick Schumacher Haas Ferrari 1’23.005 2.844
18 Spain Carlos Sainz Ferrari Ferrari 1’20.429 0.268
19 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 1’21.524 1.363
20 Japan Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri Red Bull

Tomorrow’s race airs live on ESPN2 beginning at 9AM Eastern here in the States. With so many drivers once again out of position and determined to speed to the front, it should be a wild and wooly affair — hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!