After a dark weekend for Formula One in Belgium, with the tragic loss of rising F2 star Anthoine Hubert in a racing crash, the sport moves quickly onto its cathedral at the Monza circuit in Italy. Join The Roar for a live blog of the Italian Grand Prix, starting from 11:10pm AEST.
One of the fastest races on the calendar, the Italian Grand Prix is one that breaths history through Formula One and racing in general. The 5.7km circuit may be a shadow of its banked former self, though still is one of the fastest.
The 53 laps often go by in a flash, provided conditions being good. The emphasis on straight-line speeds over a car’s chassis and downforce, makes this race all about the horsepower and that is where Ferrari have the advantage in 2019.
Having not won their home grand prix since 2010, the Scuderia arrive in front of their Tifosi with their best chance to win and given the form shown by an emotional Charles Leclerc at Spa last weekend – the 21-year-old must be the favourite.
Sebastian Vettel is now twelve months without a win in Formula One, though having been consigned to play second fiddle to Leclerc in Belgium, does the German have a chance to win a fourth Italian Grand Prix?
Mercedes arrived as the underdogs to Monza in 2018 also, though their execution proved better than Ferrari’s to achieve a dominant one-two finish, allowing Lewis Hamilton his fifth Monza win to tie Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.
Hamilton could achieve a unique feat this weekend if he wins, becoming only the second driver after Juan Manuel Fangio to complete a hat-trick of wins at Monza – which the famous Argentine did between 1953 and 1955.
Leclerc took his second consecutive pole during farcical scenes where seven of the ten cars during Q3 were unable to set another lap time, including both Mercedes cars which still qualified second and third – as well as Vettel who was fourth.
Both Renaults in the top six, the midfield battle will be an interesting one especially with the Red Bulls out of position and the benchmark McLarens behind too/
With overtaking opportunities aplenty at Monza, expect a charge from the back of the grid from Max Verstappen, who has taken penalties for switching to an upgraded spec of Honda power-unit aboard his Red Bull.
Can the Scuderia go back-to-back this weekend and the same for Leclerc? Tune in on The Roar from 11:10pm AEST for live blog coverage of the Italian Grand Prix.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Bloody good result for Ricciardo and Renault!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
A special result for Ferrari and Charles Leclerc. Thanks for tuning in for the Italian Grand Prix on the The Roar. I'll be back in a fortnight's time as Formula One gets ready for another round of flyaways starting in Singapore. Ciao!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
-------- DRIVER'S -------- 284 - Lewis Hamilton 221 - Valtteri Bottas 185 - Max Verstappen 182 - Charles Leclerc 169 - Sebastian Vettel 65 -- Pierre Gasly 58 -- Carlos Sainz 34 -- Daniel Ricciardo 34 -- Alexander Albon 33 -- Dannil Kvyat 31 -- Nico Hulkenberg 31 -- Kimi Räikkönen 27 -- Sergio Perez 25 -- Lando Norris 19 -- Lance Stroll 18 -- Kevin Magnussen 8 --- Romain Grosjean 3 --- Antonio Giovinazzi 1 --- Robert Kubica 0 --- George Russell
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
----- CONSTRUCTOR'S ----- 505 - Mercedes AMG 351 - Scuderia Ferrari 266 - Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 83 -- McLaren Renault 65 -- Renault 51 -- Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 46 -- Racing Point Mercedes 34 -- Alfa Romeo Racing 26 -- Haas Ferrari 1 --- Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RACE REPORT With their first victory of the season having only come last time out in Belgium, Ferrari didn’t waste any time adding a second win, as Charles Leclerc claimed an emphatic win for the Scuderia at Monza. In what was a famous victory for the 21-year old from pole position, Ferrari won their first race on home soil since Fernando Alonso back in 2010. Leclerc wasn’t trouble free though during the 53-laps, having pressure from Lewis Hamilton and then Valtteri Bottas towards the end of the race. Ferrari placed Leclerc onto the hard tyre, while Hamilton who tried to undercut the Monegasque driver was on the mediums and then showed strong pace in his second stint. A black and white flag was shown to Leclerc as well, after he controversially squeezed Hamilton, who tried to pass the Ferrari around the outside of the second chicane. All before Hamilton made a mistake at the first chicane on Lap-42, which allowed Bottas who was on much younger tyres to go into second and have a go at Leclerc. Though the Finn also locked up at the first chicane to guarantee the momentous victory for Leclerc, as Hamilton with a set of fresh tyres came back to claim the fastest lap. While it was all smiles for Leclerc, his teammate Sebastian Vettel had another forgettable Italian Grand Prix, having spun the car alone at Ascari on Lap-7. The German was given a 10-second stop/go penalty for re-joining the track in an unsafe manner, triggering contact with Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly. In the end it was thirteenth for the four-time world champion, ahead of his former Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen who also had a miserable race for Alfa Romeo – penalised for starting the race from the pit-lane on the wrong tyres. Renault capitalised on their best qualifying of the season to claim their best results of 2019, led by Daniel Ricciardo in fourth. A straightforward strategy saw both Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg run a lonely race in fourth and fifth, gaining on McLaren in the constructor’s championship – who had Carlos Sainz retire after an unsafe pit release. Both Red Bulls scored too even after Max Verstappen’s start from the rear of the field. Alexander Albon was sixth and had a busy race, first touring the gravel in his battle with Sainz and then copping a 5-second penalty for cutting the track and gaining an advantage when chasing Kevin Magnussen. Antonio Giovinazzi after the disappointment of his last lap crash at Spa, went on to collect his season best finish in ninth and scoring points in his home grand prix.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
STANDBY FOR RACE REPORT AND UPDATED STANDINGS
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
POST-RACE INTERVIEWS - Hosted by Martin Brundle: LECLERC - "What a race! I've never been so tired." "I need to be careful with the mistakes." BOTTAS - "I think we had a good strategy with me, opened up some opportunities at the end." "They're so quick on the straights and I tried." HAMILTON - "He did a great job." "I did the best I could, following so closely for such a long time." "Not our day, but strong points for the team."
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
RESULTS FROM THE 53-LAP ITALIAN GRAND PRIX 1 C. Leclerc 2 V. Bottas 3 L. Hamilton 4 D. Ricciardo 5 N. Hulkenberg 6 A. Albon 7 S. Perez 8 M. Verstappen 9 A. Giovinazzi 10 L. Norris 11 P. Gasly 12 L. Stroll 13 S. Vettel 14 G. Russell 15 K. Räikkönen 16 R. Grosjean 17 R. Kubica RET K. Magnussen RET D. Kvyat RET C. Sainz
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
CHARLES LECLERC WINS THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX! A momentous occasion as Leclerc wins for Ferrari at the home of the Scuderia. Valtteri Bottas after a late charge is the runner up, capitalising on a mistake from Lewis Hamilton who finishes third.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53: FINAL LAP
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 52/53: Fastest lap has been claimed by Hamilton with a 1:21.779.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/53: Bottas locks it! A lock of the brakes coming out of the first chicane and that looks like game over for Mercedes.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 51/53: 3-LAPS TO GO A little mistake for Leclerc on the previous lap has invited Bottas back into DRS range and is now challenging the Ferrari.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 50/53: Hamilton makes that extra pit-stop for fresh tyres and will likely go after the fastest lap of the race to claim an extra championship point.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 49/53: 5-LAPS TO GO Another fastest lap for Bottas, but it is Leclerc who has gained a couple of tenths over the Mercedes. Verstappen right on the rear wing of Perez too battling for seventh.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 48/53: Bottas gets the fastest lap of the race, but that gap is still the same to Leclerc. Quick, but not quick enough to pressure that Ferrari like Hamilton was.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 47/53: Bottas being encouraged by his engineer to go for the win, as the gap is still 1.6 seconds to Leclerc and the number of laps quickly running out.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 46/53: Hamilton has enough of a gap to Ricciardo behind to make an extra stop for fresh tyres to go for the fastest lap.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 45/53: LEC BOT HAM RIC HUL ALB PER VER GIO NOR GAS STR RUS VET RÄI KUB GRO MAG is the shape of the field heading into the final few laps. Magnussen though is now in the Haas garage and out of the race. He joins Kvyat and Sainz to be out.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Lap 44/53: 10 LAPS TO GO Leclerc now free of any pressure is able to set some personal best sector times to keep that cushion over Bottas, though the Finn is still a threat.