F1 Sprint report & highlights: Verstappen ready for pole position for Italian Grand Prix as Bottas, penalty, wins Monza Sprint

Valtteri Bottas triumphed in the second F1 sprint in history at Monza, but second-placed Max Verstappen took pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. the unit changes despite a clear course of the P1 in the Sprint of 18 laps and 100 km of the Finn.

Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, finished third, Lando Norris fourth, Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth after starting P2.

AS IT HAPPENED: Relive all the action of Sprint F1 at Monza

As the lights went out, Hamilton got off to a nightmarish start, assaulted by both the soft-booted McLarens and Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri to sit sixth by the time he reached Curva Grande, as Bottas was leading. Verstappen, the Ricciardo and Norris on the fast start. – Ricciardo having passed his teammate after taking the start of P4.

Gasly, however, had lightly touched Ricciardo’s rear at Turn 1, and as he rounded the Curva Grande, the AlphaTauri pilot’s front wing slipped under his front wheels, Gasly digging into the gravel and hitting the Wall. The safety car was pulled out, but not before Yuki Tsunoda and Robert Kubica made contact, Kubica turning around.

The safety car was in place on lap 4, with Bottas on restart to be 1.5 seconds behind Verstappen at the end of the lap, Verstappen then ahead of Ricciardo, Norris and Hamilton in P5, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in sixth and seventh for Ferrari – Sainz’s SF21 having been rebuilt after its FP2 crash – with Antonio Giovinazzi P8’s Alfa Romeo.

During Lap 5, Lance Stroll had moved up to 9th after starting on used softs, having passed Sergio Perez’s second Red Bull in Turn 1. Lap 9 saw Perez attack Stroll in Turn 1, Perez leading on lap two but holding position for a half-turn before his engineer ordered him to surrender – Perez making the legitimate pass one lap later at the same spot.

Hamilton, meanwhile, was undoubtedly frustrated as lap after lap sat on the rear wing of fourth-placed Lando Norris but couldn’t find a way to get past the Mercedes-powered McLaren – the group led by Ricciardo having lost 10 seconds behind the rapids Bottas and Verstappen fight with five laps to go.

Verstappen wasn’t trying to make a big impression on Bottas, knowing full well that a penalty would plague the Finn for Sunday’s Grand Prix. And as the laps went by quickly at the Temple of Speed, it was Bottas who crossed the line at the end of lap 18 to earn three points for the F1 Sprint victory, 2,325 seconds ahead of Verstappen who took two points.

Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, has placed a McLaren on the front row of the grid for the first time since Mexico City 2018, finishing third – which is set to move to P2 on Sunday after Bottas’ penalty. Lando Norris managed to push Hamilton back 1.176 seconds to grab fourth place, Hamilton fifth ahead of the Ferrari duo led by Leclerc.

Giovinazzi, driving his career at Alfa Romeo, took eighth place, repelling Perez’s assaults in Red Bull, who finished ahead of Lance Stroll as the Canadian completed the top 10.

Fernando Alonso is 11th, ahead of Sebastian Vettel’s second Aston Martin and Esteban Ocon’s second Alpine. Nicholas Latifi propelled his teammate George Russell to P14, Russell P15 as Tsunoda recovered to P16 after his lap 1 snafu with Kubica.

After climbing to P15 after starting last, Nikita Mazepin finally finished P17, ahead of Kubica and Mick Schumacher, Gasly being the only retirement.

So, having never qualified higher than P5 at Monza, it’s Max Verstappen who is expected to start on pole at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, with the McLaren duo of Ricciardo and Norris behind – with Verstappen having a five-point lead. on Hamilton in the driver standings for good measure.

The key quote

“I feel like it’s been a while since I finished first in a race and unfortunately, you know I’m starting from behind tomorrow, but the speed is there, so I’m going to fight, I will get as high as I can tomorrow. But today I enjoyed it, it was a very clean race and we had a good pace ”- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes

The key moment

This has to be Hamilton’s horror start (video below). With Mercedes having locked the first row of the grid, they surely had plans for starter P1 Bottas and Hamilton to swap places at some point, with Bottas then playing the role of rear gunner to support Verstappen in the field, while Hamilton fled to the front to claim pole position and three points to win the Sprint F1.

But the best-prepared plans and all that – with Hamilton now ready to start three places behind poleman Verstappen in P4.

The biggest movers

After having successfully started from the last on the grid to climb to 15th place when the safety car came out on the first lap, it was Nikita Mazepin who finished the bigger player, finally climbing three places from his place on the grid to take 17th place. Lewis Hamilton was the biggest faller, dropping three places.

And after?

After having had both practice sessions, qualifying and the Sprint, it’s time to prepare for the main event – the Italian Grand Prix, which kicks off on September 12 at 3:00 p.m. local time. Join us on F1.com for full coverage.