Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix 2024 - Results
I'm back! I missed Zanvdoort since I was moving cross-country.
Anyway, this turned out to be a fun race! I wasn't sure how it was going to end up but the tire strategies kept it interesting. Not sure if the Ferraris, particularly Leclerc, made a big gamble, or that the McLarens snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Probably a little column A, little column B. Either way, I did not expect a Leclerc victory; they probably didn't either. The Tifosi will be partying hard tonight!
Red Bull continues to, unfortunately for me, shit the bed. During the first half of the race, Perez could barely overtake Russell, even though Russell had a damaged front wing. Later in the race, when Max switched to new mediums, with Hamilton ahead on slightly used hards, Max still couldn't close the gap. The gap even opened up! At least both RBRs finished in the Top 10 (more impressive for Perez, less so for Max).
I didn't see what happened to Yuki that caused him to retire; need to find that out.
Lastly, congrats to Colapinto finishing P12! Excellent for an F1 debut.
Onward to Baku.
Next race:
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Baku City Circuit
Sunday, September 15
Provisional Race Results -- SPOILER
| Pos | No | Driver | Car | Laps | Time/retired | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | Leclerc | Ferrari | 53 | 1:14:40.727 | 25 |
| 2 | 81 | Piastri | McLaren Mercedes | 53 | +2.664s | 18 |
| 3 | 4 | Norris | McLaren Mercedes | 53 | +6.153s | 16 |
| 4 | 55 | Sainz | Ferrari | 53 | +15.621s | 12 |
| 5 | 44 | Hamilton | Mercedes | 53 | +22.820s | 10 |
| 6 | 1 | Verstappen | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 53 | +37.932s | 8 |
| 7 | 63 | Russell | Mercedes | 53 | +39.715s | 6 |
| 8 | 11 | Perez | Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT | 53 | +54.148s | 4 |
| 9 | 23 | Albon | Williams Mercedes | 53 | +67.456s | 2 |
| 10 | 20 | Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 53 | +68.302s | 1 |
| 11 | 14 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 53 | +68.495s | 0 |
| 12 | 43 | Colapinto | Williams Mercedes | 53 | +81.308s | 0 |
| 13 | 3 | Ricciardo | RB Honda RBPT | 53 | +93.452s | 0 |
| 14 | 31 | Ocon | Alpine Renault | 52 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 15 | 10 | Gasly | Alpine Renault | 52 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 16 | 77 | Bottas | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 17 | 27 | Hulkenberg | Haas Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 18 | 24 | Zhou | Kick Sauber Ferrari | 52 | +1 lap | 0 |
| 19 | 18 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes | 52 | +1 lap | 0 |
| NC | 22 | Tsunoda | RB Honda RBPT | 7 | DNF | 0 |
Fastest Lap: Lando Norris
Source: F1.com
I am disappointed with McLaren and both of their drivers. They definitely dropped a 1-2 finish today. Good on Nico Rosberg for asking Zak Brown some tough questions, post-race. Overall, it was a pretty mid race. Can't say it was very exciting, but I do feel good for LeClerc: he's been screwed by his team so many times this year. A win in Monza has to be a balm.
https://youtu.be/Thcdl1tVZco?si=fT3S_-JWOhMzzNyA
Will Buxton says it all.
Happy for Leclerc to win a home race for Ferrari. Also happy to see that Red Bull's dominance is no longer. I actually stopped watching in 2023 since Max was basically guaranteed to win haha. Been following this season from the sidelines while focusing on WEC and IMSA so I'm a bit sad that I'm missing what's turning out to be a banger season.
McLaren's strategy threw away a perfectly possible 1-2 today. I think they definitely need to reel in Piastri a bit. I think Norris could've won this race had McLaren's strategy been up to par.
Yuki retired the race due to damage caused by contact with Hulkenberg.
It was a good race as far as I'm concerned. I'm glad that Redbull dominance is over for a while longer. I guess it is a meme that Ferrari has bad strategy but not today.
Ferrari win, Williams points, a good day.
Happy for Charles, hell of a drive. I don’t think Lando deserved the win, plain and simple. Multiple mistakes that lost time and wrecking his front left at a rate seemingly faster than Piastri despite slower times. I agree that McLaren prioritizing him for the WDC would be the smart thing to do, but I simply don’t think he has the skill gap to his teammate that Verstappen or Hamilton did when they were deemed priority in their tight seasons.
As a McLaren fan, they definitely screwed themselves out of a 1-2 here by letting their drivers fight. If Lando/McLaren are serious about the WDC challenge, they need to be telling Oscar he can't be doing that lap 1 (I don't think he did anything wrong if they were allowed to race/fight, Lando left the gap and Oscar went for it). Their car had the pace seeing them both just bang out fastest laps.
As a Leclerc fan, what a race to win. The two most important ones for him and he smashes them both. Props to Carlos for seemingly saying the 1 stop could work, and for holding up both McLarens to the point they couldn't catch Charles.
Red Bull seem to be in the doldrums for the moment. If you had told me at the start of the year max wouldn't win a race for now 6 races straight I would have not believed you at all. We might see a resurgence at Baku, but Singapore has never been strong for Max.
For the WDC 62 points with 8 races and 3 sprints left seems like a task for Lando, but if Red Bull continue like this I think he'll clinch it. WCC seems like a lock for McLaren at this point, but Ferrari may even end up knocking Red Bull down to third by the end of the year.
What a year it's been.
Also, KMag received a 10sec penalty and 2 penalty points for his collision with Gasly. Which means KMag now has 12 penalty points in the last 12mo. Should mean an automatic one race ban for Baku.
FIA Decision Document [PDF].