Charles Leclerc produced a heroic drive to hold off both Mercedes’ and claim victory for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix.
The Monegasque survived two wheel-to-wheel duels with Lewis Hamilton in an epic duel and when the Briton finally made a mistake, Valtteri Bottas was no match as the 21-year-old took his second Formula 1 win in a week.
Story of the Race:
At the start, Leclerc would hold the lead into Turn 1 ahead of the two Mercedes, as Vettel temporarily loses fourth to Nico Hulkenberg before regaining at the start of Lap 2.
Max Verstappen’s bid to recover from 19th on the grid got off poorly as, despite a cautious approach, he would damage his front wing after being caught out at the first corner requiring a pit-stop for repairs.
The race began to settle with Vettel closing back up on the Mercedes’, however, another crucial error would take him out of contention as he spun in the Ascari chicane.
To make matters worsen the German then hit Lance Stroll as he rejoined, breaking his front wing and earning a 10-second stop/go penalty for unsafely re-entering to the track.
The Canadian too would be in trouble as he pushed Pierre Gasly into the gravel exiting Ascari recovering back onto the track, dropping both outside the points.
Unable to keep up with Leclerc out front, Hamilton triggers the pit-stop phase at the front by trying to undercut, but Ferrari responds a lap later to keep their driver ahead.
Tyre strategies change though with Lewis on the medium while Charles goes onto the hard compound for the run to the finish.
Now within DRS range, Hamilton puts the squeeze on Leclerc with the pair passing the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg through Parabolica and on the main straight.
A good exit from the first chicane would put the Mercedes firmly into the slipstream of the Ferrari on the run to the second chicane, but Leclerc is able to rebuff, forcing the world champion down the escape road, earning him a stewards’ warning.
Bottas can’t capitalise on the duelling as he stays out longer, frustratingly his stop also comes a lap before a Virtual Safety Car, caused by Carlos Sainz exiting the pits with a loose wheel.
A second VSC follows soon after as Daniil Kvyat comes to a stop at the first chicane, allowing Riccardo to pit and emerge comfortably in fourth.
Hamilton continues to push Leclerc who locks up at the first chicane and has to cut the corner. The Monegasque just keeps the Mercedes at bay though, as Lewis tracks him into the second chicane.
The key moment came a few laps later though as Hamilton himself locks up and heads down the escape road at Turn 1, allowing a fast-closing Bottas into second.
Despite his fresher tyres, the Finn proves much easier to hold off than his teammate, allowing Leclerc to count down the laps to a famous victory.
Any thoughts of Hamilton responding after his error are thwarted by damaged tyres, leaving the Briton in third.
Renault enjoy their best result of the season with Ricciardo in fourth and Hulkenberg fending off Alex Albon in the closing laps to maintain fifth.
Sergio Perez was the first of those drivers who started from the back in seventh, with Verstappen only claiming eighth after his first corner incident.
Antonio Giovinazzi scored his best result in F1 at his home race in ninth and Lando Norris was another driver to rebound from grid penalties to claim the final point in 10th.
For Gasly and Stroll, getting caught up in the events caused by Vettel spinning at Ascari proved decisive as they finished 11th and 12th.
The four-time world champion himself would finish just behind in 13th on another difficult day in his Ferrari career.
George Russell can be satisfied in 14th for Williams, beating both Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean as Robert Kubica rounded out the finishers in 17th.
Along with Kvyat and Sainz, mechanical issues led to an early retirement for Kevin Magnussen as Haas’ problems continue.
Final results from Sunday’s race at Monza can be seen below:
