F1 2020: Pierre Gasly wins Italian Grand Prix

An incredible 2020 Italian Grand Prix saw AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly claim a maiden Formula 1 win from the McLaren of Carlos Sainz and the Racing point of Lance Stroll, as a transgression under the Safety Car saw polesitter Mercedes Lewis Hamilton forced to serve a 10-second stop/go penalty, leaving him seventh at the flag. 

The race was turned on its head by a Safety Car brought out as Kevin Magnussen’s stricken Haas had to be recovered. But with Hamilton diving into the pit lane when it was closed (as did Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi), he was handed his penalty – which he served after the race was restarted on Lap 28 of 53, following a 25-minute red flag period after Charles Leclerc crashed heavily at the Parabolica.

That left Gasly at the head of the field, after he’d pitted before the Safety Car was brought out, with the Frenchman holding on brilliantly to take a sensational maiden win in Formula 1 at AlphaTauri’s home race, as McLaren’s Carlos Sainz finished second, with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll completing the podium.

 

Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren, holding off the leading Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas in P5, after the Finn had suffered a poor start that left him sixth at the end of Lap 1. Ricciardo took sixth ahead of Hamilton, who recovered well from his penalty to take P7, with the Renault of Esteban Ocon, the second AlphaTauri of Daniil Kvyat and the Racing Point of Sergio Perez rounding out the top 10.

F1 2019: Max Verstappen wins Brazil Grand Prix

Max Verstappen delivered a dominant performance to win for a second time this year, finishing ahead of Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, with Lewis Hamilton taking the flag in third. Hamilton, however, was handed a five-second penalty, dropping him to seventh and promoting McLaren’s Carlos Sainz to third, following a penultimate-lap coming together with Alex Albon.

Hamilton’s collision with Albon encapsulated the frenetic nature of a race effectively deemed a dead rubber after the he had sewn up his sixth world championship in Texas a fortnight ago. Yet, despite Verstappen’s masterclass – the Dutchman proving again why some regard him as the best driver on the grid – and Hamilton’s banzai move on Albon, which cruelly denied him his first career podium, the penultimate round of the 2019 campaign might yet be remembered as the straw that broke the camel’s back at Ferrari.

The tension has been simmering between their two drivers – the four-times world champion Vettel and emerging talent, Leclerc – since the opening round of the campaign in Melbourne eight months’ ago. Here, at one of the iconic venues on the grand prix calendar, it sensationally boiled over.

Leclerc, having started 14th following a grid penalty, was battling Vettel for fourth with five laps to go. He dived underneath Vettel at the Senna Esses and made the pass stick. It was a perfect move. Leclerc held off Vettel as they emerged from the third corner, but on the run down to the ensuing bend, Vettel latched on to Leclerc’s tow before drawing alongside his team-mate, and then subtly moving across him.

Vettel’s left-rear tyre made contact with Leclerc’s right-front, and in a flurry of sparks and broken carbon fibre, both Ferraris were out of the race. The contact was gentle, but the result devastating.

Nico Rosberg wins China Grand Prix 2016

Nico Rosberg left the drama and chaos of the Chinese GP in his wake to claim a commanding sixth win in a row and open up a big lead at the top of the driver championship. Lewis Hamilton finished seventh after starting from the back of the grid, but his chances of a stronger result were compromised by a broken front wing on an accident filled opening lap.

Rosberg now leads his Mercedes team-mate by 36 points in the World Championship after three races. Sebastian Vettel finished second for Ferrari but a whopping 38 seconds behind Rosberg after being involved in the chaotic opening lap most controversial moment when he crashed into his team-mate Raikkonen. Vettel blamed the fast starting Daniil Kvyat for triggering the incident, with the pair later meeting on track as the Ferrari made his way back through the field after his own front wing change.

Vettel overtook the Red Bull, but Kvyat still claimed Red Bull first podium of the year in the third. Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth for the third consecutive race was left to rue what might have been after a puncture scuppered his podium hopes when leading from Rosberg in the early stages. Raikkonen dropped to the back of the field after his tangle with Vettel but fought back to fifth, ahead of Massa and a frustrated Hamilton.

However, that was as good as the race would get for the Woking team, as both the Spaniard and team-mate Jenson Button steadily dropped down the top 10 order and eventually out of the points. Toro Rosso pair Max Verstappen who finished right on Hamilton tail and Carlos Sainz along with the second Williams of Valtteri Bottas, rounded out the points finisher instead.