Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix - Monza 2024
STARTING GRID:
1) NORRIS 2) PIASTRI 3) RUSSELL 4) LECLERC 5) SAINZ 6) HAMILTON 7) VERSTAPPEN 8) PEREZ 9) ALBON 10) HULKENBERG 11) ALONSO 12) RICCIARDO 13) MAGNUSSEN 14) GASLY 15) OCON 16) TSUNODA 17) STROLL 18) COLAPINTO ® 19) BOTTAS 20) ZHOU
LAP 1: The top 3 have equal starts as they go down to the first corner. Piastri moves over to cover Russell into the first corner, resulting in Russell out braking himself and nearly going into the back of Piastri. The Mercedes driver has to take the escape road, losing places as he weaves through the foam bollards.
Piastri then with a bold move round the outside of his team mate, going into turn 3 & 4. Lando had to take avoiding action to stop a potentially race ending accident for the McLaren duo.
Also leading to Norris losing more places due to this move as Charles Leclerc takes advantage of the McLaren battle in front of him. Lando Norris loses the lead of a race on the first lap once again.
LAP 2: Following the opening lap, Norris drops two places with Russell losing four places down to 7th with the first corner detour. Hulkenberg also lost six places, leaving him 16th. Due to a collision with Ricciardo on lap one, with Ricciardo receiving a 5 second time penalty for squeezing Hulkenberg.
LAP 3: Piastri sets a fastest lap of 1:25.116 for the race as he looks to build a gap to the Ferrari behind. Perez on the radio to report “George (Russell) has a lot of damage. It’s dangerous”. The Red Bulls run in 6th & 8th, whilst being the only drivers on the hard tyres. A strategy that could work but not known until further in the race and how high degradation is at Monza.
LAP 5: Hulkenburg tries to make his way back through the field as he tries to out brake Tsunoda going into the first corner. Leading to a lock up and contact with Tsunoda after the German driver out-brakes himself. A new front wing was needed for the Haas driver due to the contact. This sends him to the back of the pack and a 10 second penalty to follow.
LAP 8: A battle of strategies to come as many teams report little graining on their tyres. With better performance than expected from the medium tyre. Max Verstappen is told to keep doing what he’s doing as the hard tyre may make the race come to Red Bull, if the medium tyres are pushed too hard from those ahead.
An unfortunate message to Yuki Tsunoda as he is told the car needs to be retired. Most probably due to the collision with Nico Hulkenburg a few laps earlier. Which is the first retirement in 5 races. The bad luck continues for Tsunoda at Monza, as he has only finished the race once in his F1 career.
LAP 11: The first overtake in the top 8 for a number of laps as Sergio Peres takes 7th position from Russell in a car still damaged from the start of the race.
Kevin Magnussen also made a tidy move on Daniel Ricciardo into the first corner to move into 11th. The pit straight extended by 100m this year, to many drivers' delight and others misfortune.
LAP 12: George Russell then pits to change the damaged front wing, dropping him to 16th for the time being. The first corner incident took its toll on the performance of the car for Mercedes, possibly compromising their race with George.
LAP 14: Lando closes in and within DRS of Leclerc as the Ferrari driver is told to drop back. Then Norris told to box to undercut Leclerc, going back to 8th to see if he could get ahead of Leclerc.
LAP 17: The decision from McLaren strategists pays off as Norris gets ahead of Leclerc to restore the 1-2 for the papaya team. A great decision and well executed by McLaren which could be key in the constructors championship. Charles is understandably confused with the Ferrari strategy to bring him in as he loses places. PIA 1st, NOR 2nd, LEC 3rd.
LAP 18: An unfortunate 10 second penalty for RB as a mechanic touches Ricciardo’s car as he comes in for a pit stop whilst needing to serve a 5 second time penalty. Therefore, a penalty for not serving the original penalty correctly at the pit stop.
The still camera on Laclerc’s Ferrari gives a great insight into the change in elevations through a lap around Monza in an F1 car.
LAP 22: A replay from lap 18 shows Kevin Magnussen trying an almost identical move to his Haas team mate, in which he received a 10 second penalty. Trying to outbrake the Alpine of Gasly, resulting in making inevitable contact. A 10 second penalty given to the Danish driver.
LAP 23: Lando Norris told “you are allowed to race, papaya rules”. As Lando ramps up the pace to try to catch his team mate.
LAP 25: A lovely move from Magnussen as he passes Gasly on the straight to Parabollica, moving him up to 13th. Another fastest lap from Piastri of 1:23.315.
LAP 27: Good racing between Ricciardo & Gasly as RIC looks to go up the inside of turn one, defended well by Gasly. However, Gasly still loses the place a few corners later by looking up when defending again.
LAP 30: The rookie Franco Colapinto now with a nice move on Gasly into the first corner to take 15th place. A good showing so far from the F1 debutant.
LAP 31: Russell tries to regain 7th position from Perez into turn one. Nearly contact from both drivers as Russell backs out, cutting the corner, then giving the place back to avoid a penalty.
Norris then starts to struggle as he goes through the escape road at turn 4. Almost leading to conceding a place to Leclerc again, but he manages to hold on.
LAP 35: Magnussen with another tidy overtake into turn one to move up to 9th. Great performance from KMAG so far with a penalty he is trying to eradicate as quickly as possible.
LAP 39: A great overtake by Russell on Perez, who eventually gets back the place from the start of the race. The Brit goes up the inside as Perez moves late but Russell continues with the move and makes it stick.
LAP 40: The two championship contenders in Norris and Verstappen now battle for 4th (net 3rd). Lando takes his time and picks his moment to move on Verstappen into the first corner, as have countless drivers in this race. Max does try to fight back but on older tyres, the Red Bull did not stand much of a chance against the overall better car this weekend.
LAP 43: The battle of strategies comes into force as the McLaren’s go for the 2 stop strategy. With Ferrari then going for a 1 stop gamble for a home victory they so desperately desire along with the Tifosi.
LAP 45: Piastri makes a crucial move past Sainz as he looks to hunt down Leclerc to regain the lead of the race. With the importance of tyre management and nerve now being vital in the pursuit for victory for both Ferrari and McLaren.
LAP 47: Another overtake on the pit straight as Norris gets past Sainz, to free him to also try to chase down the front two. Meanwhile, Leclerc asks for his engineer to leave him alone as he looks to focus on getting the win in front of the Tifosi.
LAP 50: The Tifosi inside the circuit and around the world roar on Charles Leclerc through every corner as he looks to get on the top step of the podium again in Monza.
LAP 52: The McLaren of Oscar Piastri still looks to make an impression on Leclerc. However, with a gap of just under 4 seconds going into the final lap, it looks more than likely that the Monegasque driver will hold on.
LAP 53: The man from Monaco, who won in his home race earlier this season, now wins at the home race of Ferrari! Charles Leclerc wins the 2024 Italian Grand Prix! Much to the delight of the Tifosi, who celebrated a first home win for their beloved Ferrari in 5 years!
Oscar Piastri comes home to finish 2nd, with Lando Norris 3rd. A day to remember for Ferrari and possibly, one to forget for McLaren.
RESULT:
LECLERC 2) PIASTRI 3) NORRIS 4) SAINZ 5) HAMILTON 6) VERSTAPPEN 7) RUSSELL 8) PEREZ 9) ALBON 10) MAGNUSSON 11) ALONSO 12) COLAPINTO 13) RICCIARDO 14) OCON 15) GASLY 16) BOTTAS 17) HULKENBERG 18) GUANYU 19) STROLL 20) TSUNODA (DNF)
