MONZA, Italy (Reuters) – Team by team analysis of Sunday’s Italian Formula One Grand Prix at Monza (listed in current championship order):
RED BULL (Max Verstappen 1, Sergio Perez 2)
Verstappen took a record 10th win in a row and Red Bull’s 15th successive victory, 14th of this season. It was the Dutch driver’s 12th win of the year, 47th of his career and left him 145 points clear of Perez. It was also his second Italian GP win in a row. Verstappen started second on the grid, passed Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz on lap 15 and then pulled away. Perez started fifth and went second on the 46th of 51 laps.
MERCEDES (George Russell 5, Lewis Hamilton 6)
Both drivers collected five second penalties, Russell for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, Hamilton for causing a collision with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on lap 41. Hamilton was one of only three drivers starting on the hard compound tyre and went until the half-distance on them, leading when those ahead pitted. Russell pitted on lap 19, picking up the penalty on rejoining. Mercedes are 45 points clear of Ferrari.
FERRARI (Carlos Sainz 3, Charles Leclerc 4)
Sainz started on pole position, led until lap 15 and then fought Leclerc for the final podium place, and his first of the season, in a thrilling battle over the closing laps. Leclerc started third but was passed by Perez on lap 32. Ferrari leapfrogged Aston Martin in the standings.
ASTON MARTIN (Fernando Alonso 9, Lance Stroll 16)
Alonso started 10th and gained a place but the team dropped behind Ferrari and lacked pace. Alonso said it had been one of the most physically challenging races of the year. Stroll qualified last on the grid, after getting no timed laps in Friday practice, and gained some places.
MCLAREN (Lando Norris 8, Oscar Piastri 12)
Piastri set the fastest lap but got no benefit since he finished out of the points after having to pit for a new front wing following the late collision with Hamilton. Both McLarens also made contact at the first chicane after Piastri exited from his first pitstop on hard tyres. Piastri also got a five second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
ALPINE (Pierre Gasly 15, Esteban Ocon retired)
No points for Alpine, with Ocon the only retirement — due to steering vibrations — during the race. Gasly did a two-stop medium-hard-medium strategy but was passed by Ocon on the opening lap. Both failed to progress beyond the first phase of qualifying on Saturday.
WILLIAMS (Alex Albon 7, Logan Sargeant 13)
Albon started sixth and scored for the fifth time this season and second time in a row, equalling his highest finish so far in 2023. The points moved Williams 10 clear of Haas. Sargeant has still yet to score a point. He got a five second penalty for causing a collision in trying to overtake Bottas.
HAAS (Nico Hulkenberg 17, Kevin Magnussen 18)
Magnussen pitted on lap 13 after high tyre degradation in the first stint on hard tyres and again on lap 33, after starting 19th. Hulkenberg started 13th on medium tyres, pitted on lap 14 for hards and again on lap 40 for mediums.
ALFA ROMEO (Valtteri Bottas 10, Guanyu Zhou 14)
Bottas started on the hard tyre and scored Alfa’s first point since Canada in June after moving up the order in the closing laps, passing Sargeant late on. Zhou started on mediums and made two stops.
ALPHATAURI (Liam Lawson 11, Yuki Tsunoda did not start)
Tsunoda pulled over on the initial formation lap with a loss of power, triggering an aborted start and then a 20 minute delay to the race. Lawson finished where he started, after dropping to 12th at the end of lap one. He pitted on lap 13 for hards and again on lap 33 for mediums and passed Sargeant on the last lap.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)
