Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the Italian Grand Prix after Valtteri Bottas won a thrilling sprint to take victory.
The f1 sprint race italy is the first race of the 2018 Formula One season. Max Verstappen won pole position, followed by Valtteri Bottas who won the sprint.
The Sport website has live audio and text coverage of the Italian Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull will start from pole position in the Italian Grand Prix, with championship challenger Lewis Hamilton in fourth.
Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, won the’sprint’ qualifying race but will start last due to a penalty for a power unit change.
After an unusually poor start, Hamilton finished behind McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris.
After collecting two points for second place in the sprint, Verstappen currently leads Hamilton by five points in the championship battle.
Bottas was awarded three points for first place, while Ricciardo was awarded one point for third place.
The traditional qualifying session was substituted with a half-hour, 18-lap race to determine the starting grid for Sunday’s 53-lap grand prix, which provided action from the start.
Pierre Gasly of Alpha Tauri, last year’s winner at Monza, collided with Ricciardo at the first Rettifilo chicane, sending him careening into the barrier when his damaged front wing collapsed.
The Frenchman performed an excellent job of avoiding a high-speed collision by steering a severely damaged vehicle as far away from the barrier as possible as it bounced over the gravel at over 100 mph.
“The race went better than anticipated – we had excellent strategy and got some nice little points, and I’m starting from pole for tomorrow,” Verstappen added.
“I’ll give it a go and stick close by. We did trim our vehicle to have a reasonable top speed, so I’m not concerned about our peak speed in the race; nevertheless, Mercedes have a very strong pace throughout the lap, so I’ll give it my best shot.”
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished sixth and seventh, respectively, behind Hamilton, with Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi a creditable eighth.
After crashing hard in morning practice and needing medical attention, Sainz will be relieved, while Leclerc has recovered after feeling sick and having to cut short his practice session.
Sergio Perez of Red Bull and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin completed the top ten.
George Russell of the United Kingdom will start 15th, despite losing out to teammate Nicholas Latifi, who is currently on a high after the news that he would join Hamilton at Mercedes next season.
It’s the second time F1 has used a’sprint’ qualifying style this season, the first being at the British Grand Prix in July.
Due to its rich racing history and ancient, unused banked turns hidden among the trees in Monza’s royal park, the race took place in warm, dry weather in Italy’s Lombardy area near Milan at a circuit fondly known as the ‘Cathedral of Speed.’
Lamont Marcell Jacobs, the Italian Olympic 100m champion, ran off the line to start the formation lap and then gave out the awards.
What became of Hamilton?
By the time they reached the first chicane, the seven-time champion’s vehicle had been overwhelmed by Verstappen and the McLarens.
He was subsequently beaten by Gasly as he was crammed into Rettifilo with Norris on his right side, before the Frenchman crashed and burned negotiating the Curva Grande.
Following the race, Hamilton cut a sad figure, blaming a bad launch away from the line.
Mercedes must “attempt to find out how to go past the McLarens tomorrow and minimize the damage,” he told Sky Sports.
He said, ” “You saw Red Bull’s speed – I’m not sure whether they’re faster than Valtteri, but [Verstappen] should have an easy victory. They have greater speed, and according to what I’ve heard, they bring improvements to every race.”
The Mercedes vehicle is thought to suit the quick, low-downforce Autodromo di Monza somewhat more than the Red Bull, which has been superior at most other circuits this season.
Only Stroll and the McLarens chose the quicker soft tyre, with the others choosing for the medium compound, which is estimated to be 0.4 seconds slower by tyre supplier Pirelli.
However, there did not seem to be a significant difference between the two, as the McLarens did not lose time due to tyre degradation towards the conclusion of the race, nor did they have an effect on Verstappen or Bottas after their positions were set early on.
For Sunday’s race, teams may start on whichever compound they choose.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull took pole position for the 2019 Italian Grand Prix after Valtteri Bottas won the sprint. Reference: formula 1 2019 standings.
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