Formula One: 70th Italian Grand Prix – Highlights and Analysis
By Mark Gero
The 2017 Italian Grand Prix is in the books. What can we take away from the 13th Formula One race of the season?
Being the last race in Europe this Formula One season, the Grand Prix of Italy always holds much of history for this type of racing. It is also Ferrari’s home race and many are dressed out in red for the occasion. Unfortunately, for the Italian fans, the fast circuit did not help much in stopping Lewis Hamilton, who ended up winning the race ahead of his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, by four seconds, with Sebastian Vettel way back in 3rd for the home Ferrari team.
The victory now gives Hamilton a three-point lead over Vettel in the championship standings with seven rounds remaining in the season, his first lead of the season. Here are the highlights and analysis from the 70th Italian Grand Prix at the Monza Autodromo.
Lap 1 – Lewis Hamilton takes the lead, Lance Stroll falls back as Esteban Ocon moves into 2nd. Ferrari drivers do not move up much as Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel are 5th and 6h, respectively.
Lap 3 – Valtteri Bottas moves into 2nd. Max Vertstappen is hit by Felipe Massa and has a flat tire and front wing damage, pushing him down the grid.
Lap 3 – Vettel is now finding his rhythm and moves into 3rd, passing Ocon. Bottas is doing the same, as the Finn is 2nd, in back of leader Hamilton, 2.7 seconds behind.
Lap 17 – The Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Bottas are pushing further away from Vettel in 3rd, by holding a gap of 11.1 seconds. The first pit stops are now beginning to occur.
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Lap 30 – Hamilton still has not pitted for tires, but he could do so and still be ahead of 3rd place Vettel. Bottas, meanwhile, is only four seconds behind Hamilton and could take the lead if Hamilton pits.
Lap 32 – Both Vettel and Hamilton pit, as Bottas leads with Daniel Ricciardo, who started 17th, now 3rd. Bottas also pits, as Hamilton regains the lead; Vettel is now 4th.
Lap 34 – Jolyon Palmer retires his Renault, as well as Stoffel Vandoorne in his McLaren-Honda. So far, with 20 laps to go, these are the only retirements in the race. Hamilton still holds a four-second gap over Bottas and a huge 18-second gap over Vettel.
Lap 42 – Daniel Ricciardo passes Raikkonen for 4th. Now Vettel is up the road in 3rd and slowing down, 10 seconds ahead.
Lap 47 – Verstappen is moving up the grid as he passes Nico Hulkenberg, Daniil Kvyat and finally Kevin Magnussen, finding himself in 10th, the last point position. Magnussen is complaining that Verstappen forced him off the track. incident is under investigation by the stewards.
Lap 51 – Both Markus Ericsson and Fernando Alonso retire their cars strategically so both teams can avoid a grid spot penalty in the next race in Singapore.
Lap 53 – Hamilton takes the checkered flag, and leads the world championship for the first time this season by three points over Vettel. Bottas finishes second to cap off a Mercedes 1-2. Vettel himself is 3rd for Ferrari, with Ricciardo in 4th. Raikkonen is 5th, followed by Ocon and Stroll in 6th and 7th, respectively. Massa is 8th and Sergio Perez is 9th. Verstappen hangs on to 10th and gets one point. This concludes the last race in Europe for the season, as the F1 circus heads to Singapore for the second night race of the year in two weeks’ time.
Next: No, Lewis Hamilton is not in the gold Maserati photograph
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