The second addition of the Formula 1 Sprint Race was in effect for the Italian Grand Prix, after Valtteri Bottas secured the best seat in the house in Friday Qualifying.
In an 18 lap Sprint, fans were given the chance to see a sneak preview of how the race will run on Sunday, and it could be dull. After the usual opening lap action, the traditional race around Monza came into play as drivers struggled to close the gap to another.
It, unsurprisingly, became a procession that followed along a similar path to Silverstone’s trial – being that it was a waste.
Bottas maintained his position from the start and controlled each lap to win the Sprint Race, but will start the actual race on Sunday from the back of the grid after taking engine grid penalties. Bottas had little defending to do throughout, as Max Verstappen could not get within 1.5s of the Finnish driver but still secured pole position on Sunday. Verstappen also had little to do after a successful start saw him pass Lewis Hamilton, and managed to drop the Mercedes and both charging McLaren’s.
Bottas’s penalty means Verstappen has a golden chance to increase his championship lead, with his rival languishing behind.
Hamilton saw his chances of a pole position seat disappear as a very start after a poor start left the British driver fighting in sixth coming out of the opening chicane. Hamilton, like every one else, could not close the gap enough and found himself staring at the back of Lando Norris’ McLaren throughout – eventually finishing in fifth. Not only is that not where Hamilton would have wanted to start from, given the difficulties of overtaking, he also lost two points to his title rival Verstappen.
McLaren enjoyed their Sprint Race. At the start, Daniel Ricciardo promoted himself to third heading into turn one, with Norris managing to pass Hamilton despite being squeezed to the inside. Unlike the ones around them, both McLaren drivers started the race on softs and were able to keep them alive throughout and stay ahead of the Mercedes behind. Ricciardo fell a long way behind the leading two, but managed to put a healthy gap to his teammate to secure his first front row start since 2018, and his first for McLaren.
Ferrari were not riding particularly high heading into the Sprint after a tricky practice session that saw an unwell Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz say hello to the wall at the Ascari chicane. However, both were able to keep their hands clean through the opening lap and bring their cars home in sixth and seventh, with Leclerc leading the way. Looking at the pace, Ferrari could be in for a lonely Sunday.
Antonio Giovinazzi has ironically picked his pace up in recent times, and secured himself another top ten starting position for the race after finishing eighth. The Italian came under an increasing amount of pressure from Sergio Perez behind in the final few laps, but the Mexican was unable to pass.
Despite securing ninth, Perez found himself in a tussle with the Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – having to allow the Canadian back past momentarily after an illegal overtake at turn one. Stroll would secure tenth, which becomes ninth, after holding off Fernando Alonso.
Alpine’s Alonso would win moment of the race after an expertly crafted move past Sebastian Vettel. The German was grateful that the race lasted just 18 laps after a heavy lock up on the opening lap caused an uncomfortable amount of vibrations. He would finish one place behind Alonso in 12th, with Esteban Ocon making Vettel the meat in an Alpine sandwich.
Nicholas Latifi managed to hold off his charging teammate over the line in 14th. George Russell would trail by less then a second after having to make his way through from the back due to a weak opening lap.
Yuki Tsunoda endured a lonely 18 lap Sprint and came home as the sole AlphaTauri in 16th. Pierre Gasly’s Sprint Race lasted just three corners. After a strong start following Ricciardo and making his way into fifth, the Frenchman made contact with the rear of Ricciardo in front, damaging his front wing. Said damaged front wing would subsequently lodge itself underneath the AlphaTauri, sending it straight through the gravel and into the wall. Gasly will join Bottas on the final row of the grid.
Both Haas cars found themselves in a battle with Robert Kubica, with the Polish driver ending up between both. Nikita Mazepin secured his best grid slot of the season in 17th which will become 16th. His teammate, Mick Schumacher placed directly behind.
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