F1: Ricciardo Wins In Shock McLaren 1-2 At Italian GP

Daniel Ricciardo also in the process gained the "driver of the day" award from the fans.

By Sahil Gupta

1 mins read

Published on September 13, 2021

Highlights

Ricciardo drove a flawless race to win his first race since 2018
It was a return to winning ways for McLaren after 9 years
The 1-2 for McLaren means its pulled gap for P3 over Ferrari

McLaren won its first race in over 8 years with Daniel Ricciardo winning the Italian GP ahead of his teammate Lando Norris, ahead of a valiant P3 by outgoing Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas as he fought back from the back of the grid. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc came P4 ahead of his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr in P6, separated by Sergio Perez in the lone Red Bull. Ricciardo overtook Max Verstappen at the start and duelled with him the first half of the race while Norris was chased by Lewis Hamilton but then a botched pitstop for the Red Bull resulted in suddenly finding it behind Hamilton's Mercedes. Ricciardo won his first race since 2018 when he was with Red Bull Hamilton also had a slow pitstop which resulted in him coming out next to Verstappen and they soon collided at the opening chicane taking each other out. Lance Stroll in the Aston Martin in P7 pending an investigation by the stewards. Fernando Alonso was the lead Alpine in P8, followed by George Russell in the Williams in P9. Esteban Ocon came P10 in the other Alpine. Nicholas Latifi finished just outside of the points in P11. Sebastian Vettel finished a scrappy P12 in the second Aston Martin. Antonio Gionvinazi couldn't again convert a great qualifying performance and finished P13 after crashing in the first half of the race. He was followed by his teammate Robert Kubica in the other Alfa Romeo. Mick Schumacher was the sole surviving Haas and was the last car to finish in P15. Ricciardo overtook Verstappen at the start of the race Nikita Mazepin in the Haas didn't finish as did the two AlphaTauri cars of Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda. Of course, the two driver's title contenders Hamilton and Verstappen also didn't finish because of their collision which means he maintains his lead over the Briton. Mercedes also extended its lead in the constructor's title from Red Bull while McLaren pulled away in its race to get P3 against Ferrari because of the dominant 1-2 in the Italian team's home race. Daniel Ricciardo also in the process gained the "driver of the day" award from the fans. Daniel Ricciardo Race winner Lando Norris +1.747 Valtteri Bottas +4.921 Charles Leclerc +7.309 Sergio Perez +8.723 Carlos Sainz Jr. +10.535 Lance Stroll +15.804 Fernando Alonso +17.201 George Russell +19.742 Esteban Ocon +20.868 Nicholas Latifi + 23.743 Sebastian Vettel +24.621 Antonio Giovinazzi +27.216 Robert Kubica +29.769 Mick Schumacher +51.088 DNF Nikita Mazepin Lewis Hamilton Max Verstappen Pierre Gasly Yuki Tsunoda