Key events
Lap 19/53: The cars outside the points are all stating to pit. Bearman comes in.
Lap 18/53: Antonelli has recovered from his poor start to make up a few places. He’s back up to ninth.
Lap 17/53: Leclerc and his engineer seem pretty happy with how things are going. Piastri is hovering ahead of him by a couple of seconds.
Lap 16/53: As you were.
Lap 15/53: Russell is no longer in the DRS zone behind Leclerc and could soon be coming into the view of Hamilton in sixth.
Lap 14/53: Verstappen has more than four seconds lead ahead of Norris. Unless something dramatic happens this could be all sewn up for the Red Bull driver.
Lap 13/53: Lawson is called into the pits to swap his soft tyres for the hard compound and is at the back of the race again.
Lap 12/53: It was a powertrain issue for Hulkenburg that didn’t become fully apparent until the formation lap. Very unfortunate for the Sauber man.
Lap 11/53: Liam Lawson started 18th but has gained a few places and has made it up to 15th.
Lap 10/53: Verstappen sets another fastest lap, the gap to Norris is growing.
Lap 9/53: A battle to keep an eye on is George Russell in fifth working on Leclerc ahead of him. The gap is in the DRS zone, no opportunities to pass yet.
Lap 8/53: In answer to my question on lap six, Norris is not. Verstappen already has a couple of seconds on the McLaren, with Piastri also now getting away from Leclerc.
Lap 7/53: Esteban Ocon is going to have to serve a time penalty when he next heads into the pits. He forced Lance Stroll on to the grass, failing to leave enough of a gap for the Aston Martin
Lap 6/53: Verstappen is the quickest driver on the track. How will Norris reel back in the Red Bull?
Lap 5/53: After all that action in the early laps we’re starting to settle into this now.
Lap 4/72: The battle for third continues with Piastri edging back in front of Leclerc.
Lap 3/53: Hamilton has started very well jumping from 10th up to sixth.
Lap 3/53: Verstappen is back at the front! With DRS activated he gets the run on Norris and having had to surrender his lead for the incident on the first corner makes the pass stick.
Lap 2/53 Leclerc is looking in inspired form. He gets back at Piastri and passes him. Verstappen giving up the lead caused a bit of a concertina behind hm allowing Leclerc to make his move on the McLaren.
First corner
It’s tight and Norris is unhappy with Verstappen, calling him an “idiot” over race radio after that testy run up to the first corner. Verstappen forces Norris into the grass and runs wide himself. He has to give up his first place to Norris so we already have a new leader. Behind the front two Leclerc passed Piastri but couldn’t hold on to third. Antonelli got off poorly and dropped from sixth to 10th.
It’s lights out
… and away we goooo!
Nico Hulkenberg has been called in by the Sauber garage and he’s out of the race. More on that when I get it.
The stands are packed with a sea of red at Monza and very much on top of the drivers in the home straight, this should be fun. It looks like a lively day for racing and formation lap is underway.
The pageantry of Monza is underway. Vittorio Grigola is doing a rousing rendition of the Italian national anthem with a marching band. This always reminds me crying rugby players or full-backs for the Azzurri. The cameras pan to Kimi Antonelli but he seems to have avoided the waterworks.
Matthew Lawrenson has emailed in with a question for F1 fans:
Colton Herta leaving IndyCar for the test driver role at Cadillac next year is the big news in my area of expertise. What do F1 fans think of him coming over, given he’s not the most successful IndyCar driver of the last few years?
For the sport, it would intriguing to see the impact an American driver in an American team, but rather than take this on myself I’ll let you guys answer this.
We’re about half an hour away from lights out at Monza, so please do get in touch via the link at the top if you have any thoughts on today’s race.
Lewis Hamilton looks much happier than before the mid-season break and the nadir of Hungary. While he may not be the most comfortable yet in his Ferrari, he is clearly loving being a driver for the team especially in Italy. Nico Rosberg, a former teammate at Mercedes, is yet to an improvement in Hamilton’s form and pointed to his crash at Zandvoort as evidence of a driver not completely in tune with his vehicle, but looking at the Briton filming the tifosi from the presentation lap he soaking it all in. “It’s only your first time once,” he tells Sky on the coverage.
The full grid for the Italian GP
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Lando Norris (McLaren)
3. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. George Russell (Mercedes)
6. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
7. Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)
8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9. Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)
10. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
11. Oliver Bearman (Haas)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)
13. Carlos Sainz (Williams)
14. Alex Albon (Williams)
15. Esteban Ocon (Haas)
16. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
17. Franco Colapinto (Alpine)
18. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
19. Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)
20. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – pit lane
Preamble
Last week at Zandvoort was Max Verstappen’s home race but with his last win this season coming at Imola and now having set the fastest-ever lap in Formula One history at Monza it’s pretty clear that this Dutchman is pretty happy to live la dolce vita.
Verstappen seemed non-plussed about having achieved his record feat. He said: “Honestly, I didn’t even think about that when I crossed the line, but it’s nice. It didn’t feel too bad. The cars have been fun. They are pretty decent in the high speed [corners]. They’re quite quick in a straight line. Of course, the low speed [corners], that’s where we lose out compared to the previous generation. And yeah, on some tracks you can do these lap records now. Also, the new tarmac helps around here, kerbing. Like, the kerbs opened up a little bit.“
McLaren’s race this season is such that even Verstappen cannot be sure of converting his pole into a victory but he seemed optimistic after a qualifying P1 where he averaged 164.44mph to post a time of 1min 18.792secs.
Lando Norris had just what is now the second fastest lap ever at Monza when Verstappen came through to take pole and the British driver, who has developed a bad habit of failing to deliver in the key moments. Last week at Zandvoort he had been the fastest throughout qualifying only to fall behind teammate Oscar Piastri in the last session and then crash out in the race.
Piastri qualified third ahead of the two Ferraris, but Lewis Hamilton has been hit with a five-place grid penalty from the last race. Hamilton starts tenth with Mercedes’ George Russell, his teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda making up the rest of the top ten.
