Daniel Ricciardo has won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, a race that saw title challengers Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collide.
Ricciardo dominated the race, overtaking pole-sitter Verstappen at the start of the grand prix on the run into Turn 1.
McLaren achieved its first grand prix win since Brazil, 2012, and with Lando Norris second, the team took its first 1-2 finish since Canada, 2010.
The result marks Ricciardo’s first race win since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix, when he drove for Red Bull Racing.
Valtteri Bottas was third for Mercedes benefitting from a five-second time penalty for Sergio Perez, which capped off a strong recovery drive after starting from the back of the grid due to an engine penalty.
Title rivals come together once again
Arguably the biggest talking point of the race was another clash between title protagonists Verstappen and Hamilton.
In the early stages of the race, Verstappen followed race-leader Ricciardo but couldn’t overtake his former team-mate.
Hamilton ran in fourth on the Hard tyre and was stuck behind compatriot Norris, with Verstappen having a healthy gap over his championship rival.
However, Verstappen’s pit stop was slow, as the Dutchman was stationary for over 11 seconds, which eliminated his chances of overcutting Ricciardo, who had pitted one lap before.
Hamilton made his pit stop two laps after Verstappen and the two emerged side-by-side at Turn 1 – neither yielded and Verstappen was thrown on top of Hamilton’s Mercedes W12 car.
Both drivers walked away from the incident unscathed, with Hamilton suffering his first race retirement since the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix.
Ferrari gets both cars inside top six at home race
Ferrari also benefitted from Sergio Perez’s time penalty, which was issued after he overtook Charles Leclerc off the track.
Leclerc was promoted to fourth at the chequered flag, while Perez was forced to settle for fifth place, after crossing the line in third.
Carlos Sainz was sixth for Ferrari, however the Scuderia outfit loses out in its fight for third against McLaren.
Lance Stroll was seventh on the road, ahead of Fernando Alonso and George Russell, who has now scored points in three of the last four races.
Esteban Ocon was tenth, taking the final point on offer.
There was frustration for AlphaTauri, who for the first time this year, missed out on points.
Yuki Tsunoda was pulled from the grid prior to the start of the race, while Pierre Gasly was an early retirement.
[motorsport_result id=’72542′]
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