Formula One’s second-ever sprint race, this one at Monza ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, saw slightly more chaos than the first sprint race but once again proved to be very much a train from start to finish. As a result, first-place qualifier Valtteri Bottas managed to lead from start to finish.
Saturday’s sprint race kicked off with a shockingly excellent start from the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, who launched right into the lead. His teammate Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, had one of his worst starts of the season, dropping back to fifth place. Max Verstappen and the McLarens of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris both managed to sneak by.
Chaos reigned, though, when AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly made contact with one of the McLarens and proceeded to lose his front wing, sending him flying off the road and into the wall at the Curva Grande corner. Gasly’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda made light contact with Robert Kubica’s Alfa Romeo, causing the latter to spin and the former to pit for a new front wing. A safety car was immediately deployed.
On the restart two laps later, Bottas had yet another stunning start, maintaining a strong gap between himself and the competition. And at that point, that’s very much where things stayed. The field separated out, with no one able to make any passes.
As a result, Bottas took victory and the three points available to spring race winners. Verstappen nabbed second, along with two points, and Daniel Ricciardo took a single point for third. The Italian Grand Prix, though, promises a little bit more interest since we'll have a McLaren on the front row.
Despite his stunning win, Bottas will start the race from the back of the grid tomorrow due to a power unit change. That promotes Max Verstappen to the head of the field.
Starting Grid For Sunday’s Race
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
- Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
- Lando Norris (McLaren)
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)
- Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo)
- Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
- Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)
- Fernando Alonso (Alpine)
- Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin)
- Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
- Nicholas Latifi (Williams)
- George Russell (Williams)
- Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri)
- Nikita Mazepin (Haas)
- Robert Kubica (Alfa Romeo)
- Mick Schumacher (Haas)
- Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)