On Saturday, the two Mercedes drivers locked out the front row, but with sprint qualifying still to come, the true starting grid for the FORMULA 1 HEINEKEN GRAN PREMIO D’ITALIA 2021 was not set in stone just yet. It was an 18 lap sprint around the Monza circuit, with drivers fighting to better their starting position in Sunday’s race.
It was Valtteri Bottas who started the sprint race at the front of the grid, although he will certainly be starting the race from the back of the grid, as he is forced to take his fourth power unit of the season. This meant that Bottas really had nothing to lose and was only fighting for the few points that were available for the sprint race.
Valtteri Bottas got away well from the front of the grid, as did Max Verstappen from P3. Lewis Hamilton had an abysmal start from the front row, losing positions to Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly while also having to defend the inside line from Lando Norris.
In the first corner, Ricciardo had to get out of the throttle to avoid colliding with Verstappen. This caused an accordion effect behind with Gasly tapping the rear tyre of the McLaren. This damaged Gasly’s front wing, which later fell off entirely in the third corner. With no front wing, Gasly’s AlphaTauri slid off into the gravel and barrier on the outside of the corner, bringing out the safety car.
The race resumed after a few laps and Bottas got a good jump on Verstappen. The race resumed with a battle between two F1 veterans: Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. Vettel got by the Alpine in the first chicane, but Fernando Alonso overtook the Aston Martin later in the lap.
A few laps later, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll were fighting wheel to wheel in the first chicane, as Perez tried to gain a position. Perez had to cut the chicane over the kerbs, but did not hand back the position. The duo were side-by-side again going into the second chicane and Perez stayed ahead. He was told over the team radio to hand back the position and he obeyed. Going into the first chicane the following lap, Perez made a similar move to overtake Stroll and make it stick.
Looking at the bottom of the top 5, Lewis Hamilton seemed powerless against the pace of Lando Norris. Hamilton was on the medium tyres and Norris was on the soft tyres, but even as the soft tyres hit their predicted drop off point, Hamilton could not launch an attack against the McLaren.
Just as quick as it started, the 18 lap sprint qualifying race was over. It was Valtteri Bottas who crossed the line with the lead of the race, but it is Max Verstappen who will have pole position for the race on Sunday. Alongside him on the front row will be Daniel Ricciardo, who took a point for finishing in P3.
There will be more on-track action tomorrow for the main event in front of the Italian crowd around the Monza circuit.
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