Written by Owen Bradley
It would be a relatively clean start for the field, with George Russell nearly running into the back of Oscar Piastri, taking to the escape road and losing multiple places.
Oscar Piastri would snatch the lead away from his teammate at Turn 4, going around the outside of Lando Norris and taking the lead into Turn 5. This would compromise Norris' exit, as he was then overtaken by Charles Leclerc at Turn 6's long right-hander.
Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg would make contact on the entry to the Ascari chicane towards the end of the first lap, with Hulkenberg squeezed by the Australian to the outside, as Hulkenberg's Haas went sideways after being put onto the dirt. Ricciardo would be given a 5-second penalty for the incident
However, with one of RB's pit stop mechanic's touching Ricciardo's car by mistake, the Australian would be given a 10-second penalty for failing to serve his original penalty.
Hulkenberg's race would get much worse, as he then locked up whilst attempting a move up the inside of Yuki Tsunoda at Turn 1, the pair making heavy contact as the German driver came into the pits to change his front wing. Tsunoda would have a radio message a few laps after the crash, to retire the car. Hulkenberg would be given a 10-second penalty for the incident.
Lando Norris would opt to come into the pits earlier than those around him in the attempt to perform the undercut on Charles Leclerc in front. However, Norris would lock both of his front tyres, making contact with the pit lane board as he attempted to get the car stopped in time.
As the rest of the field came into the pits, Red Bull, who initially took the alternate strategy and started on the Hard compound tyres, also made their pit stop, taking a fresh set of the Hard compound tyres and forcing them into a 2-stop strategy, to the dismay of Max Verstappen, who also had a slow stop.
George Russell and Sergio Perez would duel throughout the race, with Russell needing to take the escape road at Turn 1 once again after Sergio Perez squeezed the Briton to the outside of the corner. The pair would duel again on Lap 39, with Perez moving under braking at Turn 1, leaving just enough space for Russell to dive up the inside.
McLaren would give Lando Norris the message: "You are allowed to race Oscar, Papaya rules" as the pair were leading at the front of the field. Piastri would extend his lead by another second, the pair trading fastest laps and duelling psychologically, with both needing to make another pit stop.
Norris would begin complaining of tyre wear on his front tyres, making a mistake on Lap 31, needing to take the escape road at Turn 4 as Charles Leclerc got back into the DRS (Drag Reduction System) zone.
Norris would come into the pits, coming out behind championship rival Max Verstappen as the pair battled for multiple laps, Norris unable to make it past Verstappen. The McLaren driver would finally get past the Dutchman at Turn 1, with Verstappen coming into the pits just a lap later for fresh Medium tyres.
Ferrari attempted to run the one stop strategy, with just 15 laps remaining, Leclerc led the race by over 10 seconds. Piastri would overtake Carlos Sainz on Lap 45 for second place, lapping around a second quicker than the Ferrari's.
Lando Norris would close on Carlos Sainz just a few laps later, overtaking Sainz down the main straight for third place as both McLaren's began closing the gap rapidly to Leclerc, who had dark grey rings around his front tyres.
However, despite Piastri attempting to close the gap and getting within a couple of seconds by the end of the race, it would be Charles Leclerc who brought his Ferrari home, in their home race to take victory at the Italian Grand Prix, his second race victory of the season.
Oscar Piastri would come home to finish in second place, unfortunately missing out on taking his second victory, despite not putting a foot wrong throughout the race. The Australian just could not quite make up the gap to Leclerc, with Ferrari delighting the home crowd.
Lando Norris closed the gap to Max Verstappen in the World Championship, now sitting just over 60 points down in the championship with eight races remaining.
F1 Italian GP Results
1st Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2nd Oscar Piastri, McLaren
3rd Lando Norris, McLaren
4th Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
5th Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
6th Max Verstappen, Red Bull
7th George Russell, Mercedes
8th Sergio Perez, Red Bull
9th Alex Albon, Williams
10th Kevin Magnussen, Haas
11th Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
12th Franco Colapinto, Williams
13th Daniel Ricciardo, RB
14th Esteban Ocon, Alpine
15th Pierre Gasly, Alpine
16th Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
17th Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
18th Guanyu Zhou, Sauber
19th Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
DNF Yuki Tsunoda, RB
Formula One returns in two weeks for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at the streets of Baku.
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