Four talking points from a dramatic Italian GP

Hamilton keeps his head

This one might have been far slower than the collision at Silverstone on the first lap of the British GP, but Lewis Hamilton was all too aware of his fortunate deliverance after Max Verstappen’s right-rear Pirelli landed on top of his crash helmet as the world title rivals crashed out together for a second time this season. No wonder the seven-time champion, who was left with a sore neck, paid humble tribute to the ‘halo’ safety bars that offered life-saving protection over the top of his Mercedes cockpit.

The incident occurred on lap 26 after the pitstops. Verstappen had lost the lead from his pole position at the start to Ricciardo and now faced an uphill challenge after a dreadfully slow stop from his usually electric Red Bull crew. But Hamilton too had been delayed at his stop and returned to the track just in front of Verstappen, the Dutchman primed and ready to strike at Rettifilo, the tight first chicane that so often induces contact. Hamilton just about left enough room for Verstappen under braking for the right hander, Max moving up on the inside of the Merc’s flank for the following left hander. The cars touched and the rear of the Red Bull was flicked up and over the black Mercedes, ripping off the top of the roll hoop and the right rear tyre momentarily landing on Hamilton’s head before the blue car slid down and dug into the gravel. The nose of the Mercedes was trapped underneath it and both were all too clearly out of the race, Verstappen stalking off without checking if Hamilton was OK. The pair separately and dejectedly took the long walk back to the pits.

Inevitably, recriminations followed, Verstappen claiming his rival had left him no room, Hamilton reckoning Max should have backed out of it – although mostly he was just thankful to have kept his head. The verdict from most was ‘racing incident’, that they’d both contributed to the collision. But the stewards took another view, explaining how Verstappen was “predominantly” to blame because he’d never been fully alongside. The world championship leader will be docked three places on the Russian GP grid next time out in Sochi and was handed two penalty points.

Fair or an outrageous miscarriage of justice? Last time Hamilton was penalised, but at least could race on to win at Silverstone. Verstappen didn’t have that option on Sunday – although Merc boss Toto Wolff mischievously labelled it a “tactical foul”, which seemed a low blow. Meanwhile his counterpart at Red Bull, Christian Horner, for once steered clear of anything incendiary and simply labelled the decision “disappointing”. You’ll have your own view. Whatever, Verstappen left Monza with his world championship lead intact and extended to five points following his second place in the sprint race on Saturday.

Why the context of the first-lap clash matters

Little about the Verstappen-Hamilton duel should be judged in isolation. How Lewis left Max with so little room at the first chicane, forcing the Red Bull man to head for the kerbs, was a reversal of what had occurred between the pair on lap one at the second chicane. There, they had banged wheels and Hamilton, on the outside line, had been forced to cut the chicane to avoid a collision. He’d just passed Lando Norris for third, but was now forced to cede the place in the wake of bumping over the kerbs in a moment that had echoes of another near-miss with Verstappen at Imola earlier this year. There’s now a growing backlog of previous incidents between the title rivals, minor and not so minor, and when push comes to shove neither is willing to back down. Might Hamilton have given a smidgen more room had he been racing someone else on lap 26? After what had happened on lap one, he was clearly in no mood to give Verstappen more ground than he absolutely had to.

The brittle respect between the title contenders might just about survive once the dust has settled, but there are legitimate fears that an edge of open hostility will increasingly become a factor in this engrossing title fight. This season is on a knife-edge.

Ricciardo reminds us he’s still here

“For anyone who thought I left, I never left.” That was Daniel Ricciardo’s message to the world after his remarkable win at Monza, delivered via his team radio as the sweetness of his first victory since Monaco in 2018 began to sink in.

Let’s not forget, this wasn’t an inherited win. OK, Ricciardo was handed a place on the front row after sprint race winner Valtteri Bottas was forced to relinquish pole position by an engine change made to his car before action begun on Friday. But in a head to head with Verstappen, the Honey Badger sprinted into the lead and at a circuit where following another car in this era is so difficult, Max could apparently do little about him. Even if Verstappen and Hamilton had avoided their collision, either or both would still have faced the task of chasing down and passing Ricciardo – and there’s no way of being certain they would have managed it. After such a difficult start to his life at McLaren, during which Ricciardo has struggled to get a handle on the Mercedes-powered MCL35M, Daniel has returned from the summer break refreshed and looking much more like his old self – the guy who won seven grands prix with panache at Red Bull and still showed his class during a trying couple of seasons at Renault. His eighth win rejuvenates a flagging reputation – even if the man himself never doubted he still had it in him.

Norris completes McLaren’s perfect day

Judging on form through the season, if anyone looked likely to lead McLaren’s return to the top it seemed to be Lando Norris. But at Monza the 21-year-old found himself just out-qualified on Friday by his team-mate, finished fourth to Ricciardo’s third in the processional sprint and played a vital role as trusted wingman to his team-mate on Sunday.

Following the safety car interruption to clear up the Verstappen-Hamilton mess, Norris was feeling the heat from Sergio Perez and most notably a charging Bottas, who drove very well at Monza in the wake of his sprint win and from the back of the grid – almost as if he felt a new sense of release now his future at Alfa Romeo has been confirmed. Having asked McLaren to give Ricciardo a hurry-up, Norris sensibly asked the team whether he should hold station in the interests of the team result and was told “it’s best for us where you are”. Thereafter, Ricciardo eased away and Norris kept out of range of Perez and Bottas, ‘Checo’ losing his podium to a deserved five-second penalty for cutting the second chicane as he passed Charles Leclerc. That pushed Bottas on to the podium he had promised Mercedes, with Ferrari’s Leclerc fourth and Perez classified fifth, just ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr.

The result marks McLaren’s first F1 victory since Jenson Button’s at Interlagos, way back in 2012. Since then 170 races have passed by, McLaren fading at times into the once-unimaginable realm of a backmarker. The climb back to midfield respectability has been long and at times painful. But under Zak Brown and Andreas Seidl, the team is now in the ascendency. Sure, circumstances at Monza played in its favour, but both drivers made the most of what they had in style. While anxiety brews between the title rivals, F1 could at least savour a proper feel-good result at the glorious old ‘cathedral of speed’.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.