LIVE Italian GP Raceday: Verstappen back on top, Leclerc second, Alonso, Vettel out at Monza

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  Leclerc made his 38th/53st lap time, but the Dutchman still had the lead intact as he saw his first win, as well as finishing at the podium. Italian Grand Prix
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  Round 35/53 Verstappen regained the lead he had enjoyed at the outset and built his lead by 19 seconds ahead of the Ferrari driver.

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  Round 27/53 Lewis Hamilton overcame Fernando Alonso to finish sixth in the standings. The English player started 19th in the net.
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  After 25 laps, Lewis Hamilton is seventh, while Alonso is strong in sixth. Meanwhile, Verstappen prepares to change tires as he uses medium tires.

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  Round 20/53 Verstappen now leads 8 seconds ahead of the Mercedes driver, while Ricciardo is currently suffering from hard tyres.
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  Valtteri overcame Magnussen at home straight to P16; Zhou stopped for the first tire change for the Hard tire and he returned to the track in P17.

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  Verstappen is closing in on Russell and overtaking Mercedes when the Dutchman just has Leclerc ahead.
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  Tsunoda won three places, while Sainz rose two places at the end of the first round.
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  End of the first round – Zhou crossed the line in P9, Valtteri in P20 after reporting contact on turn one. There seems to be no damage.
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  Lando lost a few spots early on, but there’s still a long way to go.

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  Charles Leclerc and George Russell started with soft tyres, while Norris, Ricciardo,, Gasly and Alonso started with medium tires as the drivers took their places after the roster round.

Formula One frontman Max Verstappen is feeling unusually optimistic about his chances of getting a good result at the Italian Grand Prix.

Monza is the only circuit where Verstappen has never even stood on the podium. The Red Bull driver’s best result was fifth in 2018.

Verstappen hadn’t even finished the previous two Italian GPs; He retired last year after a spectacular collision with fellow title rival Lewis Hamilton, who was also forced to drop out of the race.

However, the Dutchman will hit the track on Sunday with four wins in a row and with his Red Bull having a dominant straight line speed all season, it’s an advantage over one of the F1 fastest track.

“We’re always slow on the go, so normally when you get here it’s never a good weekend,” Verstappen said when asked about his previous problems at Monza. “And besides, you know, there are some technical issues as well around this track and we always have to get the engine penalties here. So naturally, it’s never going to be great.

“But now I think with the speed on the straight, it could be a completely different weekend for us.”

However, Verstappen will start the Grand Prix no later than Friday after he was among the drivers fined for altering engine parts. He is dropped five places, while Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda will start at the bottom of the net.

Sergio Pérez, Carlos Sainz Jr and Valtteri Bottas were also fined.

Verstappen was also penalized against the Belgian GP two weeks ago and started in 14th place but overcame the pitch to win.

Verstappen’s dominant performances have given him a 109-point advantage over Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and teammate Sergio Pérez, with just seven races remaining.

Last year, he led Hamilton by just three points as he entered the Italian GP.

“I always feel comfortable,” Verstappen said. “Even last year, you know, when the lead wasn’t that big, I think we always felt good and confident. But of course, with the current lead, yes, it’s great and it’s great, but we still want to win more races. “

Verstappen won over home fans at the Dutch GP last Sunday and Ferrari will be hoping his passionate red-wrapped tifosi also has something to celebrate this weekend at home. mine.

Leclerc was at the top of Monza’s iconic podium in 2019 but it was Ferrari’s only success since 2010 and he doesn’t expect it to repeat itself this year, especially after a performance. Another foul play from the Zandvoort team.

Leclerc said: “In theory at least, it looks like a tough weekend. “We expected Red Bull to be stronger, the track characteristics didn’t exactly match our car, but we’ve had some good and bad surprises this year so hopefully this is one of those. good things and we do better.

“Especially compared to Red Bull… we go straight slower. Their main strength this year is speed on the straight line, we seem to be a bit faster in the corners. On races like this, it’s not enough to regain the advantage they had on the straight. “

However, there was positive news for Ferrari on Friday, as it topped the charts in both runs.

Sainz was fastest in the second session, 0.143 seconds ahead of Verstappen and 0.193 ahead of Leclerc, who was fastest in the first session in a one-two Ferrari.

George Russell was third fastest in his first practice, ahead of Mercedes teammate Hamilton and Verstappen in fifth.

He finished fifth in the second session, behind only Lando Norris but faster than Pérez and Hamilton.

The session was red-flagged shortly after Mick Schumacher was halted about halfway through, with power unit failure later confirmed.

There was a minute’s silence before kick-off in memory of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on Thursday at the age of 96.

Ferrari also had a sticker on its car in memory of the British monarch.

(With input from AP)