Penalty denies Bottas of pole advantage for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.
MONZA, Italy—Valtteri Bottas won Saturday’s sprint race at the Monza Autodromo by two seconds plus over runner-up Max Verstappen. But thanks to an engine change (and subsequent penalty), the Finn will start Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix from the rear of the grid.
The penalty gave advantages to both Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. Verstappen will start on pole and, in so doing, added two more points to his season lead (now at five points) over rival Lewis Hamilton. Ricciardo, who has encountered a tough season in his first year as a McLaren driver, will now start Sunday’s race in second rather than third. It’s the first front-row opportunity for McLaren since 2018.
If the penalty affected Bottas, his comments didn’t show it. “Unfortunately, I’m starting from the back tomorrow, but the speed is there, so I’ll be fighting and coming as high as I can.”
For the rest of the top ten, McLaren’s Lando Norris battled Hamilton, who had a bad start, and took fourth ahead of the seven-time world champion. The two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. took sixth and seventh, respectively, while Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi was eighth in front of his home fans. In his Red Bull, Sergio Perez traded places all afternoon with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll–even having to give the Canadian his position back after cutting the first chicane–but Perez recovered and passed Stroll to finish ninth.
Saturday’s action was not without incident. Pierre Gasly’s Alpha Tauri contacted McLaren’s Lando Norris at turn one and damaged the Frenchman’s front wing, which went under his car and threw Gasly into the barriers at Curve Grande. Gasly was unhurt but the mishap ruined a good chance to repeat his win at this circuit a year ago.
Further up the road, Robert Kubica was tagged by Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, spinning the Alfa Romeo around into the gravel. Kubica managed to escape the situation and race on, while Tsunoda had to pit to repair his damaged front wing. The incident brought out the safety car for a couple of laps before racing resumed without further issues.
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 9a Eastern U.S. time. You can view it on ESPN2.
