Daniel Ricciardo wins action packed Italian Grand Prix

DANIEL RICCIARDO gave McLaren their first Grand Prix win since 2012 as he led from start to finish in Monza

Daniel Ricciardo got the jump on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen from the start of today’s (September 12) Italian GP in Monza, and led all the way to the chequered flag, to give his McLaren team their first win since Brazil back in 2012, and the Australian’s first win since 2018 in Monaco, when he was driving for Red Bull.

A one-two result saw Lando Norris claim his first second-place finish in the other McLaren, with another excellent drive, where at times it looked like he could have taken Ricciardo, but he was prevented from doing so by ‘team orders’, and had to settle for second.

Bad pitstops led to the big talking point of this race, with both Verstappen and Hamilton suffering slow stops, and it was Hamilton’s exit from the pits on Lap 26 that led to a very controversial collision with the Dutchman as he caught Hamilton on the first chicane as he exited the pits, with Verstappen’s car actually finishing up on top of the Mercedes, and replays showing its wheel actually landing on Lewis’ helmet at one point.

As the two cars fought for position, Verstappen’s wheel clipped the orange ‘sausage kerb’ and went airborne, with all four wheels off the ground, and the British world champion will surely be giving thanks to whoever designed the halo head protection on his car, which has definitely saved him from serious injury.

Sergio Perez finished in third in the other Red Bull but was hit with a five-second penalty for an earlier incident, which promoted Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas up into third, having started from 19th on the grid.

A jubilant Ricciardo, who has not had the best of seasons with his new team, said after the race, “To anyone who thought I left, I never left, I just moved aside for a while”.

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