The 2019 Italian Grand Prix proved why Monza needed to stay on the F1 calendar. A new deal was struck before the weekend, and the race provided the perfect platform as to why fans, especially Ferrari fans, love Monza.

The grid was headed by Ferrari youngster, Charles Leclerc, after his time of
1:19.307. Lewis Hamilton lined up along side Leclerc on the front row after his time of 1:19.346. Mercedes’ Bottas lined up along side Ferrari’s Vettel on the second row, wth the thrid row being a Renault F1 lock out with Ricciardo starting fifth and Hulkenburg starting sixth. Carlos Sainz lined up in seventh place in his McLaren, ahead of Alexander Albon, making his second outing in a Red Bull. The Q1 drop-out curse seems to be over for Lance Stroll, making it into Q3 and starting ninth on the grid, ahead of Alfa-Romeo’s Antonio Giovanazzi, in his home grand prix.

The third qualifying session ended in drama, with all but two cars failing to cross the line in time to set their second flying lap. Nobody wanted to the the first car out and with everyone slowing down to try and get behind others for the tow, the didn’t have enough time to make it around the track and cross the line, with only Leclerc, who had provisional pole at this point, and Sainz able to set another flying lap.

Magnussen and Kvyat lined up 11th and 12th, with Grosjean, Russell and Kubica rounding out the non-penalty related grid positions. Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen filled out the rest of the grid, with Kimi Raikkonen starting from the pit-lane.

As in almost every grand prix, the start is dramatic. As the cars bolted down to the first chicane, Leclerc remained in the lead, with Hamilton holding off pressure from Bottas. Max Verstappen went onto the grass and had a broken front wing. Going into the second chicane, the front three remained the same, but Hulkenburg overtook Vettel, much to the tiffosi’s disappointment.

Alex Albon continued his strong form for Red Bull, making a stunning move on Carlos Sainz, one which made Sky Sports F1 Commentor, David Croft, go “WOW”. But straight away Carlos Sainz got ahead of Albon, squeezing him onto the gravel, after they collided but no lasting damage came of the collision.

Lap Six saw yet another spin at Monza for Sebastian Vettel. This time he didn’t get spun around by anyone, he just dropped he car coming into the corner. He went onto the grass and was spinning the tyres to keep the car moving, before rejoining the track and crashing into Perez, who the proceeded to rejoin the track and send Gasly into the gravel at the Ascari chicane.

Leclerc vs Hamilton was the main story of the race, with the young Ferrari driver doing an outstanding job to keep the man from Stevenage behind him. Leclerc squeezed Hamilton into the escape road on lap 23 ending the battle, but Leclerc did receive the black and white flag for his actions.

Hamilton kept within distance of Leclerc for around 20 more laps before a lock-up on lap 43, resulted in Bottas claiming second. He went to challange the Ferrari, resulting in very little for the Finnish driver, including going deep at the first chicance on lap 51, gifting the win to Leclerc.

After 53 laps around the the only real high-speed track left on the calender at Monza, Charles Leclerc claimed his second win in Formula One, after winning in Spa last time out. This time he could celebrate, last weeks race was over shadowed by the death of F2 driver, Anthonie Hubert.

The Tiffosi went mad, celebrating the end of the weekend in the best way possible, an Italian car winning the race. The fastest lap was set by Lewis Hamilton, 1:21.779, gaining an extra World Championship point. Bottas claimed second place ahead of Hamilton in third.

The race result was as follows:

The World Driver’s Championship after the Italian GP:

And the World Constructor’s Championship: