But as soon as the lights went out at the start Ricciardo rose to a starring role. Verstappen got a poor getaway and Ricciardo surged forward to claim the lead as the field went into the first chicane. Verstappen slotted into second and Hamilton, who had made a good start, took third place.
As the leaders streamed towards the second chicane the Mercedes driver and the Red Bull were side by side. But in the tight confines of the corner both were forced wide. And while Verstappen managed to keep second, Hamilton cut the corner and conceded third place to Norris.
Behind them a collision between Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz brought out the Virtual Safety Car. Sainz managed to hold sixth place but as Giovinazzi limped back to the pit lane Sergio Perez climbed to seventh.
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The Mexican soon began to pressure his Spanish rival and on lap 9 he got close enough to plot a move. As the pair approached the Variante della Roggia he pulled across and drew alongside the Ferrari. He managed to get a nose in front on the entry to the corner and emerged with sixth place in the bag.
At the front, despite applying intense pressure neither Verstappen nor Hamilton could get past the McLarens, both of which were running in clear air, and on lap 18 Verstappen was still a second back from Ricciardo and five seconds clear of Norris who had a second in hand over Hamilton.
With his tyres fading, Ricciardo dived for the pits at the end of lap 22. Verstappen was released into the lead and clean air but with his tyres also wearing out the Dutchman headed for the pit lane at the end of the following lap.
And there the championship leader’s race began to quickly unravel. A problem with the front-right wheel saw the Red Bull driver sit in his pit box for almost 11 seconds and he emerged in ninth position, behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Behind him, Hamilton managed to get past Norris and took the race lead. The Mercedes driver then made his first p[it stop, but bizarrely the Briton also suffered a slow stop and when he emerged from the pit lane it was into the path of Verstappen.
The title contenders went into the first chicane almost side by side and just as with their lap one clash neither backed out. This time though the battle resulted in a collision as V erstappen hit the kerbs and then the driven left wheel of Hamilton’s car. The Red Bull was launched into the air and landed on top of the Mercedes, with the result that both ended up in the gravel and out of the race.
The Safety Car was released and that resulted in a flood of cars heading for the pit lane for a free stop. Perez was among those taking on new tyres and he emerged in fourth place behind race leader Ricciardo, Norris and Leclerc.
When racing resumed and the McLaren’s held the top two spots Perez went on the attack and on lap 34 he muscled past the Ferrari as they went through the first chicane. He got the job done by rattling across the kerbs, however, and was soon handed a five-second time penalty for gaining a lasting advantage. Behind the Mexican, Bottas also passed Leclerc and began to apply pressure on the Red Bull. Perez defended well, however, and managed to hold on to the place.
At the front, Ricciardo marched on and after 53 laps he took a surprise but well-earned win ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris. Checo crossed the line third but with his time penalty applied he dropped to fifth behind third-placed Bottas and Leclerc. Sixth place went to Sainz, with Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll seventh ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Williams’ George Russell and the second Alpine of Esteban Ocon.
And after several hours of deliberating, it was deemed Verstappen was at fault as his pass was “attempted too late for him to have the right to racing room” – and he was handed a three-place grid penalty plus two penalty points – the first on his licence in this 12-month period.
"The Stewards heard from the driver of car 33 (Max Verstappen), the driver of car 44 (Lewis Hamilton) and team representatives, reviewed the video evidence and determined that the driver of Car 33 was predominantly to blame for the collision with Car 44 at Turn 2," said the stewards in a statement. 2021 Italian Grand Prix: Huge moment as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton collide and crash out at Monza.
"Car 44 was exiting the pits. Car 33 was on the main straight. At the 50m board before Turn 1, Car 44 was significantly ahead of Car 33. Car 33 braked late and started to move alongside Car 44, although at no point in the sequence does Car 33 get any further forward than just behind the front wheel of Car 44."
"During the hearing the driver of Car 33 asserted that the cause of the incident was the driver of Car 44 opening the steering after Turn 1 and “squeezing” him to the apex of turn 2. The driver of Car 44 asserted that the driver of Car 33 attempted to pass very late and should have given up the corner either by backing off sooner, or by turning left behind the kerb."
"The Stewards observed on CCTV footage that the driver of Car 44 was driving an avoiding line, although his position caused Car 33 to go onto the kerb. But further, the Stewards observed that Car 33 was not at all alongside Car 44 until significantly into the entry into Turn 1."
"In the opinion of the Stewards, this manoeuvre was attempted too late for the driver of Car 33 to have “the right to racing room”. While Car 44 could have steered further from the kerb to avoid the incident, the Stewards determined that his position was reasonable and therefore find that the driver of Car 33 was predominantly to blame for the incident."
"In coming to the penalty the Stewards emphasise that they have only considered the incident itself and not the consequences thereof."
| 2021 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX 53 laps, 306.720km., Weather: Sunny |
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| CLASSIFIED: | |||
| P. | DRIVER | TEAM | TIME/GAP |
| 1. | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | 1h21:54.365 |
| 2. | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.747 |
| 3. | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes AMG | + 4.921 |
| 4. | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 7.309 |
| 5. | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 8.723 |
| 6. | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | + 10.535 |
| 7. | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 15.804 |
| 8. | Fernando Alonso | Alpine | + 17.201 |
| 9. | George Russell | Williams | + 19.724 |
| 10. | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | + 20.868 |
| 11. | Nicholas Latifi | Williams | + 23.743 |
| 12. | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin | + 24.621 |
| 13. | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | + 27.216 |
| 14. | Robert Kubica | Alfa Romeo | + 29.769 |
| 15. | Mick Schumacher | Haas | + 51.088 |
| FASTEST LAP: DANIEL RICCIARDO - 1:24.812 | |||
| NOT CLASSIFIED: | |||
| 16. | Nikita Mazepin | Haas | technical |
| 17. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes AMG | collision |
| 18. | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | collision |
| 19. | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | technical |
| 20. | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | technical |
| HYBRID ERA - MONZA 2014 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h19:10.236 2015 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h18:00.688 2016 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes AMG - 1h17:28.089 2017 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h15:32.312 2018 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h16:54.484 2019 Charles Leclerc - Ferrari - 1h15:26.665 2020 Pierre Gasly - AlphaTauri - 1h47:06.056 2021 Daniel Ricciardo - McLaren - 1h21:54.365 @МкФормула1 - РЕПУБЛИКА МАКЕДОНИЈА @MkFormula1 - REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA |
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| CLASSIFICATION AFTER 14/22 RACES | |||
| DRIVERS: | |||
| 1. | Max Verstappen | 226.5 | |
| 2. | Lewis Hamilton | 221.5 | |
| 3. | Valtteri Bottas | 141 | |
| 4. | Lando Norris | 132 |
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| 5. | Sergio Perez | 118 | |
| 6. | Charles Leclerc | 104 | |
| 7. | Carlos Sainz Jr. | 97.5 | |
| 8. | Daniel Ricciardo | 83 | |
| 9. | Pierre Gasly | 66 | |
| 10. | Fernando Alonso | 50 | |
| 11. | Esteban Ocon | 45 | |
| 12. | Sebastian Vettel | 35 | |
| 13. | Lance Stroll | 24 | |
| 14. | Yuki Tsunoda | 18 | |
| 15. | George Russell | 15 | |
| 16. | Nicholas Latifi | 7 | |
| 17. | Kimi Raikkonen |
2 | |
| 18. | Antonio Giovinazzi | 1 | |
| 19. | Mick Schumacher | 0 | |
| 20. | Robert Kubica | 0 | |
| 21. | Nikita Mazepin | 0 | |
| CONSTRUCTORS: | |||
| 1. | Mercedes AMG | 362.5 | |
| 2. | Red Bull | 344.5 | |
| 3. | McLaren | 215 | |
| 4. | Ferrari | 201.5 | |
| 5. | Alpine | 95 | |
| 6. | AlphaTauri | 84 | |
| 7. | Aston Martin | 59 | |
| 8. | Williams | 22 | |
| 9. | Alfa Romeo | 3 | |
| 10. | Haas | 0 | |
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