September 12, (THEWILL) – An unexpected turn of events at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix led to the emergence of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo as winner to end McLaren’s nine-year victory drought after top favourites and title rivals Mercedes driver Sir Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen collided and crashed out of the GP completely.
It ended up as a turn of good fortune for McLaren as their one-two finish saw Lando Norris take second place while the second driver for the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, Valtteri Bottas, scooped a consolation third podium for champions.
However, the controversy-laden crash out, the season’s second big controversial collision between the title rivals, was a big talking point of the race, especially as both drivers ended up with the DNF tag that translates to “Did Not Finish”.
The race in Italy that began with Verstappen ahead of Hamilton based on the poor Sprint the Mercedes driver had on Saturday, as THEWILL reported, ended in the gravel at the first chicane after a bizarre clash on lap 26 as the Red Bull attempted to overtake the Mercedes.
Hamilton had a pit stop earlier in the race but as he funnelled back onto the track, he entered an immediate battle with Verstappen on lap 25 with the Brit slightly ahead. The leading Mercedes and Red Bull drivers both refused to yield ground at the first corner. It was inevitable therefore that their cars were going to collide.
As Verstappen attempted to go around the outside of Hamilton in the braking zone, on the inside of the left-hander on exit, the two cars met in the middle and the Dutchman went over the orange “sausage kerb”. Upon contact, the Red Bull was lifted with all four wheels off the ground.
The rear wheel of Verstappen’s car swiped the rear of the Mercedes in the process and made contact with the safety roll-hoop and halo head protection device of Hamilton’s Mercedes, which was what ultimately saved the Brit from grievous harm. But, there and then, the race came to an abrupt end for both drivers.
Neither man sustained any injuries but it was Hamilton’s first ever DNF in 63 race starts while Verstappen had managed to finish just two of the last five races.
Yet, it will be unfair to think McLaren’s Ricciardo won because the sport’s fastest drivers did not finish. Right off the start and way before the crash, the McLaren winner had leapfrogged Verstappen. The Australian maintained his advantage going into his only pit stop. And because Verstappen earned an 11.1 seconds stationary penalty, Ricciardo was the firm favourite to win even if there was no crash.
In the end, the overall championship standings still had Verstappen ahead after the Red Bull driver extended his lead in the drivers’ championship over Hamilton to five points due to the two points he claimed in F1’s second ever Sprint race on Saturday. He stands on 226.5 points as opposed to 221.5 for Hamilton.
The F1 stewards are investigating the crash and, expectedly, both drivers have straight out blamed the other in post-race interviews.
A furious Verstappen had said: “That is what happens when you don’t leave any room.” He had come out of his car and left the scene without checking on the situation with his rival in the Mercedes.
Hamilton was heard complaining over the radio with his team. He also believed Verstappen to be at fault and claimed: “He pushed me wide.”
There was nothing but excitement for Ricciardo and McLaren, however. The beaming Australian said: “It worked quite well for me yesterday. It was never a guarantee we would hold out the race. It was enough to keep Max behind. To lead literally from start to finish I don’t think any of us expected that. There was something in me on Friday, I knew something good was coming.”
Bottas, who helped Mercedes with some points, had something to celebrate too: “I’m glad we can get more points than Red Bull.” But, about the Verstappen and Hamilton crash, he simply noted: “It’s unfortunate.”
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
