MONZA, Italy – Valtteri Bottas dominated Saturday’s F-1 sprint race at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza as Max Verstappen gave chase throughout the 18-lap event.
Bottas led the event from start to finish, which included a chaotic start that saw Pierre Gasly crash in the opening corners after contact damaged his front wing. His AlphaTauri teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, also suffered wing damage and was forced to pit during the safety car period that followed for a fresh front wing.
When the race resumed Bottas pulled away, eventually beating Verstappen by more than two seconds to earn three points towards the championship. Verstappen’s runner-up earned him two points, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing third to gain one point.
The victory would typically guarantee Bottas the pole for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, however due to an unapproved power unit change Bottas he will start from the rear of Sunday’s race.
“A good day in the office for me personally, it was a clean race and I had the pace,” Bottas said. “Feels like it has been a while since I’ve finished first in a race, so I am very happy. I had a good start and a clean restart as well, so those things were key for me. The car felt good throughout, and it was great to finish P1 today and get some points as well. Unfortunately, I’m starting from the back tomorrow, but the speed is there, so I’ll be fighting. There are overtaking opportunities here so I hope I can make my way up the grid and have a good race for the Team. It won’t be easy, but we have the pace and with the right strategy we can make something happen. I’ll give it everything, I can promise you that.”
With Bottas dropping to the rear for Sunday’s race, that promotes Verstappen to the pole of the Italian Grand Prix with Ricciardo starting alongside him.
“To be on pole tomorrow at a track like this is a real positive for us, we had a good start and the race went better than expected,” Verstappen said. “We scored a few championship points and it’s great to be starting at the front tomorrow. I was giving it my all to keep close to Valtteri today, but I still expect a tough race tomorrow as Lewis is starting in P4 and they have a bit more pace than us, we know we are slower than the Mercedes here. I’m hoping for another clean start tomorrow so I can create a bit of a gap at the beginning, because I will definitely need it later in the race. It’s going to be an interesting battle and we’ll see what happens, we’ll keep pushing and try to make the most out of it.”
Lando Norris finished fourth and will start the Grand Prix from third. Lewis Hamilton started the sprint race second, but got swallowed by the field at the start and eventually finished the race fifth. He’ll start the Italian Grand Prix from the fourth position.