Ricciardo becomes McLaren’s 20th winner, Bottas takes the first podium from 19th on the grid in 14 years and Kubica moves up the championship order. Here’s a statistic from each driver’s 2021 Italian Grand Prix weekend!
LEWIS HAMILTON
Lewis Hamilton retired from the Italian Grand Prix following a collision with Max Verstappen. This was Hamilton’s first retirement in over three years, his last having been at the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix. Hamilton last failed to score at Monza in 2010, when he retired from the race. Hamilton recorded Mercedes’ first retirement from the Italian Grand Prix since Nico Rosberg was out with an engine failure in 2015.
VALTTERI BOTTAS
Valtteri Bottas set the fastest qualifying time and won Sprint Qualifying but started from the back row of the grid due to a power unit penalty. Having started nineteenth on the grid, Bottas finished in the third place. His was the first podium finish recorded from nineteenth on the grid since Alex Wurz finished third at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix. Bottas’ third place made the 2021 Italian Grand Prix the 400th race in which a Finnish driver scored points. Finland is the seventh nation to reach the milestone. Bottas made up sixteen places in the Italian Grand Prix – equalling his personal best for most positions gained in a race. He also made up sixteen places after being demoted to the back of the grid at the 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
MAX VERSTAPPEN
After becoming the first Red Bull driver to start from pole position at the Italian Grand Prix since Sebastian Vettel in 2013, Max Verstappen failed to finish the race following a collision with Lewis Hamilton. This was Verstappen’s second consecutive Monza retirement and he became the first polesitter to retire from the Italian Grand Prix since Lewis Hamilton crashed out in the closing stages of the 2009 Italian Grand Prix.
SERGIO PEREZ
Sergio Perez finished the Italian Grand Prix in fifth place following a five second time penalty. This was the eighth consecutive year in which the Mexican driver has scored points at Monza. That becomes the longest active streak of points-scoring appearances at Monza following Lewis Hamilton’s retirement.
DANIEL RICCIARDO
Daniel Ricciardo ended McLaren’s 9-year wait for victory, winning the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. The Australian took the eighth victory of his Formula 1 career and became the 20th driver to win a Grand Prix with McLaren. This was Ricciardo’s first win since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix. He equals Clay Regazzoni as the driver with the thirteenth longest gap between wins; a gap of 3 years, 3 months and 16 days. Ricciardo is the 39th different driver to win the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Monza’s third new winner in the last three years and the first Australian driver to win in the event’s 100 year history.
LANDO NORRIS
With Lando Norris finishing second, the 2021 Italian Grand Prix was McLaren’s first 1-2 result since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. Norris recorded his fifth podium finish in Formula 1 and the best result of his career to date. Norris also led a lap – the first time he has done so, becoming the 179th driver to lead a lap in World Championship history.
SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Sebastian Vettel finished twelfth in the 2021 Italian Grand Prix, making this the third consecutive year that he has failed to score at Monza.
LANCE STROLL
Despite losing his 100% Q3 appearance rate at Monza, Lance Stroll finished seventh in the Italian Grand Prix. He scored for the first time since the British Grand Prix. This was the fourth time that Stroll has scored in his five Italian Grand Prix appearances. Stroll’s seventh place marks the first time that the driver starting ninth has scored at the Italian Grand Prix since 2016.
FERNANDO ALONSO
Finishing in eighth place, Fernando Alonso recorded his first points at the Italian Grand Prix since 2013, when he finished on the podium with Ferrari.
ESTEBAN OCON
Esteban Ocon finished the Italian Grand Prix in tenth place, scoring points for the fifth consecutive race. This is his longest points-scoring streak since the 2017 season. Ocon has scored on four of his five Italian Grand Prix appearances.
CHARLES LECLERC
Charles Leclerc finished the Italian Grand Prix in fourth place – his best result since his British Grand Prix podium. This was only the second time he has scored points at Monza. The other time he finished in the points at the circuit was with his 2019 win.
CARLOS SAINZ
Despite crashing in Free Practice 2, Carlos Sainz out-qualified team-mate Charles Leclerc for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix weekend. Sainz finished the Italian Grand Prix in sixth place, scoring for a seventh consecutive race.
PIERRE GASLY
Pierre Gasly was the only driver who failed to finish Sprint Qualifying. He therefore qualified twentieth – the third back row qualification of his F1 career. He also qualified twentieth at the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix and the 2018 Australian Grand Prix. In the race, Gasly recorded his third retirement of the 2021 season.
YUKI TSUNODA
Yuki Tsunoda failed to start the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. Tsunoda’s DNS was the first to be recorded at the Italian Grand Prix since Piercarlo Ghinzani failed to start with Toleman in 1985. This was the first time that Tsunoda has failed to reach the chequered flag at consecutive races.
🇵🇱 ROBERT KUBICA
Having finished the race in fourteenth place, and despite racing only twice in 2021, Robert Kubica overtakes Nikita Mazepin in the Drivers’ Championship.
ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI
For only the second time in his career, Antonio Giovinazzi reached Q3 at consecutive races. He last did so at the 2019 French and Austrian Grands Prix. The Alfa Romeo driver started the Italian Grand Prix from seventh place – the best grid position for an Italian driver at their home race since Vitantonio Liuzzi lined up seventh on the grid at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix. Contact on the first lap saw him drop out of the points and, for the fourth time in the last five races, he finished in thirteenth place.
MICK SCHUMACHER
Mick Schumacher’s fifteenth place marked the third time that a Schumacher finished fifteenth at the Italian Grand Prix. Ralf Schumacher also finished fifteenth in both the 2006 and 2007 Monza races.
NIKITA MAZEPIN
Nikita Mazepin dropped to 21st in the Drivers’ Championship as a result of substitute driver Robert Kubica finishing in fourteenth place. This was Mazepin’s third retirement in the last four races and the third consecutive season in which a Haas driver has failed to reach the end of the Italian Grand Prix.
GEORGE RUSSELL
With ninth place at the Italian Grand Prix, George Russell scored for the third time in the last four races. Russell last finished in ninth place when he deputised for Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes in the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix. This was the first time that Russell has not finished fourteenth in his three Italian Grand Prix appearances. Russell’s ninth place finish is only the second time in the last 23 seasons that the driver starting fourteenth has scored at the Italian Grand Prix. On Saturday, Russell was out-qualified by a team-mate at Williams for the first time.
NICHOLAS LATIFI
Nicholas Latifi out-qualified George Russell for the first time. Latifi missed out on points by just under three seconds, finishing in eleventh place. This was the fourth time that Latifi has finished eleventh in his F1 career.
Read more statistics from the 2021 Italian Grand Prix in our Post Race Statistics article!
