The 2021 Italian Grand Prix was nothing short of dramatic, as Daniel Ricciardo took a surprising but deserved victory for McLaren while championship leaders Max Verstappen crashed with Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) in another episode of a fierce F1 championship rivalry that’s turning ugly.
It was also a McLaren 1-2, with British Lando Norris finishing second behind his teammate and closing out a weekend in which the Woking-based team scored every available point on Sunday, with Ricciardo taking the Fastest Lap of the Grand Prix. It was McLaren’s first win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.
🏆 2012 ← 170 races → 2021 🏆
The long wait is over 🙌#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 @McLarenF1 pic.twitter.com/cb3uGG9ndl
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2021
Valtteri Bottas put his Mercedes in third place after starting from the back of the grid, and the German team extended its lead in the World Constructors’ Championship over Red Bull, which is struggling to give both its cars a chance to compete at a high level in every race.
Verstappen kept his five-point championship lead in the standings, as his crash into Hamilton caused both drivers to retire from the race. For Hamilton, it was his first ‘Did Not Finish’ since the 2018 Austrian Grand Prix, and the first from a crash since the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.