2 Ricciardo leads Mclaren 1-2
The shenanigans between Hamilton and Verstappen left Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris clear to complete a memorable 1-2 result for Mclaren, ending a win drought stretching back to the final grand prix of 2012.
The slippery aerodynamic profile of the MCL35, which bore such fruit in Austria, performed brilliantly again at Monza, where Norris and Ricciardo came within half a tenth of out-qualifying Verstappen’s Red Bull on Friday. The key for Ricciardo was a clean run past Hamilton off the start in Saturday’s Sprint, as Lewis defended against Norris, then another excellent getaway in the grand prix itself, which took Ricciardo past Verstappen.
Given the way the pitstops shook out so badly for Hamilton and Verstappen, regardless of their collision there’s a good chance neither would have repassed the Mclarens given how fast they travelled down Monza’s straights. The strange thing is that Hamilton didn’t wait longer to make his pitstop and didn’t utilise the supposed advantage of starting on harder tyres.
In any case, this was a great result for Mclaren – though team boss Andreas Seidl was pragmatic in the aftermath: “What I respect looking at Mercedes and Red Bull is that they have a car that can fight for the win every single weekend and that is the gap we have as a team compared to these guys, so I am not too focused on a 1-2 or whatever.
“It is a sensational result for us, but only seven days ago we got destroyed in Zandvoort, so that is the gap we still have to the top teams, and that is why we have to keep working hard to keep closing the gap in all kinds of circuits.”