F1 Italian GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
We bring you all the action from the 16th round of the 2024 Formula 1 season at Monza
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri locked out the front row for the Italian Grand Prix in a tight qualifying session at Monza.
The McLaren duo came out on top in what was the closest top-six in Formula 1 qualifying history as George Russell took third for Mercedes.
But with Max Verstappen the lead Red Bull down in only seventh and Ferrari back on form in the hunt for a home win, what will happen?
The Italian GP gets under way at 2pm BST.
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Perez team radio: "George has a lot of damage, it's dangerous."
The Mexican is right too, front wing damage for Russell - though the flapping endplate seems to have long gone.
Norris would have hoped that he would be sat in the lead of this race and controlling proceedings by now. But it's evident that there are no team orders at play with McLaren, because he's down in third staring at Leclerc's rear wing after that ambush from Piastri.
Norris had a real wobble at the chicane as Piastri appeared on his right-hand side to take the line into the right-hand part of the second chicane. That's what allowed Leclerc to get a run on Norris into the Lesmos, with the Ferrari driver putting his front-right wheel onto the grass before taking the place away from the poleman.
No wonder Hulkenberg kicked up dust, the Haas was pushed out wide by Ricciardo on lap one.
That incident has been noted.
Leclerc remains firmly inside DRS range of Piastri, but is yet to make his move. Norris meanwhile has dropped back a touch from Leclerc ahead, presumably to save his tyres.
The first pit stop of the race and it's Hulkenberg with a slightly botched wing change.
That's because he had a collision with Tsunoda at Turn 1. That will be a slam dunk penalty.
Piastri is told over the radio by his engineer that the team doesn't see any graining on the tyres and that he will need to go to at least the Plan B target lap to clear traffic behind. Code for a one-stopper, it seems.
"Just keep it there for the moment Max," his engineer tells Verstappen. "Let them push that medium tyre hard." The lead Red Bull is on the hard tyres remember, and sits 7.3s off leader Piastri.
That collision has spelled the end of Tsunoda's day. He will be furious about that, but there's too much damage to continue in the RB.
As expected, Ricciardo cops a penalty for his incident with Hulkenberg. He will have five-seconds added to his pitstop.
Verstappen set his fastest lap last time by, although he's not within range of passing Hamilton.
The stewards really didn't like Hulkenberg's move on Tsunoda though, the German handed a 10-second penalty.
A new fastest lap of the race last time by for Piastri, who has now broken free of the DRS zone. Will that help bring Norris back onto Leclerc's tail?
It's all happening for RB - Ricciardo gets it wrong down at Turn 1 and skips through the new gravel strip. No serious harm done though.
Russell's misery continues as Perez gets past into the first chicane with DRS assistance.
That move is followed with a copycat overtake from Magnussen on Ricciardo, as Gasly pits for a change to hard tyres.
Piastri was six tenths quicker than Leclerc last time around at the head of the field, and now laps another two tenths faster, stretching his advantage to almost 2s.
Russell gets to lap 12 before Mercedes decides enough is enough.
Damaged wing off, new wing on as well as a set of hard tyres and he gets on his way. Ricciardo also pits and serves his penalty.
Piastri is really turning the screw here on Leclerc, who is almost a second slower on lap 13. Norris in turn has now got to within DRS range.
A shrewd move from Aston Martin? Noticing Russell lost time with his wing change, Alonso pits for hards and rejoins ahead of the Mercedes.
Norris is clearly pushing hard as he drops his left-rear wheel over the kerb, dipping it into the gravel, on the exit of the second Lesmo. That won't help his cause to catch Leclerc.
Alonso's success was short-lived - Russell has made his way back through.
Into the pits comes Norris - and it's a massive lock-up that takes him into a bollard! "Box to overtake on Leclerc," was his pit call prior to his 2.2s stop.
Norris immediately passes Ocon as he rejoins. How will Ferrari and Leclerc respond?
Leclerc and Hamilton come in immediately to cover Norris, but the undercut's power moves the McLaren driver into a net second position.
Two laps later than Norris, Piastri pits from the lead. "These guys will struggle to go to the end," says Sainz as he stays out to move into first position.
Piastri rejoins ahead of Norris, with Albon's Williams between the two McLarens. Sainz now leads, still on the mediums he started with, from Verstappen and Perez, the Red Bulls on hard tyres.
Leclerc isn't happy with the call to respond to Norris. "What was that? Why did we pit if we are undercut?" he complains.
"Its likely we will have to cover for the other car. It will be papaya rules," Norris is told. Team orders coming into play?
Sainz has a 3.4s advantage over Verstappen as he tries to stretch out those mediums. Can the canny Spaniard bid farewell to the tifosi with a surprise win?
An RB mechanic has cost Ricciardo another penalty. This time it's 10 seconds.
He touched the front wing as the car came to a stop, before the initial penalty had been served. The reaction that came instantly showed they knew what had happened.
Lap 18 and in comes Sainz from the lead. That cycles Verstappen and Perez to the front, as Sainz - the last of the medium-shod leaders to pit - comes out sixth, just ahead of the yet-to-stop Ocon and Hamilton.
Hamilton doesn't waste time passing Ocon as he blasts ahead of the Alpine into the second chicane to snatch seventh spot.
"You can pick up the pace Max," Verstappen is told.
Sainz is 10s back from Leclerc ahead, but with younger tyres. Could that pay dividends later in the race?
Another move for Russell, this time on Bottas. That's ninth now.
Magnussen will likely be penalised after locking up and biffing Gasly out of the way at the Variante della Roggia.
In comes Verstappen from the lead at the end of lap 22. He has a delay on the right-rear, and his stop is 6.2s. That's very tardy by Red Bull standards.
Into the lead now goes Perez, who will surely jump Verstappen once he does make his own stop. Verstappen took another set of hard tyres, it should be noted, so he will definitely be stopping again.
In comes Perez for a 2.8s stop, but he still rejoins behind Verstappen. Understandably the Dutchman isn't happy. "So how do we do this stint then?" he asks over the radio. "We just get on with it now Max," comes the reply.
Ocon had been running ahead of Verstappen as Perez exited from the pits, but now falls behind the Dutchman into what is likely to be a very temporary seventh position when he makes his first pitstop.
By: Autosport Staff
