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Formula 1
Italian GP
F1 Italian GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race
Minute-by-minute updates for the 2023 Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix
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Carlos Sainz beat Max Verstappen to pole position at Monza to delight the home Ferrari fans, as the Dutch driver goes for a record-breaking 10th consecutive F1 grand prix win.
Verstappen will face a two-pronged Ferrari attack with Charles Leclerc starting from third place, ahead of George Russell in fourth for Mercedes.
Liam Lawson continues as stand-in for the injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri.
The action at Monza will begin at 2pm BST.
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Sainz vs Perez vs Leclerc for the final two spots on the podium is on. Sainz is defending from Perez now with Leclerc lurking.
Hamilton is right with the trio now makes a move on Piastri into the second chicane. He makes minor contact with Piastri and is forced to wait a little longer to progress.
Despite his complaints, Hamilton is now just 1.4secs behind the Albon-Norris-Piastri battle.
Albon is making his Williams as wide as possible defending sixth place from Norris, who gets ahead cutting the first chicane so has to give the place back.
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"Now we're screwed because I don't know how these tyres are going to last this long," reports Hamilton.
He's still closing on Piastri fairly swiftly, but the seven-time champion is far from happy with his Italian GP so far.
He's still closing on Piastri fairly swiftly, but the seven-time champion is far from happy with his Italian GP so far.
14 laps to go and the battle for the podium spots behind Verstappen has come to a standstill. Leclerc is still in DRS range of Perez so it is far from over.
Pit stop
Another two-stopper. Zhou does as he did earlier in the race and pits immediately after Gasly to cover off the Alpine driver.
Stopwatch
Just to prove us wrong, Verstappen posts a new fastest lap of 1m25.240s to push his lead to 7.4s. Behind him Sainz has a 2s gap on Perez while Leclerc is back in DRS range of the Mexican.
Hamilton is being told to look after his left-rear tyre and that appears to be why he is failing to make up ground as had been expected.
He is currently P9 and 4.2s back on Piastri.
He is currently P9 and 4.2s back on Piastri.
We've not mentioned Verstappen in the lead lately and that's because there isn't much to report. He's darted clear and has a 6.7s lead over Sainz. His pace indicates he is managing his tyres to make it to the finish with sufficient tyre life.
Pit stop
Gasly makes his second stop of the race. With various drivers complaining of high tyre wear, this could spark a chain reaction of two-stoppers.
A lap later, Perez makes the move stick on Leclerc with DRS into Turn 1 to move into third place on lap 32.
Leclerc loses DRS from Sainz and Perez pounces into Turn 1, but Leclerc out-brakes him to keep ahead. They then go wheel to wheel into the second chicane and Perez has to back out of it to avoid a clash.
Perez is growing impatient behind the pair of Ferraris, with Sainz DRS-ing Leclerc along, as the Mexican looks for a move up the inside of Leclerc at Turn 1 but has no way through.
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"It's a long way to go on this damn tyre man," says Hamilton after stopping for medium tyres. 23 laps remain and other drivers have gone further during their first stints.
On lap 29 Hamilton dives up the inside of Alonso to take ninth place into Turn 1.
Pit stop
Hamilton, switching to the mediums on lap 28, comes out in 10th. He has the tyre advantage now but can he make them last to the end of the race?
Sainz wastes no time getting ahead of Hamilton to take second place into the Ascari chicane, and moments later Leclerc does the same into Parabolica. Hamilton duly pits at the end of the lap to avoid being overtaken three times in three corners with Perez on the attack.
No further investigation needed, rule the stewards. Norris and Piastri can continue without the threat of a penalty for their contact a handful of laps back.
Pit stop
Bottas pits and changes off his hard tyres. He drops to P16 but has the softer medium compound fitted.
Sainz still heads Leclerc but the Ferrari pair have bigger problems to worry about with Perez right behind them.
The incident between Norris and Piastri on pit exit has been noted by the stewards. No news on a potential investigation just yet.
Verstappen regains the lead on-track, passing a yet to stop Hamilton on the main straight, and he now has a clear path to a record-breaking victory.
Pit stop
Piastri pits a lap after his team-mate and they bash wheels at Turn 1 with the Australia coming out of the pits. Norris is ahead but that was hairy for McLaren.
Penalty
Replays show that Russell was leaving the pits when he locked up and cut across the first chicane. It's a clear breach, and the stewards agree - a five-second penalty for Russell.
That incident between Russell and Ocon is now officially under investigation.
Pit stop
Norris is the first McLaren pitter at the end of lap 22, taking hards, but comes out behind Albon and Ocon and into 11th.
Unseen by the cameras, an incident has been noted between Russell and Ocon, with the former leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Currently, Russell is P8 and Ocon P10.
Currently, Russell is P8 and Ocon P10.
Pit stop
A lap later Perez pits, also taking on hards, and comes out right behind both Ferraris.
Pit stop
Next time around Verstappen and Leclerc pit together, both taking on the hards. The Red Bull comes out in sixth and Leclerc just misses out on passing Sainz into Turn 1. Sainz is seventh and Leclerc is eighth.
Pit stop
Russell joins Sainz in the pits, as the Ferrari driver on fresh hards comes out in ninth place but behind the hard-shod Bottas.
Verstappen is checking out. At the start of lap 20 he leads by 5.7s as Sainz pits.
"Tyres are nearly finished," Sainz says over Ferrari team radio. He put in a stellar defence for the first 14 laps but is it coming back to bite him?
Hamilton and Bottas are currently in P8 and P10 after starting on the hard compound. While the latter's position has been improved by other ahead stopping, with softer rubber to change to later on, they are nicely placed for a handful of points each.
Verstappen is bolting clear, now 2.4s ahead, and Sainz is actually falling back towards Leclerc.
Double delight for Red Bul as on lap 16 Perez clears Russell into the first chicane, braving it up the inside, to move up to fourth.
Verstappen gets the move done with the inside line at the second chicane and that unleashes him into the lead.
On lap 15 Sainz's defence is breached! Sainz locks up into Turn 1 and it gives Verstappen enough of a sniff to make the move around Curva Grande.
We're really into the pitstop shuffle now. Hulkenberg and Sargeant pull in for fresh rubber.
On lap 14 Perez gets by Russell but both miss the first chicane entirely - so the Red Bull has to allow the Mercedes back through. "He pushed me off," is Perez's assessment of that.
By: Autosport Staff
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