Racing Point Continue Points Run at Dramatic Italian Grand Prix

Our F1 Technical Partners SportPesa Racing Point were in the points again this weekend, after Sergio “Checo” Perez finished 7th, having made up 11 places during the race!

The day couldn’t have started in a different manner, with Checo starting back in 18th following engine trouble in qualifying, leading to a new engine and the accompanying penalties. Meanwhile teammate Lance Stroll did amazingly well in qualifying and made it into Q3 to start in 9th position.

Lance got a decent start and made up a few places, whilst Checo was forced off the track at turn one and had to duck through the chicane. But whilst Checo was soon slicing his way up the field, it was disaster for Lance up front. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel spun off the track, and as he rejoined, he collected Lance as he went past. Lance then also spun off and Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly was forced to take evasive action on his return. Both Vettel and Lance were given stop and go penalties which were served when they next pitted.

This led to Lance dropping down to 12th, after teammate Checo who had made his way up to 11th. As the drivers ahead of Checo also started to come in for their pits, he gained a few more places and was soon running inside the top 10, remarkable for a bottom of the grid start.

Meanwhile up front, after the pits Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton had caught up to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had started on pole. Hamilton was on Mediums which should have been faster than Leclerc’s Hard tyres, but the Monegasque driver was making his car as wide as possible, whilst the Ferrari’s straight line speed was so impressive, Hamilton couldn’t even draw level on DRS. The fight continued for several laps, but despite a couple of mistakes from both drivers, Hamilton couldn’t make it past and Leclerc couldn’t shake him off.

Then after almost 20 laps of nail biting action, Hamilton’s fading tyres got the better of him and he went straight on at the 1st corner and had to go round the chicane. There was a massive cheer from Monza’s famous Ferrari fans, the Tifosi, as Valtteri Bottas flashed past his Mercedes teammate, but for poor Leclerc it was much of the same, just this time the Mercedes had much fresher tyres. But Leclerc pulled more speed out of the Ferrari, delighting the fans as he kept pulling out of DRS range, despite the Finn’s best efforts.

Leclerc managed to hold off the Mercedes to take his 2nd win in a row in front a delighted Italian crowd, whilst further back, Checo was doing his own DRS dancing with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, but Verstappen went home equally as frustrated as Checo crossed the line ahead of him in 7th. Further back, despite his best efforts, Lance came home in 12.

So a topsy-turvy race but at last another decent points haul for the Men in Pink. The upgrades are working well and the drivers are both showing what they’re capable of, so we’re definitely looking forward to catching some more F1 action in a couple of weeks time in Singapore – the legendary night race!