Ricciardo, Norris pull off McLaren 1-2 finish in Monza

Team McLaren claimed its first race win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix, thanks to Daniel Ricciardo crossing the checkered flag first in Monza.

Not only that, the team also enjoyed a one-two finish after Ricciardo’s teammate Lando Norris trailed him at the finish, giving them their first one-two victory since 2010. Taking third spot was Valterri Bottas.

McLaren’s victory came after pole-sitter and championship leader Max Verstappen and title rival Lewis Hamilton figured in an incident that ended the race for them.

Early in the race, Ricciardo kept both Verstappen and Hamilton behind. However, Ricciardo dove for the pits at the end of the 22nd lap. Verstappen took the lead momentarily but had to go for a pit stop at the end of the following lap.

However, Verstappen experienced an 11-second pit and rejoined the race in ninth position — behind Lance Stroll.

Meanwhile, Hamilton made his first stop after taking the race lead from Norris. He then suffered a slow stop and emerged from the pit lane into Verstappen’s tracks.

The two title contenders took the first chicane almost side by side and no one backed out of a heated wheel-to-wheel action. At the said juncture, Verstappen hit the kerbs, throwing the rear part of his car in the air and then landed on top of Hamilton's. The two ended in the gravel and luckily walked out of the race safely.

The event resulted in the release of the safety car, which led to racers heading for the pit lane for a free stop.

As racing resumed and the McLaren duo taking the top two places, Checo Perez took the third spot from Charles Leclerc on the 34th lap but was slapped with a five-second penalty. Bottas then also got ahead of Leclerc but Perez defended his position well against the aggressive Mercedes driver.  

Crossing the checkered flag were teammates Ricciardo and Norris followed by Perez crossed the line third but a time penalty that was applied to him dropped him to fifth (behind Bottas and Leclerc).

Sixth to 10^th place finishers were Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, George Russell and Esteban Ocon, respectively.

Photos from Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, Jean Todt Twitter page

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