Lewis scored his 68th career victory today - his sixth of the 2018 Formula One season and fifth at the Italian Grand Prix. Valtteri finished the race in P3 - his sixth podium of the 2018 season and 77th points finish in Formula One. Lewis claimed the fastest lap in Monza - his 40th fastest lap in Formula One. The 2018 Italian Grand Prix marked the 400th race for a Mercedes-AMG Safety Car in Formula One.
Lewis (256 points) leads the Drivers' Championship by 33 points from Sebastian Vettel (226 points) with Valtteri (159 points) in P4. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (415 points) leads Ferrari (390 points) by 25 points in the Constructors' Championship.
Owen Jones, Head of Performance at Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains, accepted the Constructors' trophy on behalf of the team.
Toto Wolff: This is what makes racing so special: the points are given out on Sunday, not Saturday, and today we were all privileged to enjoy a fantastic race-long between two champions. Lewis didn't put a foot wrong today - he put his car in the right place each time, was patient when he needed to be and took a fantastic win, his fifth here in Monza. But we must not forget Valtteri today: he drove a great race and deserved his podium finish this afternoon. For us, P1 and P3 is a fantastic result and a great reward for all the hard work the teams in Brixworth and Brackley have put in over the past weeks; last week, we struggled with the tyre management; today, it was the Ferrari that blistered the soft tyres. This afternoon, I think we had the fastest car on race pace - although we must be a little cautious because we didn't see Sebastian's pace without damage - but we were able to put pressure on Kimi all through the race. We got the strategy just right: with Kimi and Lewis at the first stop, we were ready to do the opposite of Ferrari - then extended the stint to have the biggest offset of tyre life when Kimi pitted. And with Valtteri, it was exactly the same: it was the right strategy to leave him on track, building the offset to Verstappen so he could attack in the final laps with fresher tyres. And that's exactly what he did to get his podium. Overall, it was a very good day for the team at every level. We have Singapore coming next, which has not been our strongest track in past years. But we will be turning over every stone in the next weeks to find even more performance and pushing flat out to build our lead in both championships.
Andrew Shovlin: We certainly didn't expect today to go the way it did but we knew if we could put them under some pressure, opportunities for the win would start to appear. The first lap was quite dramatic, we had good starts with both cars and Lewis was able to put himself into really good position into Turn 4 nosing ahead of Vettel. We were lucky that he did more harm to his own race than ours and we didn't have much damage to the car. The race with Lewis and Kimi was interesting and one that we had covered in the morning strategy meeting. They couldn't leave the pit window open, but it meant we were able to create an offset on tyres that in the end won us the race. The tyres were on the limit and the work to understand the blistering we suffered in Spa helped today, the strong end of stint pace with both cars was a testament to the hard work that has gone on at the factory over the last week. Both drivers did a brilliant job today and looked after the tyres very well. Valtteri had a tough battle with Verstappen but once we knew that Max had a penalty, there was no point in continuing to attack him so we backed off knowing we had secured a podium. We're in Singapore next and that is a track that hasn't been kind to us over the years so we are under no illusions that it will be a difficult challenge. However, we have a good car, a fantastic team and two great drivers so we will be doing everything we can to keep our championship leads intact.
"Definitely not the result we were looking for to give to our fans, who supported us in fine style all weekend, for which I thank them on behalf of the entire team. After the collision at the second chicane, Kimi had to fight two opponents on his own, while Seb, in a badly damaged car, fought his way up the order. We know we have a very strong car, which was clearly demonstrated by the fact we monopolised the front row of the grid. Now, the important thing is to react as a team, in an orderly and determined fashion, without ever giving up. There is still a long way to go in the championship and we are already preparing for the next challenge in Singapore."
Christian Horner: "After a strong start Max was able to pass Valtteri Bottas into the chicane, then avoid the incident at Turn 2 and complete the first lap in P3. He was then able to consolidate that position and keep Valtteri behind throughout the first stint. We pitted once we found a window and changed to the soft tyre and Max's pace was strong enough to maintain track position to Valtteri who was always going to have the advantage at the end of the race with the fresher tyre. Whilst defending from the Mercedes into Turn 1 the stewards unfortunately judged that he didn't quite leave enough space resulting in a five-second penalty dropping him from a finish position of P3 to P5. Nonetheless, Max has driven the wheels off the car all afternoon and done a good job. Daniel made up places early in the race and was making good ground but unfortunately we had an issue causing us to retire the car with a lot of smoke coming out of the air intake. We are still not entirely sure on the cause but it is a suspected clutch issue."
Racing Point Force India scored ten points in Monza with Esteban Ocon finishing in seventh place ahead of Sergio Perez in eighth.
Otmar Szafnauer: "Ten points from Monza represents a good reward for another massive effort by the team. The car has been strong from the start of practice and despite not maximising qualifying yesterday we recovered well to bring both cars home well inside the points. Esteban was very close to overtaking Grosjean in the final few laps and, despite having a quicker car, we just ran out of laps to make the move. Sergio was right behind Esteban, too, having battled back from P14 to eighth, which was a tremendous effort. The strategy calls from the pit wall saw us pit late in the race with both cars, which worked out well for us and ensured we had good race pace throughout the afternoon, and a relative tyre advantage at the end."
Lance Stroll finished P10 and Sergey Sirotkin P11 in the Italian Grand Prix. Both cars started the race on the supersoft Pirelli tyre, with Lance starting P10 and Sergey P12. Lance and Sergey both enjoyed clean starts to the race, and made up several positions on the opening lap before the Safety Car was deployed. Lance ran as high as eighth, before pitting on lap 35 for the soft tyre. Sergey ran as high as ninth, and pitted two laps later on lap 37 for the soft tyre. Lance's tenth place rewards the team with one point, taking its total tally to five.
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: It was a good job by the team and by the drivers, not least to get two cars home in a race that can be very tough, but also, we were really racing today. Unfortunately, we only got points with one car. It would've been great to get Sergey off the line on the points table. He drove a superb and faultless weekend, so it was a little bit undeserved. Having said that, well done to Lance. He got the better grid position and therefore the better position in the race. He drove an extremely controlled race, overtook when necessary, and got one point. Well done to the drivers, and to the team at the circuit and back at base. We've been making a lot of developments behind the scenes and I think some of these positive steps are starting to come into play.
Renault Sport Formula One Team made a welcome return to the points as Carlos Sainz finished a fast-paced Heineken Italian Grand Prix in ninth place. Nico Hulkenberg fell short of the top ten after a battling effort from last place on the grid.
Carlos made a clean getaway from seventh on the grid and moved up to sixth place by the end of lap one. Running long on the Supersoft tyre, he pitted on lap 39, before easing to the flag for his first top ten finish since Hungary.
Carlos started from P7 on used Pirelli Supersoft (red) tyres, pitting on lap 39 for a new set of Soft (yellow) tyres. Nico started from P20 on new Supersoft tyres, pitting at the end of lap one for a new set of Soft tyres and again on lap 41 for a new set of Supersofts.
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "It was a challenging weekend, as we expected in Monza, with a mix of good moments and frustrations. We had a strong qualifying, with a great team performance and in particular from Carlos. We did not, however, have a race that rewarded that qualifying position. It was reflective of our pace at this power-dominated track where we could not contain the Force Indias. Nico tried to do something that could have allowed him to come back into the points but it did not work. We did all the right things today and would have loved to have come back stronger but let's look forward to Singapore, which we hope should suit us better."
Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director): "A disappointing outcome to the team's home race, partly caused by both cars being involved in collisions. In Brendon's case, this happened shortly after the start when he was hit by a Sauber and had to retire. As for Pierre, there was a collision with a McLaren after the safety car period and that upset the balance of his car which meant he could not repeat the pace we had seen earlier in the weekend. This was not the best end to the European part of the season, but now we will just focus on the remaining races, starting with Singapore, a track which should be better suited to the characteristics of our package."
Romain Grosjean delivered a strong sixth-place finish in the Italian Grand Prix Sunday at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, allowing Haas F1 Team to eliminate the gap to fourth-place Renault in the constructors' standings. The American squad, in only its third year competing in the FIA Formula One World Championship, is now tied with the factory Renault team atop the midfield.
Grosjean started sixth in the 53-lap race around the 5.793-kilometer (3.6-mile), 11-turn circuit and after a savvy start that saw him pick up fifth place when frontrunners Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton made contact, sending Vettel's Ferrari spinning as Hamilton powered away in his Mercedes, Grosjean fought off Carlos Sainz Jr. in his Renault to hold on to fifth.
Grosjean relinquished the spot on lap 23 when he pitted, swapping his Pirelli P Zero Red supersoft tires for Yellow softs. This dropped Grosjean to 11th, but as pit stops cycled through, he climbed back to sixth by lap 40. Fifth place was unobtainable as a resurgent Vettel came all the way from the back of the field after his opening-lap spin to take fourth. This was Grosjean's fourth straight points-paying result, a streak that began with the July 22 German Grand Prix where he also finished sixth.
Grosjean's teammate, Kevin Magnussen, endured a difficult Italian Grand Prix. After starting 11th, he was forced to take evasive action in turn one as the field stacked up in front of him. This dropped Magnussen to 12th. Three laps later, contact with the Force India of Sergio Perez in the Lesmos turns sent Magnussen to the pits for new tires and an attempt to repair some damaged bodywork. Magnussen exited the pits in 19th and wound up 17th after the retirements of Fernando Alonso's McLaren and Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull.
Fourteen rounds into the 21-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team is tied for fourth in the constructors' standings with Renault. Each team has 84 points and holds a 32-point advantage over McLaren, the next closest team. Magnussen is eighth in the driver's championship with 49 points and Grosjean is 12th with 35 points.
Seven races remain, with the next event coming Sept. 16 with the Singapore Grand Prix at Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Guenther Steiner: "Sixth place and eight points is a good result. Kevin, at the beginning, had problems. He didn't have a good start, then there were problems. Nevertheless, it was a great race for Romain and good points for Haas F1 Team. We are now tied for fourth with Renault. It's getting interesting now. We're really looking forward to going to Singapore and seeing what we can do there."
An Italian Grand Prix of mixed emotions for the team, as Fernando retired from the race after just nine laps. He'd made a strong start and was on course for a potential points-scoring result when he had to stop the car due to a suspected electrical issue.
Stoffel had a more positive Sunday afternoon, with stronger-than-expected pace on a track that was always expected to be a challenge. Given that his starting position was unlikely to result in a points-paying finish on this circuit, he put in a fighting performance to progress from 17th at the start up to 13th at the chequer. He made a solid start, successfully avoided any first-lap chaos, and a strong strategy executed by the team enabled him to push hard throughout the race and keep arguably faster cars behind him.
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "We leave this amazing place with mixed feelings. On one hand, we are bitterly disappointed with Fernando's retirement, which was an electrical issue, when he was in a solid position to score some points.
"On the other hand, Stoffel put in a strong performance, pushing hard all the way. We executed a clean pit-stop and made good decisions on strategy.
"Now we say goodbye to Europe and look ahead to the last chapter of the championship, where we'll continue to keep fighting and trying to improve our position in the standings."
A historic weekend has come to an end, with the 2018 FIA Formula One Italian Grand Prix having given the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team the experience of a home race.
Both Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team drivers fought their way through the tightly-packed field to finish 12th and 16th after a challenging weekend. Charles raced through from P15 on the grid and was progressing well through the midfield, until his race was compromised by contact with another car. His car suffered some damage and he had to start working on recovering from the set-back. The team adapted Charles' strategy at this point, which worked well. The Monegasque driver gained some positions, ultimately finishing the race in P12.
Marcus Ericsson started the race from P18, after having had very little running this weekend and a new ICE in place following his accident on Friday. He fought hard to make up ground, after a good start. He was hit by another car on the first lap resulting in a left rear puncture, and had to pit prematurely. From that moment, he had to recover positions and fight back. The Swede ultimately finished the race in P16.
This weekend marked a return to Formula One for the iconic Alfa Romeo brand at Monza where the sport's first world champion, Nino Farina, won the final race of the inaugural World Championship season in 1950 in the GP Tipo 158 "Alfetta".
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team currently holds 9th place in the Constructors' Championship. Charles Leclerc is in 15th, and Marcus Ericsson in 17th place in the Drivers' Championship.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "It was a challenging weekend - but taking into consideration how eventful it was, all in all we had a good race. The pace was better and we were in front of some of our main competitors. Marcus and Charles recovered some of the positions they lost in qualifying, and did a good job to fight their way into the midfield. Nevertheless, our aim is still to score points going forward. We have to keep on working hard and stay positive and focused for the next Grand Prix in Singapore."
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix from third on the grid, using a one-stop strategy and good tyre management. Hamilton started on the supersoft tyre - which on Saturday had been used to set the fastest lap in Formula 1 history, courtesy of Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen - before switching to the soft on lap 28.
After a contact with Vettel's Ferrari half a minute into the race, Hamilton got up to second on the first lap behind Raikkonen and was able to extend his first stint after his rival pitted for the soft tyres on lap 20. Even though he rejoined still behind Raikkonen, he could use his fresher tyres to close the gap and then managed them well before making a late overtake to claim victory, after the Ferrari driver experienced blistering on one of his well-used tyres. Vettel, in last position after lap 1 due to the collision with Hamilton, was able to recover to fourth place by the flag thanks to a supersoft-soft-supersoft two-stop strategy.
Following intermittent rain on Friday and Saturday, today's race was dry and warm - adding another unknown element to the strategy, in the absence of prolonged dry running up to this point.
Mario Isola: "Today's conditions presented a marked contrast to what had come before, which gave the teams another challenge as they had not run in similar conditions so far this weekend. Consequently they had to keep a flexible approach towards strategy, in the absence of solid data, but as it turned out the tyres were capable of a one-stop strategy when correctly managed - despite the intense demands of Monza, which resulted in the fastest lap in Formula 1 history yesterday. Lewis Hamilton managed his tyres perfectly and made the most of his later pit stop to make a great overtake near the end of the race."
