2021 Italian Grand Prix

The **2021 Italian Grand Prix** was a Formula 1.5 motor race held on 12 September 2021 at Autodromo Nazionale Monza. It was the 14th round of the 2021 Formula 1.5 World Championship and the second Grand Prix in Italy of the season, after the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on 18 April.

## Background

The event, held over the weekend of 10–12 September at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, was the fourteenth round of the 2021 World Championship. The race took place one week after the Dutch Grand Prix and precedes the Russian Grand Prix. It was the home Grand Prix for Antonio Giovinazzi, Ferrari and AlphaTauri. Pierre Gasly is the previous race winner, having won the 2020 event.

### **Entrants**

The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with the only exception being Kimi Räikkönen, who was replaced by Robert Kubica, as was the case in the preceding Dutch Grand Prix, when Räikkönen tested positive for coronavirus.

### **Tyres**

Sole tyre supplier Pirelli allocated the C2, C3, and C4 compounds of tyre to be used in the race.

### **Weekend Format**

The event was the second, of three, to implement a trial weekend format. The first race to use this format occurred during the British Grand Prix. The change in format means that Free practice 1 and qualifying took place on the Friday. Free practice 2 and sprint qualifying took place on the Saturday, while the race is the sole event on the Sunday.

The sprint qualifying is a 100 km (62 mi) race which would decide the starting order for the race on Sunday, for this event this is equivalent to 18 laps. The grid order for sprint qualifying was decided via the normal Q1, Q2, Q3 qualifying session. The final classification of the sprint qualifying race would be the starting grid for the race. The winner of the sprint qualifying would be on pole. Additionally, sprint qualifying awards points to the top three finishers: 3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd, and 1 for 3rd. The maximum time limit is 60 minutes, and normal fuel flow limits still apply. The top three in sprint qualifying would also be given a victory parade and special wreaths for their efforts.

## Practice

Free practice 1 took place at 14:30 CEST on 10 September. The first practice ended with no major incident. Lance Stroll set the fastest time, with Pierre Gasly in second and Sebastian Vettel third. Free practice 2 took place at 12:00 CEST on 11 September. The first practice ended with one interruption. The red flag was brought out when Carlos Sainz Jr. spun and crashed at the Ascari chicane. He said over the radio that it "hurt" but he was cleared during the precautionary checks. The other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, had to stop his session early because he was feeling unwell. His situation was monitored by medical staff and ultimately, he was cleared to take part in the Sprint. The session ended with Ocon in first, Kubica in second and Giovinazzi in third.

## Qualifying

Qualifying took place at 18:00 CEST on 10 September. All three parts of qualifying ended with no major incidents. At the end of the first part of qualifying, Lando Norris was fastest with Carlos Sainz second and Antonio Giovianzzi third. The second part of qualifying saw Norris, Ricciardo and Gasly go first, second and third, respectively. The final part of qualifying saw Norris go fastest, with Ricciardo second and Pierre Gasly third.

## Sprint Qualifying

Sprint qualifying took place at 16:30 CEST on 11 September. Pierre Gasly crashed out on lap 1. Gasly's crash was caused by contact with Daniel Ricciardo. The damage meant Gasly's front wing came off and subsequently went under his car, bouncing him through the gravel and into the wall. The stewards deemed it a racing incident and didn't apportion blame for the contact. The safety car was deployed due to this crash. Yuki Tsunoda and Robert Kubica also made contact on lap 1, resulting in Tsunoda losing his front wing and Kubica spinning into the gravel. Both drivers were able to carry on.

## Race

The race started at 15:00 CEST on 12 September. Ricciardo held the lead ahead of Norris down to to turn 1 and through the 2nd chicane. Further down the grid, Antonio Giovinazzi went off the track at turn 5 and rejoined the track into the path of Carlos Sainz Jr., with the two making contact. Giovinazzi was spun around and clipped the barrier, losing his front wing. Giovinazzi was given a 5-second time penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe manner.

On lap 22, Ricciardo pitted for hard tyres, whilst teammate Norris pitted the next lap. After these events, the Safety Car was brought out after a crash between F1.0 drivers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc and George Russell took advantage by pitting during the safety car period, resulting in Leclerc and Russell exiting the pits in second and ninth, respectively. On the safety car restart, Norris overtook Leclerc to move up into second place.

Ricciardo won the race, his first win of the season, and also first win for McLaren, whilst Norris came home in 2nd to make it a McLaren 1-2.

## Championship Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Constructors' Championship standings

## External Links

1. ↑  Pierre Gasly received a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. He was also required to start the race from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements. He was then required to start the race from the pit lane for a new energy store specification.
2. ↑  Includes one point for fastest lap.
3. ↑  Yuki Tsunoda did not start the race. His place on the grid was left vacant.