Toto Wolff bursts Max Verstappen’s bubble as Lewis Hamilton apologises
Lewis Hamilton commits to Mercedes until 2025
The Italian Grand Prix gets underway this afternoon from the Autodromo Nazionale Monza as Max Verstappen looks to extend his record-breaking winning run to ten. In qualifying, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr finished just ahead of the Dutchman with his team-mate Charles Leclerc placing third.
Both Ferrari drivers faced a post-race investigation for failing to follow the race director’s instructors for the maximum lap time. However, at the end of qualifying, it was announced there would be no further action required.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton will start today’s race in P8 after a difficult middle segment while George Russell came fourth ahead of Sergio Perez, Alex Albon and Oscar Piastri. In Q1, Zhou Guanyu, Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, Kevin Magnussen and Lance Stroll were eliminated.
Meanwhile, Q2 saw Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant get knocked out.
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Don’t miss… Max Verstappen hits out at Toto Wolff’s ‘bull****’ Red Bull comments
McLaren boss slams drivers
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has labelled the on-track scrap between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri ‘unacceptable’.
The duo came together midway through the Italian Grand Prix, with contact made at the first chicane as they fought for P10.
“What is important is to have clear parameters as to what you deem acceptable and what you deem unacceptable,” said Stella. “It’s not an emotion thing, it’s just like you do with other things.
“You deal with racing in a similar way. This is very clear that for any driver, there’s something bigger than them. It’s the team.”
Horner sheds light on Verstappen issue
Christian Horner has revealed what made Max Verstappen slow down drastically in the closing stages of the Italian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman, who powered to a 10th win on the trot, slowed to a snail’s pace for the last few laps, which he had the luxury of doing due to a healthy buffer to those behind him.
“We were just managing some temperature issues,” explained Horner. “We just didn’t want to take any risks on a stinking hot day. We had a couple of temperatures that were…they were under control.
“But there were a bunch of cars ahead of [Pierre] Gasly and we just didn’t want to run in dirty air. So that’s why we took it a little bit easy in the last few laps.”
Wolff bursts Verstappen’s bubble
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has attempted to downplay Max Verstappen’s achievement of winning 10 consecutive Grands Prix.
The Dutchman became the first driver in F1 history to go on such a streak by winning in Monza on Sunday.
“I don’t know if he cares about the records,” said Wolff, who watched on as his Mercedes duo finished fifth and sixth. “It is not something that would be important for me, those numbers, it is for Wikipedia and nobody reads that anyway.”
Russell takes pop at Perez
George Russell attempted to get one up on Sergio Perez after their on-track scrap at the Italian Grand Prix.
It took Perez several laps of high-octane racing to get past his Mercedes counterpart, despite Red Bull having a clear speed advantage.
“I was surprised how long it took Checo to pass with the superior pace of that car,” said a smirking Russell. “I was really pleased to hold him off for that long and felt good and confident under braking into turn one.
“There’s something satisfying about it when you do manage to hold a car off like that for so long. So I take a small positive in that there was no mistake from my side in those laps but unfortunately the pace just wasn’t there today.”
Hamilton’s personal apology
Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he was at fault for a collision with Oscar Piastri during the Italian Grand Prix.
The contact forced Piastri into the pits with a damaged front wing, while Hamilton was able to race on and make up places, despite being hit with a five-second time penalty.
“It was a bit unfortunate and I misjudged the gap I had with Piastri right at the end,” Hamilton said after the race. “It was totally my fault and I went and apologised to him straight afterwards and we move on.”
Verstappen gets back at Hamilton
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have once again been throwing verbals at each other away from the track.
Hamilton took aim at the standard of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mates over the years, while the Dutchman responded by calling the seven-time world champion ‘jealous’.
On Sunday, Verstappen had the last laugh as he coasted past Hamilton – who had stayed out on a long opening stint – en route to a 10th consecutive race win.
Hamilton didn’t even have enough pace to make a scrap of it into Turn 1, where the pair collided back in 2021.
Hamilton punished by F1 stewards
Lewis Hamilton was slapped with a penalty during the Italian Grand Prix after firm contact with Oscar Piastri.
The Mercedes man was judged by stewards to have closed the door on Piastri illegally, in a way which saw the Aussie sustain front-wing damage.
Hamilton was handed a five-second penalty, although it was rendered obsolete by the chequered flag, as he finished more than seven seconds clear of Alex Albon to take P6 outright.
Verstappen writes history
Max Verstappen has made history after winning his 10th race in a row, an unprecedented feat.
Verstappen won the Italian GP ahead of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz in third.
Russell handed Italian GP penalty
Ted Kravitz has been left perplexed following George Russell being punished with a five-second penalty at the Italian GP.
Russell was involved in an incident with Esteban Ocon and race stewards handed him the penalty.
But Kravitz said: “So one man who has just pitted, Crofty, is Esteban Ocon. That’s Esteban Ocon who has rejoined 19th.
“Esteban Ocon who is not in a race with George Russell, so talk about pointless penalties, why did Mercedes not tell Russell: ‘Look, let him past. He’s not in our race. Yes, you’ll lose a bit of time, but at least it will avoid a five-second penalty.'”
Horner opens door for Norris to join Red Bull
Christian Horner has opened the door to Lando Norris joining Red Bull in 2025 in a cryptic messages after rampant speculation surrounding Norris partnering up with Max Verstappen in the future.
“He’s doing a great job in the sport and of course we have our drivers confirmed for ’24,” said Horner.
“In ’25, we have one seat open and as you can imagine, there’s not a shortage of interest in that seat but it’s a long way away at the moment.“
Ferrari’s chances weighed up
Nico Rosberg has weighed in on Ferrari’s chances of pulling off a major upset at the Italian GP after Carlos Sainz Jr pipped Max Verstappen to pole position in qualifying
“It’s been a rough patch for them and it wasn’t expected they would be on pole, it came as a surprise,” Rosberg told Sky Sports F1.
“It makes it all the more exciting because they now have the chance to win their home race.
“They have two cars in the top three, so can also play some strategy games against the most likely faster Max Verstappen.”
Red Bull claim Verstappen was slower on purpose
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko claims Max Verstappen was taking it easy in qualifying for the Italian GP as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz pipped him to pole position ahead of the main race this afternoon.
“We already knew that Ferrari would be strong and we never really focused on pole position,” he told ORF. “Looking at how we went about it with the set-up, for the race it is a lot more important [than for qualifying].”
Verstappen hits back at Hamilton
Max Verstappen has emphatically struck back at Lewis Hamilton, who recently made a comment about the standard of his Red Bull team-mates. The Mercedes star feels as though he has had to contend with a comparatively higher standard of partners during his own F1 career, which has seen him bank seven world titles.
“Maybe he’s a little jealous of my current success. He possibly thinks he’s winning something with a statement like that, but it makes no difference to me,” said the Dutchman.
Rosberg picks side
Nico Rosberg feels Lewis Hamilton was “correct” in suggesting he’s had tougher team-mates than Max Verstappen in their respective F1 careers, but the German felt it was an irrelevant attack on the Red Bull driver.
Rosberg said on Sky Sports F1: “It’s strange that Lewis does talk about that, like ‘my team-mates were better’. “Where did that come from? [It’s] a bit strange.”
Hamilton left red-faced at Italian GP
Lewis Hamilton’s comments that all of his team-mates were better than Max Verstappen’s came back to haunt him after he was out-qualified by all three of the Dutchman’s former and present partners Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon.
Hamilton will start the Italian GP main race in P8 while Verstappen starts in P2, Sainz in P1, Perez in P5 and Albon in P6.
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