End in the gravel for Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton

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BerlinMax Verstappen stomped back into the garage after the crazy crash of Monza, Lewis Hamilton climbed out of his demolished Mercedes in disbelief. Stranded in the gravel and with cars wedged together, the Italian Grand Prix ended prematurely for the Formula 1 title rivals on Sunday. A laughing third after the tough duel between World Cup leader Verstappen and World Champion Hamilton was Australian Daniel Ricciardo, who gave McLaren its first Grand Prix victory in nine years. His British team-mate Lando Norris came second in the 14th round of the season, ahead of Valtteri Bottas, who started from the back, in a Mercedes.

Due to the accident in the 26th round and the double-off, Verstappen maintained his championship lead with five points ahead of Hamilton. Both were uninjured in the violent collision. But the pictures were spectacular when Verstappen’s Red Bull took off and landed on Hamilton’s Mercedes. Both cars slid off the track and got stuck there. “That happens if you don’t leave any space,” Verstappen radioed to the pits.

Like Senna and Prost once

Gradually, the tough World Cup duel is reminiscent of the hate duels between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost around 30 years ago. Verstappen and Hamilton had already rushed into one another at Silverstone in mid-July. At that time, the series champion had won, while the 23-year-old challenger had to be hospitalized.

Sebastian Vettel also left the Royal Park disillusioned. In twelfth place, the Aston Martin driver was again without points. Mick Schumacher was again involved in a collision by his Haas colleague Nikita Masepin and finished the race in 15th place.

Usain Bolt strolls in Monza

For the second time, Formula 1 determined the starting order for the Grand Prix with the new sprint race on Saturday. However, the winner Bottas was not allowed to take pole position because, for tactical reasons, Mercedes changed the engine in the Finn’s car for the fourth time this year and, according to the rules, he had to move to the bottom of the field. So Verstappen parked right at the front of the starting grid, through which the former sprint star Usain Bolt and Italy’s 100-meter Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs strolled.

When the red lights went out, Ricciardo had apparently borrowed from Bolt and Jacobs and irresistibly hurried past Verstappen. “We have already seen in the past that there is no point in taking a conservative approach, so full attack,” McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl had announced – and his Australian driver implemented it perfectly.

Touching the cars

Behind them, Hamilton took third place and attacked Verstappen after a few corners. As has happened several times this year, the two cars touched, this time the Mercedes star slipped off the track and came back in fourth. Because behind him Antonio Giovinazzi lost control of his Alfa Romeo after a fight with both Ferraris and lost the front wing, the race management ordered a virtual safety car.

The race was soon reopened, but initially nothing changed at the top. Ricciardo kept Verstappen behind him, Norris did not let Hamilton pass. Only Bottas plowed through the field from behind in a powerful Mercedes and soon had the points in his sights.

The working day was much more difficult again for Vettel. First he got the short straw in a duel with his team mate Lance Stroll, then he was almost pushed off the track by Alpine driver Esteban Ocon. The Frenchman received a five-second penalty for this. But Vettel was still stuck deep in midfield.

Dramatic turn

Then it got dramatic. Verstappen’s pit stop went wrong, it took the otherwise nimble Red Bull mechanics more than eleven seconds to change tires. Usually this maneuver takes little more than two seconds. So the Dutchman fell far behind. When Hamilton got new rubber rollers and drove out of the pit lane again, the two World Cup opponents were suddenly right next to each other. Nobody wanted to give in, Verstappen rumbled over the curbs and then found himself on Hamilton’s Mercedes.

The safety car moved out until the damaged cars were cleared from the chicane. When it restarted, Ricciardo raced away. Norris had to fight hard against Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, but ended up second. The tension continued until the very end because the field stayed close together on the high-speed course. Then Ricciardo celebrated the eighth victory of his Formula 1 career and McLaren the greatest day in a long time.

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