French driver Pierre Gasly recorded his first-ever Formula One victory by winning the 2020 Italian Grand Prix – edging McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, Jr. – while Racing Point’s Lance Stroll took the third and final podium position.
Mercedes dominated the race weekend and entered the race with six-time defending world champion Lewis Hamilton in the pole position and his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, alongside him in the front row. As expected, Hamilton leapt to the lead on the first lap but Bottas had a poor start and dropped all the way into sixth.
That is where it remained until Lap 20 when Haas’ Kevin Magnussen experienced a mechanical failure with his car near the Monza racetrack pit entrance. Stewards closed the pit while moving Haas’ car into the pit but Hamilton’s pit crew made an error and told him to pit during the pit closure. That meant Hamilton was assessed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty – sending him from first to last place when the race restarted on Lap 27 after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crash had caused a red flag stoppage.
With Hamilton essentially out of podium contention, Bottas mired in fifth and, inexplicably, unable to pass, the race opened up for all the non-Mercedes cars. When Red Bull’s Max Verstappen retired on Lap 31 with a mechanical failure, it meant a free-for-all for the podium places.
AlphaTauri Honda’s Gasly led the race – his first time ever leading a Formula 1 race – after Hamilton was forced to take his penalty and gradually, Sainz, Jr. and Stroll worked their way past Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen to claim the final podium positions. Hamilton eventually finished seventh.
2020 Italian Grand Prix Top 10
1] Pierre Gasly – AlphaTauri Honda
2] Carlos Sainz, Jr. – McLaren
3] Lance Stroll – Racing Point
4] Lando Norris – McLaren
5] Valtteri Bottas – Mercedes
6] Daniel Ricciardo – Renault
7] Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
8] Esteban Ocon – Renault
9] Daniil Kvyat – AlphaTauri Honda
10] Sergio Perez – Racing Point