Ricciardo takes 1st at Monza

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Daniel Ricciardo just dominated the Italian GP from lights out to the checkered flag. After starting in P2 Ricciardo took the line along the right side and beat pole sitter Max Verstappen off the line and never really looked back on his way to his 1st win in Formula one since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix and 8th win in his career. Mclaren teammate Lando Norris completed the 1-2 finish giving the team their first race win since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.
We will get back to the Honey Badger’s win in a minute but there is going to be another storyline that dominates the headlines. On lap 26, Hamilton was exiting the pits and ended up side by side with rival (and points leader) Max Verstappen through the Variante del Rettifilo and ended with Verstappen going airborn over the top of Lewis’s car and his tires actually hitting Hamilton’s helmet. The debate now is who will be deemed “at fault” for the incident as neither driver finished the race or gained any points towards the championship. Luckily both Verstappen and Hamilton came away from the crash unhurt and the stewerds surely will be investigating.
With Hamilton and Verstappen out of the race Ricciardo was still leading and after Norris overtook Leclerc to claim 2nd position we had a Mclaren 1-2 the rest of the way. This was a huge weekend for Mclaren after losing ground to Ferrari for 3rd place in the Constructor’s Championship but after taking 44 total points today (Ricciardo also claimed the 1 point for fastest lap on his final lap) they now hold a 13.5 point lead over Ferrari. And for Daniel Ricciardo, you could see the relief and excitement written all over his face. This is a guy who decided to leave Red Bull Racing a few years back because he wanted to prove he could win outside of Red Bull and that he’s still got it. When teamed up with Verstappen at Red Bull he was playing second fiddle and he knew, as a man, he was better than that and today he showed it. Daniel did not win this race because Hamilton and Verstappen decided to stack on top of each other, he won this race by brilliant driving. He beat Max on the start and held him off until he decided to pit. Sure, Ricciardo got a little help when Max took an 11-second pit stop and of course the crash behind him involving the top 2 drivers didn’t hurt but Daniel put himself in the position to win and the cards fell the way they did.
With Hamilton and Verstappen both out of the race their teams were still battling on the track to earn points in the fight for the Constructors title. Valterri Bottas, having to start the race at the back of the grid after winning the Sprint race and claiming pole position due to another engine replacement, battled all the way back up the field and finished the race in 4th place behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Perez was then given a 5-second penalty which brought him down to 5th place behind Bottas (now taking 3rd) and Charles Leclerc in 4th. Perez recieved the 5-second penalty for passing Leclerc earlier while outside of track limits.
And after all was said and done we had our first Mclaren shoey celebration up on the podium with Ricciardo, Norris and Team Principal Zac Brown all getting in on the action. Spirits were very high throughout the team and the maturity and team-forward attitude of Lando Norris really showed. He was behind Ricciardo in 2nd and at times was on the team radio complaining about pace and thought they should be going faster. And he could have gone against team orders and battled Daniel for 1st place to go for his first ever win in Formula One and also earn more points to close the gap to Bottas for 3rd overall, but he put the team first and now Mclaren has a good gap to Ferrari for 3rd in the Constructors.
Next up for the Formula 1 season comes in 2 weeks at the Sochi Autodrom for the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. A race that has been dominated by Mercedes having won all 7 races that have been held here. Can Mercedes keep up with their success at Sochi or will we see another team claim their first victory at the Autodrom. For now lets all celebrate a great win for Daniel Ricciardo and Mclaren and debate on who was at fault for the Verstappen/Hamilton pig pile. See ya in Russia, Folks!