Pierre Gasly wins a fascinating Grand Prix 0.4 ahead of Carlos Sainz. Lance Stroll collects the last podium position while Lewis Hamilton finishes 7th after a stop-go penalty.
Report:
Hamilton managed to pull off the better start as the two McLarens swamped Bottas. Sainz took 2nd off the line while Norris squeezed past at turn 4. Verstappen and Bottas had a poor start and fell backwards while Albon was caught out with a collision with Gasly. There was no damage to either car, but Albon was awarded a 5 second time penalty for not leaving appropriate space.
Ferrari were not expecting a successful weekend, but they would not have expected Vettel to retire on lap 6. His break by wire failed and he dramatically took to the escape road at turn 1. Perez in 4th managed to close up to Norris and started a tense battle for the final podium place on lap 9. While this was taking place, Bottas and Verstappen closed up to Ricciardo ahead.This formed a train from 3rd to 7th. The cars were attempting to preserve their tyres and stayed within the DRS zone of the respective car ahead.
Bottas’ day continued to go from bad to worse as his Mercedes engine was struggling in 6th. The Mercedes was not designed to follow other cars so closely and the Finn took to the radio to show his displeasure. Meanwhile, his team-mate was comfortably in control with a 13 second lead by lap 20.
Suddenly, Magnussen’s car ground to a halt on the exit of Parabolica. This brought out the safety car, in which Haimlton pitted immediately. However, Sainz stayed out and took the lead of the Grand Prix. But, the drama was yet to unfold as it appeared the pit lane was closed before Hamilton entered the pits. He was placed under investigation and the entire race was turned on it’s head. As the pit lane opened the majority of the field stopped and McLaren pulled off a supreme double stop.
As the safety car peeled in, many of the cars were out of position and this led to battles throughout the track. But Charls leclerc completely lost the back end out out of Parabolica and had a huge shunt. Thankfully the Monagasque was able to climb out of the car, despite being buried in the tyres. This would lead to an eventual red flag as the barrier needed to be repaired.
During the red flag, it was confirmed that Hamilton and Giovinazzi were given a 10 second stop go penalty. Now, it was anybody’s race.
After a lengthy red flag session, it was announced the race would resume with a standing start. Hamilton was first, with a stop go penalty followed by Stroll, Gasly, Raikkonen, Giovinazzi, Sainz, Norris and Bottas.
The race restarted and Hamilton got away clear, but Gasly launched up to 2nd. There was hairy moment for Stroll as he almost collected multiple cars in turn 9, Missing his braking zone. Hamilton served his penalty immediately and Gasly lead the Grand Prix. Gasly immediately broke the DRS barrier and had to manage a very strong position.
Verstappen pulled into the pits on lap 31 and he would not take any further part in the race. Sainz performed a superb pass on Raikkonen through turn 1 and 2 and now started to chase down Gasly, who had pulled out a 4 second gap. Stroll and Norris managed to take the Finnish driver and were now preparing to battle for the final podium place.
Hamilton caught the back of the pack on lap 38, but was still 23 seconds away from the race lead. Albon was the car in front and he struggled to find his way past. The Briton dispatched of Russell, Grosjean, Latifi and Raikkonen with relative ease, placing him 10th with 8 laps to go.
Up front, Sainz was slowly reeling in Gasly, but time was running out. If he was going to take it, he would need to get into the DRS zone. With 5 laps to go, the gap was down to a tantalising 1.2 seconds. Both drivers were giving it everything and any mistake would have determined the result.
Carlos Sainz broke into DRS on the last lap and the pair almost ran nose to tail for the final lap. However, Pierre Gasly drove an amazing race to take his first ever F1 victory. This, of course, drew parallels to Vettel’s win from 2008 in essentially the same team. The Frenchman has had a turbulent career in F1, but no-one can take away how impressive this supreme drive was. Sainz came across the line in 2nd while Stroll yet again kept his nose clean to take his second ever podium. Norris came home in 4th after defending from Bottas for multiple laps. Renault will be disappointed with 6th and 8th in a race where they could have taken the victory. Hamilton recovered to 7th ahead of Kvyat and Perez.
Pierre Gasly is now the 109th different Grand Prix winner, the newest French race winner since Olivier Panis in 1996 and the 9th different race winner since 2014. He was understandably emotional and showed his jubilation on the podium. Numerous drivers, including Leclerc, went to congratulate the new winner and wrapped up a real ‘feel-good’ win for the sport.
After some very predictable races in 2020, this was exactly the race fans were looking for. 3 different constructors on the podium after a phenomenal race, and one of the most incredible pieces of entertainment this writer has ever seen.
Final Results:
- Gasly
- Sainz +0.415
- Stroll +3.358
- Norris +6.000
- Bottas +7.108
- Ricciardo +8.391
- Hamilton +17.245
- Ocon +18.691
- Kvyat +22.208
- Perez +23.224
- Latifi +32.876
- Grosjean +35.164
- Raikkonen +36.312
- Russell +36.593
- Albon + 37.533
- Giovinazzi +55.199
- Verstappen RET
- Leclerc RET
- Magnussen RET
- Vettel RET
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official Twitter
