Race 2020 F1 Italian Grand Prix Full Race Replay
Race 2020 F1 Italian Grand Prix Full Race Replay
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Race Info
Date 6 September 2020
Official name Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d'Italia 2020
Location Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Monza, Italy
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.793 km (3.600 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 306.720 km (190.587 miles)
Formula One Italian Grand Prix 2020 What to Watch
No one circuit more poetically captures the essence of Formula 1 than Monza.
Monza is frequently seen as Formula 1 at its most unadulterated due to its unfathomable high speeds, brutal braking forces, and the clamor of the fervent Italian supporters.
More world championship grand prix races have been held at this location than any other. Down the sport's straightaways, nearly every driver and vehicle that has ever participated has flown flat-out. On its famous starting grid, every world champion has lined up.
Numerous drivers have experienced their finest victories thanks to Monza. Their bitterest setbacks for others. Additionally, it has served as the scene of several people's last moments.
The history of the sport is inextricably linked to the revered Italian circuit. In addition to marking the end of one of Formula 1's most incredible eras, Monza in 2020 produced a result that will be remembered long after the main characters have left.
It was so predictable that you could have set your watch by the first row that qualified for the Italian Grand Prix.
The distinction of breaking the record for the fastest lap in Formula 1 history by average speed had been exchanged by both Hamilton and Bottas. Hamilton won to add another pole position to his record of 94 for the third straight race weekend. In hindsight, any discussion about the new engine mode limits for the weekend seems almost absurd.
With an average lap speed of 264 kph, the two Mercedes were eight tenths of a second apart from third place on the grid. However, Max Verstappen's Red Bull would not be the one waiting in line behind them this time.
Instead, after Carlos Sainz Jr. acknowledged that he threw caution to the wind in order to equal the best qualifying performance of his career, his McLaren finished third on the grid.
Beyond its breathtaking top speeds, Monza is only known for being the spiritual home of Ferrari and its devoted Italian fan base.
The unimaginable horrors that the patriotic residents and frontline workers of Italy endured during the catastrophic coronavirus outbreak are far worse than the Scuderia's challenges in 2020. However, a Saturday at Monza that saw Sebastian Vettel struggling to advance through Q1 and Leclerc unable to contend for the top ten would not have given the Tifosi hope that Ferrari would recover from a race weekend in Belgium where they had appeared completely lost.
Although Monza could have appeared like a suitable last race for Sir Frank and Claire Williams to leave the team that proudly carries their names, their final car was unfortunately not suited to the circuit's minimal downforce.
Being confined to the back row may not have been wholly unexpected, it contradicted the Williams name’s rich tradition of 43 years, 740 races, 114 wins and nine constructors’ titles.
The Williams family got ready to race together one more time before the team started its transfer to new ownership under investment group Dorilton.
There was little indication that Hamilton's seemingly unstoppable run to an inevitable seventh title would be anything more than another afternoon cruise as the grid was set up before the Italian Grand Prix began.
The latest generation of Formula One cars, the fastest to ever grace a racetrack, benefit more from a "tow" than many of their predecessors, as demonstrated by Saturday's slipstreaming antics. Maybe that would be the key component needed to liven up the dull racing that we've saw so frequently in 2020.
Bottas was hoping to finally grab the advantage over his teammate at the getaway and take the fight to Hamilton ahead of him as the cars lined up on the grid for what was intended to be the only time that day. However, his chance vanished before the five lights had even gone out.
A mistake at the beginning proved to be his downfall, just as it had been in Hungary weeks earlier.
In addition to costing him the opportunity to beat Hamilton to the Rettifilo chicane, Bottas's error made it possible for Sainz and Lando Norris, two McLarens, to overtake him as the pack roared down the straight for the first lap.
Sainz passed with ease, but Bottas managed to fend off Norris until the McLaren driver pushed past him, touching him as they went around the outside of the Roggia chicane.
Bottas later described how he felt the car tug to one side through the Lesmos, confirming his belief that he had been punctured. Sergio Perez and Daniel Ricciardo had dropped the Mercedes driver to sixth place by the time he made it to Ascari for the first time.
Kevin Magnussen was forced to pit for a new front wing at the bottom of the field following contact on the first lap. George Russell was moved up to 18th place as a result, trailing Vettel's Ferrari, which had not improved from its poor starting position.
Russell noticed that there was a problem with the automobile in front of him as he followed the Ferrari.
Unfortunately for Vettel, he was not brought in by Ferrari. Vettel's braking failure at the start of lap six, which sent the Ferrari speeding down the Rettifilo run-off and destroying the polystyrene boards sitting there on its route to retirement, was visible to Russell from the front row.
It concluded a dreary weekend in Vettel's miserable final season with Ferrari. In a nutshell, he said, "I think it's probably a blessing that there's nobody in the stands."
Hamilton started stretching his legs up front, setting fastest laps as he closed the distance to Sainz behind him as he had no other Mercedes to keep him company.
Over third, Perez put some light pressure on Norris, but now a DRS train was forming, with Verstappen, Ricciardo, Bottas, and Perez all dragging one another down Monza's lengthy straightaways.
The eventual Italian Grand Prix winner was sitting in tenth place at this point in the race.
Monza is a race that never stops. None of the top ten starters had deviated from the traditional tactic of using soft tires during qualifying before stopping shortly before half distance for their one required stop due to low tire wear.
With Norris supporting McLaren's impressive third-place finish, Hamilton had an 11-second lead over Sainz as the field reached the early window for the stops.
Some drivers tried to take advantage of the clear air by pitting early in the middle of the comparatively small midfield. Charles Leclerc, Kimi Raikkonen, and Nicholas Latifi all chose to swap to hard tires earlier, and when they returned to the track, they all had plenty of room.
After his Ferrari power unit decided it no longer wanted to endure the humiliation of finishing last at Monza, Magnussen had slowed to a crawl in his Haas.
He attempted to hobble back to the pit lane, but his crew told him to pull up as away as he circled the Parabolica. Less than 100 meters from the pit entry line, he came to a stop at a marshal's post.
The time it took for tenth-placed Pierre Gasly to approach pit lane after the first yellow flag was raised for the disabled Haas was only 20 seconds.
AlphaTauri only needed to choose to call their driver in for an early, opportunistic halt at that point. In the end, it would turn out to be the right choice. While marshals worked on Magnussen's vehicle, Gasly set out on a set of hard tires.
Back at the front, Hamilton was speeding down toward Parabolica when the safety car lights on his W11's steering wheel and the LED boards by the side of the circuit started to blink.
Any doubt about pitting the race leader had now been resolved on the Mercedes pit wall. While the Mercedes mechanics hurried to the pits with a pair of hard tires, Hamilton was instructed to box. He then called in to say he wanted medium tires, but there was no time to switch them out because he was only a few seconds from the pit lane entry.
Unfortunately for Mercedes, the important "pit lane is closed" notification that had just flashed up on one page of their timing screens was missed in their haste to avoid missing a short pit stop under the Safety Car.