It was a tale of two races for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel at the Italian Grand Prix. As Leclerc scored his second win in a row and delivered the Prancing Horse its first win in its home race in nearly a decade, Vettel finished out of the points and is closing in on a ban after another self-inflicted error.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton — who finished a distant third — shared some interesting thoughts about Leclerc’s driving en route to his victory, as did Lance Stroll on Vettel after their early collision.
As always, SBOBET is here to catch you up on all the top storylines after an eventful 2019 Italian Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc ends Ferrari’s 9-year winless drought at Monza
Charles Leclerc is the man of the moment. His Italian Grand Prix 2019 betting odds improved after becoming Formula 1’s third-youngest winner at the Belgian Grand Prix. And the 21-year-old Monegasque came through as he became Ferrari’s first win in their home Grand Prix since Fernando Alonso back in 2010.
“It really means so much to me,” said Leclerc after the race. “It was already a dream come true at Spa (Belgian GP), winning here is 10 times more.”
Leclerc, who also won pole for the second consecutive race, finished 0.8 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and 35 seconds ahead of championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Similar to his win in Belgium, Leclerc had to weather some serious pressure from Hamilton for most of the race. Leclerc was successfully able to prevent Hamilton from passing him, although there were some questions regarding his methods.
In one particular instance, Hamilton ended up on the grass after Leclerc’s aggressive defensive move, which led to the Ferrari driver receiving a black and white warning flag but no penalty.
Bottas took over second spot after Hamilton made a mistake with 11 laps remaining, but Leclerc was able to hold on for his second straight win.
With his win, Leclerc has now overtaken team-mate Vettel for fourth in the drivers’ standings with 182 points and is just three points behind Max Verstappen in third.
Lewis Hamilton fine with Leclerc’s “dangerous” driving
Thanks to Leclerc’s winning streak, Hamilton hasn’t won in back-to-back races for the first time this season. His last win came back in Hungary, just before the summer break.
But while Hamilton was on the receiving end of some risky driving by Leclerc in Monza, he admits he would likely make some similar moves — and take a flag as a result — if it meant gaining a crucial position.
In discussing the incident where he was forced off the track, Hamilton was adamant that Leclerc pushed off and didn’t leave him a car’s width.
And when Hamilton was asked if Leclerc deserved a penalty after Verstappen was given a five-second penalty for a similar move last year, he replied: “I guess the stewards woke up on a different side of the bed this morning, I don’t know.”
Hamilton also told his team after another Leclerc defensive move that there was “some dangerous driving” going on.
But despite those comments, Hamilton insists he has no issues with Leclerc’s driving and just wants some consistency as to how the race is officiated.
“There is absolutely zero issue with us,” the five-time world champion said. “I think he did an exceptional job day today and I don’t have any problem. It is what it is.
“I haven’t spoken to him but if we get some time together we might chat for a second, just reverse roles, just make sure he’s cool if I’m in that position and that happens. If that’s cool then that’s how we’re racing.”
Lance Stroll slams “idiot” Sebastian Vettel, who’s closing in on ban
While Leclerc was jostling with Hamilton for the race lead, his Ferrari team-mate — four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel — was making Italian Grand Prix 2019 highlights of the wrong kind as he spun his car at the Ascari chicane on Lap 6.
As if spinning out wasn’t bad enough, Vettel also made a hash out of re-entering the track and collided with the Race Point of Lance Stroll, who also spun while trying to avoid the Ferrari.
Vettel, who went into the pits to repair the damage on his car following the collision, was also hit with a 10-second stop/go penalty for his infraction and finished all the way down in 13th place.
Stroll was understandably upset by the whole incident. He said Vettel came back on the track “like an idiot” over his team radio.
“[Vettel] came back on the circuit very aggressively and even at the speed I was going there was just nothing I could really do. I tried to avoid him by going to the left but he just kept moving forward and eventually we made contact so it was really dangerous.”
Aside from the penalty, Vettel also incurred three penalty points, taking his tally to nine for the calendar year. If he picks up three more points in his next three races, he will be banned for a race.
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