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KEY MOMENTS
* AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly took his debut win at Monza using all three
compounds brought by Pirelli. The red flag on lap 26 meant that all the
drivers could change tyres in the pits, so effectively, the Italian Grand
Prix boiled down to a 27-lap sprint race, which re-started at 16:20 local
time.
* Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, who finished third, effectively gained a
‘free’ pit stop, as he was the only driver not to stop before the red flag
came out.
* Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton led the race from pole, but was handed a 10
second stop-and-go penalty, which he served immediately after the race
re-started. On Yellow medium tyres, he re-started first, emerged at the back
after his penalty, and eventually ended up seventh with the White hard.
* A number of different tyre strategies were already seen before the red
flag, but when the race was re-started, there was an equally wide selection
of tyres used: with all three compounds chosen for the re-start. However,
the top six at the finish all selected the medium tyre for the second half
of the race.
* There were no further pit stops following the re-start, even for the
drivers who had chosen the Red soft tyre (used by Renault’s Esteban Ocon to
finish eighth).
* Weather conditions remained dry and warm, with 30 degrees ambient and 41
degrees centigrade at the re-start.
HOW EACH TYRE PERFORMED
HARD C2: Selected by Lewis Hamilton for his final stint: also used by race
winner Gasly for his second stint, immediately before the red flag.
MEDIUM C3: Used by most drivers after the re-start, combining speed with
durability to ensure a rapid sprint finish to the race.
SOFT C4: Used by Alfa Romeo’s drivers and Renault’s Esteban Ocon for the
second half of the race following the restart, and by all the top 10 on the
original grid for the first stint.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“All our compounds performed well today. The race strategy was obviously
dominated and reset by the red flag. This was preceded by a safety car, all
of which added up to a highly unusual and entertaining grand prix.
Effectively, we had a 27-lap sprint race to the finish, which meant that the
drivers had to think about managing their tyres throughout the duration of
the second half of the race. Congratulations to Pierre Gasly and AlphaTauri
for a very memorable and perfectly-managed victory – as well as to Carlos
Sainz with McLaren and Lance Stroll with Racing Point, who finished second
and third at this incredible Italian Grand Prix: where the top three all
used completely different strategies” |