Sundaram Ramaswami
The 2021 Italian Grand Prix had just about everything. The dramatic crash involving Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen will continue to be spoken about for the coming weeks, but it won’t steal McLaren’s thunder who made a return to the top step after 3,213 days. The day truly belonged to the papaya team whose victory sprung up many interesting facts for the race.
Here are all the numbers from the 2021 Italian GP –
GENERAL –
- For the very first time, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both suffered a retirement in the same race.
- The title rivals have clashed in every race weekend this year that has included sprint qualifying.
- Each of the British drivers this season, finished P2 in this triple header.
- After Williams and Mercedes scored 66 and 50 points respectively at the 2014 Abu Dhabi GP, McLaren’s tally of 45 points is the third-most for a team during a race weekend.
- Since the start of 2020, a total of six teams have won a Grand Prix. Surprisingly, Ferrari’s name does not feature on that list.
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McLAREN –
- Daniel Ricciardo led his first laps in a Grand Prix since Abu Dhabi 2018.
- The Aussie took his eighth F1 win, each of which has been on different circuits.
- It was a three-year wait for Ricciardo to register another win since Monaco 2018.
- Ricciardo became the first Australian to win a Grand Prix in Italy, a feat even other Aussie greats such as Jack Brabham, Alan Jones and Mark Webber couldn’t achieve.
- The Perth born driver became the second driver, after Sergio Perez, to take the winner’s trophy with multiple constructors in the hybrid era.
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- P2 was Lando Norris’ best-ever race result. He’s finished third on four previous occasions.
- McLaren finally managed to win a race after a long gap of 170 races, almost 9 years.
- It was the team’s first double-podium since Australia 2014 and first race one-two since Canada 2010.
- The Woking-based team are also the first ones to clinch a race one-two in 2021.
- With eight races still left in the season, McLaren have already racked up 215 points making this their best season since 2012.
MERCEDES –
- Lewis Hamilton suffered his first DNF since Austria 2018.
- That ended his long streak of 62 consecutive race finishes, the most in the sport.
- It was the first time Hamilton failed to score a point at Monza since 2010.
- Sprint winner, Valtteri Bottas gained a total of 16 places during the Italian Grand Prix and finished P3.
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- It was his seventh third-place finish in 2021. He’s finished higher than third on only one occasion this year – P2 at the Austrian GP.
- The last instance of a driver starting 19th or lower, yet ending up on the podium was in 2019 in Brazil, when Carlos Sainz Jr. started 20th and finished P3.
- The complete podium featured teams that are powered by Mercedes engines. The last time an engine supplier took a podium clean sweep was in Mexico 2015.
- Mercedes have taken 13 one-two-threes since 2014 and are the only engine supplier to do so in the hybrid era.
RED BULL –
- Three of Red Bull’s four cars failed to score a point during the Italian Grand Prix.
- Last week’s winner, Max Verstappen is yet to finish higher than fifth at the Italian GP.
- Since joining Red Bull in 2016, no other driver in F1 has had more retirements than Verstappen.
- P5 is Sergio Perez’s best race result since the Styrian GP in late June.
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ALPHATAURI –
- AlphaTauri failed to score points in a race for the first time since Turkey 2020.
- Neither driver made it to the end of the race, a first for the team since Russia 2018.
FERRARI –
- Ending the race with double points was a welcome result for the team at this venue. Last year, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel both retired from the Italian Grand Prix.
ALPINE –
- Fernando Alonso scored points at the Italian Grand Prix for the first time in the hybrid era. He’s had four DNFs and one non-points finish at Monza previously.
ASTON MARTIN –
- With P7, Lance Stroll registered his best race result since the 2020 Sakhir GP.
WILLIAMS –
- George Russell scored for the third time this season. The team now have 22 points in the Constructors’ standing, 19 more than nearest rival Alfa Romeo, who are currently at 3 points.
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