Gasly takes stunning maiden F1 win in crazy Italian GP

FULL RACE RESULT FROM THE 2020 F1 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly claimed a sensational unlikely maiden Formula 1 victory in a chaotic Italian Grand Prix that was interrupted by a red flag.

The race dramatically flipped on its head when erstwhile race-leader Lewis Hamilton was handed a 10-second stop and go penalty for pitting when the pit lane entry was closed under a Safety Car, and a red flag after Charles Leclerc suffered a huge crash at the Parabolica.

Gasly found himself leading a grand prix for the first time in his career at the standing restart after Lance Stroll ran wide into Turn 1 and Hamilton pitted to serve his penalty.

The Frenchman led from there on in and held firm despite intense pressure from the late-charging Carlos Sainz to seal his first F1 win in the most remarkable of circumstances and hand AlphaTauri a first victory since 2008 on home soil.

Sainz was just 0.415s away from taking his own first grand prix victory but the McLaren driver ultimately had to settle for his first podium of the season in second, while Racing Point’s Lance Stroll completed the rostrum in third.

Gasly is the first French winner in F1 since Oliver Panis won the 1996 Monaco Grand Prix. 

After controlling the first stint - with Hamilton opening up a 15-second lead and appearing to be cruising towards his 90th grand prix win - the Briton’s race turned into a nightmare.

Hamilton was penalised for entering the pit lane when it was closed after Mercedes reacted to a Safety Car period when Kevin Magnussen’s Haas stopped near the entry to the pit lane on Lap 20.

The six-times world champion was plum last, over half a minute off the lead and 20 second adrift of Albon when he returned to the track, but Hamilton successfully recovered back into the points to take seventh and limit the damage to his championship bid.

Lando Norris was a brilliant fourth in the second McLaren and kept Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes at bay, with the Finn taking fifth to gain some small ground on Hamilton in the title race.

Bottas struggled for pace throughout and had found himself down in sixth after botching the initial start, ultimately finishing just over 10 seconds ahead of Hamilton in the end.

Daniel Ricciardo split the Mercedes duo in sixth for Renault, with Hamilton’s late surge through the field seeing him pass the likes of Esteban Ocon (eighth), Daniil Kvyat (ninth) and Sergio Perez, who completed the top 10 for Racing Point.

Nicholas Latifi scored his best result in F1 and Williams’ strongest finish of the season in 11th on what is the Williams family’s final race involved with the British squad.

The Canadian finished ahead of Romain Grosjean’s Haas, the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen and teammate George Russell.

Alex Albon struggled to 15th with car damage on what was a torrid day for Red Bull, with Max Verstappen retiring with mechanical issues.

Antonio Giovinazzi was the last classified finisher in 16th after being hit with the same penalty as Hamilton.

Sebastian Vettel joined teammate Leclerc, Verstappen and Magnussen on the sidelines after the four-time world champion suffered an early brake failure as Ferrari failed to finish in a disastrous home event for the Scuderia.