09/06/2020 - 9:28
Clarín.com
sports
In a season with an unusual route and in which the action happens week after week, there was one thing that did not change in Formula 1: the dominance of Lewis Hamilton.
The Briton, in command of his Mercedes, claimed
the pole position he had achieved on Saturday
at the start of the Italian
Grand Prix
.
And it seemed that everything was going towards a new victory without problems, until chaos took over the competition and the stewards decided to raise the red flag: the race was relaunched, he was penalized and everything was uncertainty.
And in a rough river, the winner was a fisherman: Frenchman
Pierre Gasly
, on an unforgettable day and in a spectacular race, achieved
the first victory of his career in Formula 1
at the age of 24 with his
Alpha Tauri
.
Gasly, the same one who during the week confessed to
Clarín
that at times he felt "even boring to run at 300 kilometers per hour", he achieved an unobjectionable triumph, something helped by fortune although with a firm hand to hold the leadership and support the siege of the Spanish Carlos Sainz, who reached the second podium of his career and fought until the end to achieve what would also have been his first victory.
Behind, Hamilton could barely rescue a seventh place.
In the beginning, the first bad news for Mercedes had been the very poor start of the Finn Valtteri Bottas, who allowed those behind to gain positions.
The Spaniard
Carlos Sainz,
who had started as third, was placed as escort.
And
Lando Norris
, in a great start, went from sixth place in the standings to third.
Bottas, meanwhile, fell to sixth while trying to figure out what had happened.
The running of the laps marked a predictable dynamic, with Hamilton increasingly away from the peloton.
Sainz did not approach him but neither did he suffer in his second place, while Norris held out those who came behind:
Checo Pérez, Daniel Ricciardo
and a Bottas who was trying to regain positions.
Meanwhile, well behind everything, Ferrari suffered again.
Sebastian Vettel was still long in a curve and one of the hopes not to repeat the role of the last races was buried very soon.
Vettel, during his short tour in Monza.
(photo: AP)
But suddenly, chaos won the competition.
What happened?
Lewis Hamilton and Italian Antonio Giovinazzi pitted at an unauthorized moment.
The Briton decided to make the stop anyway, and the commissioners, after an investigation, decided to sanction him.
Meanwhile, the safety car was leaving due to a hard accident involving Charles Leclerc, which had ended a new nightmare for Ferrari, this time at his home.
And in the midst of this situation, the red flag came out, relaunching the competition when 26 of the 53 laps had been played.
The cars began to pit and in the meantime the penalty for Hamilton was announced: a mandatory 10-second pit stop.
Given this situation, the logical consequence was obvious: the British would be in last place.
Formula 1, finally, returned to uncertainty after so many races that threatened to plunge it into boredom.
Virtually, then, the first in the competition was Gasly, who was presented with an unexpected opportunity to rise to the top for the first time in his career.
The Frenchman kept the lead on the comeback and from there all those who marched in the top positions were on the hunt for the possibility of a victory.
It was no wonder: for any of the top four it was the chance of the first victory in the top flight.
With ten laps to go, Gasly was still in command and his escort was Sainz, who had outmaneuvered Kimi Raikkonen in a great maneuver.
Then the Finn was also overtaken by Lance Stroll, another who was looking for his big break.
The closing showed Gasly holding the Spaniard's onslaught, who cut the lead lap after lap but could barely stay close to a second away.
The Frenchman showed
the mastery of a veteran
and celebrated a victory he hardly believed in at the beginning of the day.
pierre gasly i love you so much pic.twitter.com/MtCQITVZLq
- PIERRE P1 (@ ALB0NS) September 6, 2020
Behind, well behind, Hamilton took seventh place, in a comeback that was not enough for more.
He remains the comfortable leader of the championship and is marching seamlessly towards his seventh title and Schumacher's record.
But his bad Sunday served to give Formula 1 in Monza
a magical race
of those that they missed.