F1 Italian GP: Bottas to start at the end despite winning the qualifiers.

F1: Despite Valtteri Bottas winning the sprint, Max Verstappen who finished p2 will start the race in grid number 1 because of the penalty imposed on Bottas and will start at the end of the race in Italian GP. Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, finished third, Lando Norris fourth, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth after starting P2.

As the lights went out, Hamilton had a nightmare start from P2, mugged by Verstappen, both of the soft-shod McLarens and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly to sit sixth by the time he reached Curva Grande, as Bottas led Verstappen, the fast-starting Ricciardo, and Norris – Ricciardo having passed his teammate after starting P4.

Pierre Gasly also had a bad start in the race when his front wing had contact with Daniel Riccardo’s tire and going into the gravel and hitting the wall which led to a yellow flag and safety car. The Safety Car was brought out, but not before Yuki Tsunoda and Robert Kubica made contact, Kubica spinning around.

The safety car was till lap 4. Valtteri Bottas acing the restart by 1.5s ahead of Max by the end of the first lap. Max ahead of Riccardo, Norris, and Hamilton in p5, followed by Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in sixth and seventh position. And Antonio Giovinazzi in eight posotion.

This wasn’t Lewis Hamilton’s finest day, the Briton making a bad getaway and losing three places that he was unable to recover. He tracked Norris for the entire Sprint but never got close enough to launch a meaningful attack. The fifth will become fourth on Sunday with Bottas’ penalty, but having looked in good shape for victory, he was pessimistic about his chances on Sunday, saying to me in the pen that title rival Verstappen had already got victory sewn up.

Nikita Mazepin was pretty happy with his efforts, and it’s no surprise given he made up three places – the best of any driver. The Russian reckoned he got the maximum out of the Haas package, negotiating a hectic start and keeping his nose clean to end up two places ahead of teammate Mick Schumacher.

The F1 Sprint format did not play in Gasly’s favor, the Frenchman making a very strong getaway, only to make a small error and give Ricciardo the smallest of taps.

The grid position for today’s F1 Italian GP will be:

Max Verstappen upfront behind him Daniel Riccardo followed by Lando Norris. Lewis Hamilton will start at grid number 4, in grid number 5 Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in at number 6. Grid Number 7 was occupied by Antonio Giovinazzi, Sergio Perez, and Lance Stroll at eighth and ninth. Fernando Alonso at 10 followed by Sebastian Vettel and Estaban Ocon at 12 with Nicholas Latifi at 13 ahead of George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda at 15. Nikita Mazepin and Robert Kubica, 16 and 17 respectively followed by Mick Schumacher and Pierre Gasly. Valtteri Bottas up at last because of the penalty. 

Watch the F1 Italian GP sprint qualifying highlights here.