Victoria Desai Takes Crucial Victory at Ferrari Home Race

Qualifying:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Q1	Q2	Diff.
1	57	Dean Stoneman		1:27.244	1:27.281
2	63	George Russell		1:28.059	1:27.857	+0.613
3	1	Artem Markelov		1:29.882	1:30.393	+2.638
4	37	Victoria Desai		1:30.577	1:30.296	+3.831
5	33	Max Verstappen		1:30.605	1:30.464	+3.220
6	29	Roger Ibe		1:31.015	1:30.723	+3.479
7	70	Pastor Maldonado		1:30.873	1:30.962	+3.629
8	23	Alexander Albon		1:31.286	1:30.879	+3.635
9	39	Sho Tsuboi		1:31.309	1:30.957	+3.713
10	18	Sebastian Vettel		1:31.079	1:30.965	+3.721
11	77	Valtteri Bottas		1:31.457	1:31.167	+4.733
12	20	Kevin Magnussen		1:31.452	1:31.255	+4.011
13	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		1:32.289	1:31.755	+4.511
14	4	Robin Frijns		1:31.862	1:31.875	+4.618
15	26	Robert Shwartzman		1:32.159	1:31.903	+4.659
16	31	Esteban Ocon		1:32.970	1:32.701	+5.457
17	11	Terry Hawkin		1:33.312	No TIme	+6.068
18	47	Pedro de la Rosa		1:33.781	1:33.436	+6.192
19	56	Sabrina Mann		1:33.857	1:33.650	+6.406
20	95	Beitske Visser		1:33.987	1:33.899	+6.655
21	46	Alessandro Cicognani		1:34.309	1:34.708	+7.065
22	23	Théo Pourchaire		1:35.586	1:34.430	+7.186
23	7	Charles Leclerc		1:36.542	1:36.290	+9.046
24	84	Jack Aitken		1:37.010	1:37.207	+9.963

Report:

Sebastian Vettel looked certain to place himself in good position for his third title, he came to Italy leading the championship by 15 points. Ferrari’s star Victoria Desai, his main rival, had only finished half of her last four races.

However, as Victoria Desai dominated the Italian Grand Prix and gave the tifosi lots to cheer about, Vettel struggled mightily. After a poor start, contact with Dawson forced him into a pitstop, followed by a second stop after a puncture.

While Sebastian Vettel ran back into the points, helped by temporary teammate Pedro de la Rosa moving out of the way, his championship lead is down to two points. His points came at the expense of points for Terry Hawkin, but FAST had a good afternoon.

BR Mansell also had a great qualifying, Artem Markelov translated a brilliant qualifying into second place. Pastor Maldonado impressed with his third podium in the last four races, unlike Max Verstappen who performed poorly.

Race:

Pos	#	Driver	Constructor	Time/Retired	Points
1	37	Victoria Desai		56:04.486	15
2	1	Artem Markelov		+11.352	12
3	70	Pastor Maldonado		+22.498	10
4	23	Alexander Albon		+23.419	8
5	29	Roger Ibe		+29.868	6
6	39	Sho Tsuboi		+63.680	5
7	57	Dean Stoneman		+65.511	4
8	14	Esteban Ocon		+90.717	3
9	18	Sebastian Vettel		1 Lap	2
10	26	Robert Shwartzman		1 Lap	1
11	11	Terry Hawkin		1 Lap
12	47	Pedro de la Rosa		1 Lap
13	27	Théo Pourchaire		1 Lap
14	20	Kevin Magnussen		Puncture
15	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.		2 Laps
16	46	Alessandro Cicognani		2 Laps
17	7	Charles Leclerc		2 Laps
18	85	Jack Aitken		2 Laps
DNF	33	Max Verstappen		Motor
DNF	4	Robin Frijns		Puncture
DNF	95	Beitske Visser		Transmission
DNF	77	Valtteri Bottas		Puncture
DNF	63	George Russell		Transmission
DNF	57	Sabrina Mann		Oil Leak

Fastest Lap:

Max Verstappen – 1:31.217

Infinite Improbability Drive Of The Race:

BR Mansell-Toyota – their second podium finish of the season was relief.

Reject Of The Race:

Bridgestone – four major tyre blowouts are not good marketing material.