2018 Italian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Lewis Hamilton overturned Ferrari‘s front-row advantage to win the 2018 Italian Grand Prix. Kimi Räikkönen led much of the race at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, but tyre wear and sustained Mercedes pressure opened the door for a late pass that strengthened Hamilton’s title challenge.

Pole position
Driver	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Time	1:19.119
Fastest lap
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:22.497 on lap 30
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Second	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Third	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
31 August 2018	Practice 1	11:00 – 12:30
31 August 2018	Practice 2	15:00 – 16:30
1 September 2018	Practice 3	12:00 – 13:00
1 September 2018	Qualifying	15:00 – 16:00
2 September 2018	Race	15:10

All times are local (UTC+02:00). The race time is the scheduled start.

Championship background

Hamilton arrived 17 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel after Ferrari‘s Belgian victory. The home team looked exceptionally quick at Monza, raising hopes of its first Italian Grand Prix win since 2010.

Race entries

Lando Norris replaced Stoffel Vandoorne in McLaren‘s FP1 line-up. The regular race drivers returned afterwards. Nico Hülkenberg carried both a collision penalty from Belgium and power-unit penalties, while Daniel Ricciardo also faced a back-row start.

Free Practice

Sergio Perez led a wet FP1 in 1:34.000, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Esteban Ocon. Conditions restricted the usefulness of the opening times.

Sebastian Vettel topped FP2 with a 1:21.105. Marcus Ericsson suffered a major high-speed crash after his DRS failed to close, bringing a red flag and extensive repair work for Sauber.

Vettel remained fastest in FP3 with a 1:20.509, followed by Lewis Hamilton and Räikkönen. Ferrari approached qualifying with a genuine chance to lock out the front row.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2018 Italian Grand Prix FP1, 31 August 2018

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	1:34.000	18
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.550s	28
3	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	+0.593s	17
4	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	+1.024s	17
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.207s	13
6	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+1.438s	19
7	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.665s	10
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	+1.995s	15
9	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+2.107s	15
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+2.238s	8
11	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+2.546s	6
12	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	+2.648s	10
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+3.066s	13
14	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+3.426s	14
15	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+3.683s	13
16	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+3.790s	11
17	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+3.867s	4
18	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	+3.929s	10
19	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+4.253s	8
20	47	Lando Norris	McLaren	+4.282s	9

Free Practice 2 Classification

2018 Italian Grand Prix FP2, 31 August 2018

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:21.105	27
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.270s	31
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.287s	31
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.698s	35
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.049s	28
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.191s	28
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	+1.825s	30
8	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	+1.837s	32
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	+1.860s	20
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+1.958s	30
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+1.972s	31
12	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	+2.088s	32
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.128s	28
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+2.297s	34
15	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	+2.409s	28
16	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	+2.426s	16
17	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+2.461s	29
18	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.636s	23
19	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+2.979s	30
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	No time	2

Free Practice 3 Classification

2018 Italian Grand Prix FP3, 1 September 2018

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:20.509	18
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.081s	14
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.173s	16
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.603s	18
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+0.879s	15
6	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+1.502s	15
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	+1.546s	16
8	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.801s	15
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	+1.804s	17
10	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+1.848s	16
11	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	+1.977s	13
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	+2.122s	20
13	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	+2.228s	15
14	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	+2.269s	20
15	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+2.351s	19
16	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+2.373s	25
17	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.383s	23
18	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+2.478s	16
19	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+2.640s	10
20	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	+2.655s	19

Qualifying

Kimi Räikkönen took pole with a 1:19.119, the fastest qualifying lap by average speed in Formula One history at the time. Sebastian Vettel completed the Ferrari front row, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

Max Verstappen qualified fifth, with Romain Grosjean sixth. Lance Stroll reached Q3 for Williams, while the penalties for Ricciardo, Hülkenberg and Ericsson changed the order further back.

Qualifying Classification

2018 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying, 1 September 2018

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:20.722	1:19.846	1:19.119	21
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:20.542	1:19.629	1:19.280	20
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:20.810	1:19.798	1:19.294	20
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:21.381	1:20.427	1:19.656	18
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:21.381	1:20.333	1:20.615	15
6	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:21.887	1:21.239	1:20.936	21
7	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	1:21.732	1:21.552	1:21.041	17
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	1:21.570	1:21.315	1:21.099	17
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:21.834	1:21.667	1:21.350	24
10	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:21.838	1:21.494	1:21.627	14
11	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:21.783	1:21.669	—	12
12	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	1:21.813	1:21.732	—	13
13	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:21.850	1:22.568	—	14
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	1:21.801	No time	—	12
15	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:21.280	No time	—	3
16	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	1:21.888	—	—	5
17	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	1:21.889	—	—	10
18	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	1:21.934	—	—	12
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:22.048	—	—	10
20	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:22.085	—	—	9

Nico Hülkenberg received a 40-place grid penalty: 10 places for causing a collision at previous round and 30 places for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.

Daniel Ricciardo received a 30-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.

Marcus Ericsson received a 10-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.

What happened in the 2018 Italian Grand Prix?

Räikkönen retained the lead, while Hamilton attacked Vettel at the second chicane. Their cars touched and Vettel spun, sending him to the back and forcing an early stop for repairs. Brendon Hartley‘s opening-lap retirement brought out the safety car.

Hamilton briefly passed Räikkönen at the restart, but the Ferrari driver immediately fought back. The pair remained closely matched until Ferrari brought Räikkönen in first, with Mercedes keeping Hamilton out for several more laps.

Räikkönen caught Bottas, who had yet to stop, while Hamilton used his fresher tyres to close the gap. Ferrari‘s rear tyres began to blister, and even after Bottas pitted, Räikkönen struggled to create breathing space.

Hamilton made the decisive move at the first chicane on lap 45 and pulled clear. Räikkönen finished second, while a five-second penalty for Max Verstappen‘s contact with Bottas promoted Bottas to third and Vettel to fourth.

Verstappen was classified fifth. Romain Grosjean finished sixth on the road but was disqualified for an illegal floor, moving Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll up the order. Sergey Sirotkin inherited tenth and his first Formula One point.

Hamilton’s victory increased his lead over Vettel to 30 points. Ferrari had started with the best possible grid positions, but Mercedes left Monza with a result that substantially changed the outlook of the championship fight.

2018 Italian Grand Prix race results

The 2018 Italian Grand Prix was held on 2 September 2018, with a scheduled start of 15:10 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:16:54.484	25
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+8.705s	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	53	+14.066s	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	53	+16.151s	12
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	53	+18.208s	10
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	53	+57.761s	8
7	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	53	+58.678s	6
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	53	+78.140s	4
9	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	52	+1 lap	2
10	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	52	+1 lap	1
11	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	52	+1 lap	0
12	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	52	+1 lap	0
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	52	+1 lap	0
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	52	+1 lap	0
15	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	52	+1 lap	0
16	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	52	+1 lap	0
Ret	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	23	Clutch	0
Ret	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	9	Electrics	0
Ret	28	Brendon Hartley	Toro Rosso	0	Collision	0
DSQ	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	53	Illegal floor	0

Max Verstappen originally finished third, but received a 5-second time penalty for causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas.

Romain Grosjean originally finished sixth, but was disqualified for a technical infringement with the floor of his car.

2018 Italian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time of Day	Time	Avg. Speed
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	30	15:58:09	1:22.497	252.794
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	51	16:27:54	1:22.505	252.770
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	39	16:11:03	1:22.907	251.544
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	28	15:55:17	1:23.515	249.713
5	11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point Force India	43	16:17:21	1:23.529	249.671
6	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	41	16:13:49	1:23.609	249.432
7	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	44	16:19:40	1:23.768	248.959
8	35	Sergey Sirotkin	Williams	52	16:30:30	1:23.768	248.959
9	55	Carlos Sainz	Renault	52	16:30:17	1:24.056	248.106
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	47	16:23:44	1:24.059	248.097
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Racing Point Force India	44	16:18:42	1:24.179	247.743
12	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	48	16:24:18	1:24.243	247.555
13	16	Charles Leclerc	Sauber	52	16:30:36	1:24.504	246.790
14	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	39	16:11:59	1:24.580	246.568
15	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	46	16:22:19	1:24.767	246.024
16	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	47	16:23:41	1:24.772	246.010
17	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	18	15:41:30	1:25.229	244.691
18	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	46	16:23:07	1:25.692	243.369
19	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	6	15:24:11	1:27.009	239.685

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear in this table. Time of Day is local time; average speeds are in km/h. No championship point was awarded for fastest lap in 2018.

2018 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings for drivers and teams after the 2018 Italian Grand Prix.

2018 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Mercedes	256
2	Sebastian Vettel	GER	Ferrari	226
3	Kimi Räikkönen	FIN	Ferrari	164
4	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Mercedes	159
5	Max Verstappen	NED	Red Bull Racing	130
6	Daniel Ricciardo	AUS	Red Bull Racing	118
7	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Renault	52
8	Kevin Magnussen	DEN	Haas	49
9	Sergio Perez	MEX	Force India / Racing Point Force India	46
10	Esteban Ocon	FRA	Force India / Racing Point Force India	45
11	Fernando Alonso	ESP	McLaren	44
12	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Renault	34
13	Pierre Gasly	FRA	Toro Rosso	28
14	Romain Grosjean	FRA	Haas	27
15	Charles Leclerc	MON	Sauber	13
16	Stoffel Vandoorne	BEL	McLaren	8
17	Lance Stroll	CAN	Williams	6
18	Marcus Ericsson	SWE	Sauber	6
19	Brendon Hartley	NZL	Toro Rosso	2
20	Sergey Sirotkin	RUS	Williams	1

2018 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Mercedes	415
2	Ferrari	390
3	Red Bull Racing	248
4	Renault	86
5	Haas	76
6	McLaren	52
7	Racing Point Force India	32
8	Toro Rosso	30
9	Sauber	19
10	Williams	7
EX	Force India	0

The original Force India entry was excluded from the championship before the Belgian Grand Prix and its 59 constructors’ points were forfeited. Racing Point Force India entered as a new constructor from Belgium; the drivers retained their points.

2018 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2018 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	25 March
2	2018 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	8 April
3	2018 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	15 April
4	2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Baku	29 April
5	2018 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	13 May
6	2018 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
7	2018 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	10 June
8	2018 French Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet	24 June
9	2018 Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	1 July
10	2018 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	8 July
11	2018 German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim	22 July
12	2018 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	29 July
13	2018 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	26 August
14	2018 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza	2 September
15	2018 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	16 September
16	2018 Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	30 September
17	2018 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	7 October
18	2018 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	21 October
19	2018 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	28 October
20	2018 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	11 November
21	2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	25 November