@Charles_Leclerc takes @ScuderiaFerrari to triumphant #ItalianGP victory. #F1

Charles Leclerc withstood intense pressure from both Mercedes to give Ferrari a triumphant Italian Grand Prix victory and earn back-to-back wins.

Leclerc was left to fight alone for the victory at Ferrari’s home race after team-mate Sebastian Vettel suffered a spin early on whilst running fourth and chasing Bottas.

Hamilton pushed Leclerc to his limits over more than 20 laps before Bottas took over Mercedes’ attack for his attempt at the end, but Leclerc kept his cool and both behind to win again just seven days after scoring his first victory at Spa.

Leclerc held Hamilton at an arm’s distance for the initial stint of the Grand Prix but came under attack from the Briton after stopping one lap later than his rival – and putting on harder compounds to Hamilton’s mediums.

Hamilton’s earlier stop made him within striking distance immediately and the pairing went into a massive battle lasting more than 20 laps.

During that period, Hamilton got close enough to mount two serious attempts.

The first one came on lap 23 when Hamilton saw a minor delay as Leclerc passed the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg at Parabolica to force the Monegasque youngster to defend into the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane – where Leclerc took an excursion into the run-off.

Leclerc defended once more into the Variante Della Roggia chicane but cut across to the right, made slight contact with Hamilton and forced the Briton into the run-off area.

Leclerc was shown the black and white flag warning for that move and was lucky to get away with what Hamilton called as “dangerous” on the 36^th lap.

A little lock-up from Leclerc sent the Ferrari driver over the run-off area at the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane and gave Hamilton a fight out of the corner.

With Hamilton looking to make the move around the outside through the Curva Grande, Leclerc pulled to the left to block the Mercedes path – shutting down the former’s attack.

Over the next few laps, Hamilton kept close but could not mount another serious attack on the Ferrari before locking up at the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane at the start of the 42^nd lap.

Hamilton went into the escape road, allowing team-mate Bottas to sweep by into second after the Finn had quickly made his way back to the battling leaders at the front due to his long initial stint giving him an eight lap fresher tyre advantage.

It was Bottas’ turn to fight, three seconds off Leclerc, and almost got within DRS range with six laps left before losing time in the third sector.

The Finn’s best opportunity came with three laps remaining when he got to within half a second behind Leclerc, but Bottas ran too deep into Variante Del Rettifilo and fell back.

Bottas once again made it to DRS range on the final lap, then made another small mistake at the Variante Della Roggia chicane, which ensured that Leclerc crossed the line by 0.835 seconds.

Hamilton ended the race a distant third after putting on a fresh set of softs to grab the bonus fastest lap point meaning the Briton’s championship lead over team-mate Bottas is at 63 points.

Whilst Leclerc held on to clinch his first Italian Grand Prix victory as a Ferrari driver to earn legend status amongst the ‘Tifosi’, team-mate Vettel had a disastrous race and finished in 13^th place.

He was in fourth and close to catching Bottas early on until the German spun after hitting the kerb at the Ascari chicane on the sixth lap.

Vettel then rejoined the track while cars were flying by and clipped Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, who was running seventh into a spin.

Stroll was able to continue and rejoined as Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was exiting Ascari – which forced the Frenchman to run through the gravel.

Vettel was hit with a 10 second stop-go penalty for returning to the track in an unsafe manner, the harshest penalty available and only short to a disqualification, whilst Stroll’s actions were narrowly less severe and the Canadian was slapped with a drive-through.

With Vettel and Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen’s absence, who started at the rear due to an engine penalty and the latter’s race was compromised by a first lap collision – Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo took the French-Anglo alliances season-best result of fourth.

Ricciardo dropped behind team-mate Hulkenberg in the early stages but quickly repassed the German to take fourth when Vettel spun.

The Australian held a comfortable gap over Hulkenberg until the end of the Grand Prix, whilst the latter – who had momentarily passed Vettel on the opening lap – remained in fifth and in-front of Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon to give Renault a huge haul of points.

Albon needed to regain some ground after touching wheels with McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and going through the Lesmo gravel trap and received a five second time penalty for corner cutting when battling Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen.

Behind Albon, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez benefited strongly from a virtual safety car deployment during his pit-stop window to take seventh place despite starting a low 18^th.

Verstappen fought his way back into eighth after stopping on the opening lap for a front wing change, having broken it when the pack clustered into the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane.

Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi claimed points at his home Grand Prix in a ninth-place finish while McLaren’s Lando Norris rounded out the top ten after starting 16^th on the grid.

The aforementioned Gasly, Stroll and Vettel finished 11^th, 12^th and 13^th respectively and in-front of Williams’ George Russell who was 14^th and Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen who took 15^th.

Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean came home in 16^th and ahead of ROKiT Williams Racing’s Robert Kubica who finished at the rear two laps down.

There were three casualties at the Italian Grand Prix, as two came shortly after making their pit-stops.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz lost a likely strong points finish for the Woking-based squad when the front-right wheel of his MCL34 racer was not attached properly at his pit-stop.

Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat was also running well into the top ten, until his Honda-powered STR14 racer came to a stop after exiting the Variante Del Rettifilo chicane after his own pit-stop.

Magnussen was the final driver to retire. The Dane had already fell out of the top ten after locking up at turn one and went into the run-off area and eventually stopped due to a hydraulic problem.

Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken D’Italia 2019 Race Results Classification (53 Laps)

Formula 1 2019 World Driver’s Championship Standings – Top 10

1. Lewis Hamilton – 284 Points.
2. Valtteri Bottas – 221 Points.
3. Max Verstappen – 185 Points.
4. Charles Leclerc – 182 Points.
5. Sebastian Vettel – 169 Points.
6. Pierre Gasly – 65 Points.
7. Carlos Sainz – 58 Points.
8. Daniel Ricciardo – 34 Points.
9. Alexander Albon – 34 Points.
10. Daniil Kvyat – 33 Points.

Formula 1 2019 World Constructors Championship Standings

1. Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport – 505 Points.
2. Scuderia Ferrari – 351 Points.
3. Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda – 266 Points.
4. McLaren-Renault F1 Team – 83 Points.
5. Renault F1 Team – 65 Points.
6. Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda – 51 Points.
7. SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team – 46 Points.
8. Alfa Romeo Racing – 34 Points.
9. Rich Energy Haas F1 Team – 26 Points.
10. ROKiT Williams Racing – 1 Point.

Round 15 of the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship returns under the bright lights of the Marina Bay Street Circuit at Marina Bay, Singapore for the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019 from Friday September 20-Sunday September 22.