Lewis Hamilton lost an extra floor to championship rival Max Verstappen after completing fifth place in Saturday’s race at the Italian Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas took a wonderful victory from pole at Monza, with Verstappen taking the position for the moment and two points.
Red Bull’s driving force will also start on pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix, with Bottas sent to the back of the grid after taking his fourth engine from the crusade here, one more than allowed by the rules.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo took third place ahead of teammate Lando Norris.
Hamilton did not fail to score, however, he will now have his frames trimmed for Sunday’s big occasion with a fourth position on the grid, promoted to one position after Bottas’ penalty, and the two McLarens between him and Verstappen.
Hamilton started on the front row, but moved away from his marks and crossed Verstappen, Norris, Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly in the 430 meters smooth to the Variant of the Rettifilo.
Approaching the opening chicane, Hamilton the unwanted meat in a Gasly-Norris sandwich and cautiously navigated the first two corners.
The Mercedes dropped to sixth position before Gasly hit his own front wing, after hitting Ricciardo’s McLaren, and hit the wall of the Big Corner.
Gasly was not injured in the accident, but the protective car was deployed when the remains of AlphaTauri were put out of danger.
On the fourth lap, the board was in position to start again and Bottas made no mistake in dropping Verstappen after a great start from the Parabolica.
As Bottas galloped in the distance, verstappen keeping the Finnish driving force honest, Hamilton failed to make a quick impression on Norris.
The seven-time world champion spent the next 14 laps at the rear of Norris’ gearbox, however, the Mercedes-powered McLaren proved to be too fast directly for Hamilton to cause real disruption to his compatriot.
Bottas, defected this week by Mercedes, took the checkered flag with a 2. 3-second lead over Verstappen in the Temple of Speed, with Hamilton crossing the line 20 seconds like his teammate.
At Ferrari, Charles Leclerc took sixth position ahead of teammate Carlos Sainz, Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez, ninth and finished in the same position.
Italian Olympic 100-meter champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs presented medals to the 3 most sensitive runners.
Verstappen said: “This is the first medal of my life. The race is bigger than expected. “
“We had a start and we came second, we scored problems and we placed ourselves on pole tomorrow. It will be an attractive battle.
Bottas, who will be replaced by George Russell next year, said: “I feel good. It’s been a while since I finished first.
“Unfortunately, I start from behind, but the speed is there, so I’m going to fight. “