The 2018 Italian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio Heineken d'Italia 2018) was a Formula One motor race held on 2 September 2018 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy. The race was the fourteenth round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 88th running of the Italian Grand Prix and the 83rd time the race was held at Monza.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a 17-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' Championship. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by 15 points. Kimi Räikkönen took the fastest pole position in Formula 1 history with an average speed of , breaking the record set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004. Räikkönen's previous pole was at the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix.
Qualifying DriverConstructorQ1Q2Q317 Kimi RäikkönenFerrari1:20.7221:19.8461:19.119125 Sebastian VettelFerrari1:20.5421:19.6291:19.2802344 Lewis HamiltonMercedes1:20.8101:19.7981:19.2943477 Valtteri BottasMercedes1:21.3811:20.4271:19.6564533 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer1:21.3811:20.3331:20.615568 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari1:21.8871:21.2391:20.9366755 Carlos Sainz Jr.Renault1:21.7321:21.5521:21.0417831 Esteban OconRacing Point Force India-Mercedes1:21.5701:21.3151:21.0998910 Pierre Gasly1:21.8341:21.6671:21.35091018 Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes1:21.8381:21.4941:21.627101120 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari1:21.7831:21.669111235 Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes1:21.8131:21.732121314 Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault1:21.8501:22.568131427 Nico HülkenbergRenault1:21.801No time20153 Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer1:21.280No time191611 Sergio PérezRacing Point Force India-Mercedes1:21.888141716 Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari1:21.889151828 Brendon HartleyScuderia Toro Rosso-Honda1:21.93416199 Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari1:22.04818202McLaren-Renault1:22.08517 107% time: 1:26.179Source: Notes – 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.
Race report
The race was won by Lewis Hamilton after a battle with Kimi Räikkönen, Hamilton caught and passed Räikkönen with 9 laps remaining. On the opening lap Hamilton and Vettel collided causing Vettel to spin off. Despite Vettel's complaints, the stewards deemed it just a racing incident. Vettel would later fight back to 4th place, behind Valtteri Bottas in third. Max Verstappen was penalised 5 seconds after forcing Bottas off the track after a pit stop and was classified 5th. Sergey Sirotkin, driving for Williams, scored his only Formula 1 championship point, after Romain Grosjean was disqualified from 6th place after Renault successfully lodged a protest due to his Haas carrying an illegal floor, thus ensuring that for the first time ever in Formula One, all drivers who entered and finished every race in the season scored at least a point.
Race classification DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints144 Lewis HamiltonMercedes531:16:54.48432527 Kimi RäikkönenFerrari53 +8.705118377 Valtteri BottasMercedes53 +14.06641545 Sebastian VettelFerrari53 +16.151212533 Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer53 +18.208510631 Esteban OconRacing Point Force India-Mercedes53 +57.76188711 Sergio PérezRacing Point Force India-Mercedes53 +58.678146855 Carlos Sainz Jr.Renault53 +1:18.14074918 Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes52 +1 lap1021035 Sergey SirotkinWilliams-Mercedes52 +1 lap1211116 Charles LeclercSauber-Ferrari52 +1 lap15122McLaren-Renault52 +1 lap171327 Nico HülkenbergRenault52 +1 lap201410 Pierre GaslyScuderia Toro Rosso-Honda52 +1 lap9159 Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari52 +1 lap181620 Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari52 +1 lap11 3 Daniel RicciardoRed Bull Racing-TAG Heuer23 Clutch 19 14 Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Renault9 Electrics13 28 Brendon Hartley0 Collision168 Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari53 Illegal floor6Source: Notes – 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.
Championship standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings DriverPoints1 Lewis Hamilton 2562 Sebastian Vettel 2263 Kimi Räikkönen 1644 Valtteri Bottas 1595 Max Verstappen 130Source:
Constructors' Championship standings ConstructorPoints1 Mercedes 4152 Ferrari 3903 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 2484 Renault 865 Haas-Ferrari 76Source:
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also 2018 Monza Formula 2 round 2018 Monza GP3 Series round
References