An inciden🌱t-filled Italian Grand Prix provided a return to the top step of the Formula 1 podium fo🐼r a popular team and driver and the latest major flashpoint between 2021’s title protagonists.

Monza delivered a memorable race for the second year running as iꦓt served up an action-packed thriller that had bi🔴g ramifications at both ends of the championship.

With the dust settling on the Itali♓an Grand Prix, here are our biggest winner🌳s and losers from round 14 of the 2021 F1 season…

Winners:

Daniel Ricciardo

“For anyone who thought I left, I neᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚver left” was the message from Daniel Ricciardo as he crossed the line to become an eight-time grand prix winner and take his first victory since leaving Red Bull in 2018.

The charismatic Australian turned in a flawless drive to claim a shock win for McLaren after a rocket start saw him snatch the lead away from polesitter and forme🎃r teammate Max Verstappen on the run to the first chicane.

From there, Ricciardo was in complete 🔜control and probably would have had Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton cℱovered even if their dramatic collision did make his job that little bit easier.

McLaren

A massive result for McLaren as the British squ𝔍ad scored its first victory in near𒁏ly a decade and its first 1-2 finish since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris put the team first to secure a famous result and ensure McLaren brought home a huge haul🅰 of 45 p♕oints across the weekend.

In taking its first win since 2012, McLaren remarkably alsꩵo became the first team this season to record a 1-2 finish, beating both Mercedes and Red Bull to the feat.

McLaren has subsequently moved back into third place in the constructꩵors’ 🦩championship, 13.5 points clear of rivals Ferrari.

Valtteri Bottas

Days after his departure from Merced♒es and move to Alfa Romeo for 2022 was official𓂃ly confirmed, Valtteri Bottas produced one of his best performances in F1.

The Finn pipped teammate Lewis Hamilton to pol🍎e position on Friday, before brilliantly converting that into a commanding victory in F1’s second-ever sprint.

On Sunday, Bottas started at the back of the grid due to an engine change but turned in ꦕa charging recovery drive to seal the last spot on the podium.

Bottas was blisteringly fast and consistent all weekend in whꩲat will act as a morale-boosting display that crucially ensured Mercedes out🌸scored title rivals Red Bull.

George Russell

Russell may have struggled for his usual headline-gra🐓bbing pace in qualifying but he dragged his Williams into the points for the third time in the last four races at Monza.

An impress💙ive drive to ninth can give the starring Russell even more cause for celebration, after his long-awaited promotion to Mercedes for 2022 was officially announced last week.

It is a result that further strengthens Williams’ grip over eight place in the constru✤ctors’ championship - a position it looks likely to holdꦅ onto.

Losers:

Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton can be considered a winner for walking away unscathed from his sc🍰ary accident with Verstappen after the halo on his Mercedes protected him from harm, but the seven-time world champion ultimately dropped more points to his main rival in the title race.

A poor🌳 start in the sprint race gave Hamilton unnecessary work to do on a weekend Mercedes failed to capitalise on having the fastest car.

A win could have been on the cards for Hamilton had he not crashed out with Verstappen𒈔, who looked on course to potentially lose his points lead altogether following a terrible pit stop b💟y Red Bull.

Verstappen may have taken advantage of Hamilton’s error on Saturday to grౠab what could end up being two vital points in the title race, but he was blamed for the clash and has been handed a grid penalty for the next race in Sochi.

Sergio Perez

After being effectively sacrificed in qualifying to boost Verstappen’s chances, it was always going to be 🗹an uphill struggle for Sergio Perez in Italy.

He could only take ninth behind Antonio Giovinazzi in Saturday’s sprint but turned in a strong drive on Sunday as he pu꧒t himself in content✱ion for the podium.

However, a poorly judged decision not to hand back position to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after passing him off the track at Turn 4 resulted in Perez receiving a tim🔜e penalty 🌌that dropped him from third on the road to P5.

It was costly for Red Bull and meant the team ultimately ended up coming away from the weekeꦆnd losing ground to Mercedes in the world championship.

Ferrari

P4 and P6 for Ferrari would not have been such a bad result for the team on home soil had McLaren noꦡt taken a 1-2 finish.

Leclerc felt he turned in❀ one of his strongest drives yet on his way to fourth, but the Scuderia ultimately failed to capitalise on drama f🔴or Mercedes and Red Bull and lost a big chunk of points to its main rival in their tight battle over P3.

A huge improvement on last year’s Italian GP for sure, but the 2021 Monza event won’t be one Ferrari l🎶ooks back on with fond memories.

AlphaTauri

AlphaTauri’s 16-race🃏 points scoring streak came to an end in Monza, the scene of its famous shock victory 12 months ago.

Gasly was forced into a pitlane start after a PU change following his big crash in the sprint, which had started promisingly as he moved ahead of Hamilton and up to fifth♈.

But neither the Frenchman or his teammate Yuki Tsunoda were able to even start the race after car prob✤lems ended their day prematurely.

Given the pace of the AlphaTauri, it was a big missed opportunity to scor🅺e some important points in the battleꦬ over P5 in the constructors’ standings, with Alpine continuing to pull clear.

Antonio Giovinazzi

For the♛ second weekend running🥂, Giovinazzi had nothing to show for his outstanding qualifying efforts.

The Italian took a strong eighth in the sprint and was in the mix at🦹 the start of Sunda🦩y’s grand prix as he found himself squabbling with the Ferraris.

In hi𒀰s attempts to get past Leclerc, Giovinazzi skipped across the second chicane and was tagged into a spin by Carlos Sainz, leaving him at the very back and in need of a new front-wing.

Following a🉐 penalty for rejoining the track in an unsafe maꦿnner, Giovinazzi could only recover to a disappointing P13.