Formula 1®
DHL Fastest Lap Award: FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO HEINEKEN D’ITALIA 2017
Key Takeaways
- Daniel Ricciardo takes the DHL Fastest Lap for first time this season
- Lewis Hamilton retains lead in the DHL Fastest Lap Award
DHL Fastest Lap Predictor Game
Fastest Driver Group 1: Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) - 1:23.361
Fastest Driver Group 2: Sergio Perez (Force India) - 1:24.968
Fastest Driver Group 3: Romain Grosjean (Haas) - 1:25.020
Enter the DHL Fastest Lap Game
Daniel Ricciardo takes DHL Fastest Lap in Monza
Daniel Ricciardo’s race weekend in Monza could not have got off to a worse start. The Australian was handed a grid penalty, as Red Bull decided to change his engine, and he only started the Italian Grand Prix from 16th place on the grid despite an excellent qualifying.
However, thanks to a clever strategy and some brilliant overtaking maneuvers, Ricciardo made an impressive charge up the field to finally finish the last race of the season on European soil in fourth place.
Unlike most of the other drivers, Ricciardo started on soft tires and was thus able to complete a longer first stint. The Aussie gained a lot of positions as a result. He was the last driver to pit on Lap 37 when he switched to supersofts.
Running the softer of the two compounds, the Red Bull driver managed first to outbrake Kimi Räikkönen in the first chicane before hunting down Sebastian Vettel and going after a podium. Ricciardo gradually gained on the Ferrari driver and posted the DHL Fastest Lap on Lap 49 with a time of 1:23.361.
In the end, Ricciardo was four seconds down on Vettel, but the Australian was highly satisfied with his race. “Some good overtakes in the race kept me excited and I had some real pace in the end. I could see Seb, and the thought of a podium was tempting me, so I was obviously trying to catch him right up to the end,” he told us. “I also got the fastest lap, so that’s very cool. You can almost call it a perfect day.”
Ricciardo managed to narrowly beat eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton in the fight for the DHL Fastest Lap. The Mercedes driver burned a personal best time of 1:23.488 into the tarmac on Lap 50, which was not enough to take the top spot from Ricciardo. The third-fastest lap of the race (1:23.722) also went to a Mercedes driver, namely Valtteri Bottas.
Fastest race laps: FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO HEINEKEN D’ITALIA 2017
01 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 1:23.361 - on Lap 49
02 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:23.488 - on Lap 50
03 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:23.722 - on Lap 53
04 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:23.897 - on Lap 51
05 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:24.351 - on Lap 48
06 Sergio Pérez (Force India) 1:24.968 - on Lap 48
07 Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1:25.020 - on Lap 48
08 Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) 1:25.054 - on Lap 43
09 Felipe Massa (Williams) 1:25.477 - on Lap 30
10 Lance Stroll (Williams) 1:25.625 - on Lap 51
History: DHL Fastest Laps in the FORMULA 1 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
With his DHL Fastest Lap of 1:23.361, Daniel Ricciardo recorded the fastest race lap since 2007 at the Autodromo Nazionale and was exactly two seconds down on the overall best time from last season. The lap record at Monza is still held by Rubens Barrichello, who covered the circuit in 1:21.046 in 2004.
Lewis Hamilton leads DHL Fastest Lap Award
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton still leads the overall standings of the DHL Fastest Lap Award with six fastest race laps this season, followed by Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen with two each, and Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez with one each.
Formula 1 racing continues in Singapore in two weeks. Take part in the DHL Fastest Lap game! Send us your tip now for the 2017 FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE AIRLINES SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX and win great prizes!
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