Race recap: Lance charges to seventh in 2021 Italian Grand Prix
Lance Stroll overcame a frantic opening lap of the 2021 Italian Grand Prix and finished seventh at Monza, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel's race was hampered by rivals' errors.
Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team scored six points as a result as it continues to fight in the competitive midfield battle.
Lance
Due to the Sprint weekend format, Lance had a free choice of starting tyre for the Grand Prix, opting to use a set of used Mediums.
At the start, the entire Formula One field bottlenecked at Variante Rettifilo and the Canadian was able to thread the needle and move into eighth.
A spin for Antonio Giovinazzi required Lance and the field to take avoiding action before Lance made sure of his position through Lesmos.
He spent the early laps breaking away from Alpine's Fernando Alonso to prevent the Spaniard from having both DRS and a tow.
"It was a case of pushing the entire race because the field was pretty close throughout," reflected Lance.
"We managed to find a good spot with the car. While we were not quite as quick as some of the others on the straights, we were strong in the corners, and we were able to make that work for us."
Race report
Get the full story from the Italian Grand Prix and discover the data behind Sebastian and Lance's races. Dive into the facts and figures behind the Monza race and hear from Sebastian, Lance and Otmar.
Lance would drop to ninth when the out-of-position Valtteri Bottas made his recovery drive, but he was able to end a 25-lap stint in an encouraging position.
Moments after Lance entered the pitlane, the Safety Car was called following a collision between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, mitigating some of the pitlane time loss usually found at Monza.
That meant as the field cycled through stops, Lance could begin his second stint on a set of used Hards in seventh.
When Sergio Perez ahead was hit with a five-second time penalty, Lance briefly threatened to finish the race in sixth, but a disrupted end to the Grand Prix with a Virtual Safety Car hindered his charge.
Lance would cross the line in seventh and capped off a fine weekend in which he made up places in both the Sprint and Grand Prix.
"Finishing P7 is a good result and a great job by the team," said Lance. "I think seventh was the maximum we could have achieved today considering our race pace.
"After three races in a row, it is nice to have a bit of a break before we head to Russia and I am looking forward to getting back in the car there."
Sebastian
Sebastian's race was derailed on the first lap through no fault of his own. Starting on the used Medium tyre, he was able to make it through the first chicane in a promising position.
But several drivers would cut the Della Roggia chicane unfairly, and Sebastian was squeezed wide and his AMR21 was damaged.
"My race was done on the first lap," said Sebastian. "I made a good start and managed to avoid the bottleneck through the first chicane, but I was pushed wide at Turn Six and lost a lot of places, which was made worse by drivers cutting the chicane at Turns Four and Five before.
"The car was then damaged too, so it was impossible to really recover."
No Time To Die
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He continued in 13th, but with Monza offering limited overtaking and a reduced DRS effect, his race became an uphill struggle.
But Sebastian didn't give up. He reeled in the Alpine of Esteban Ocon and looked to make a move on entry into the Della Roggia chicane, only for the Frenchman to block and cause contact.
Sebastian was then unlucky to pit just before the Safety Car on lap 22 of 53 but he used the resulting period to make a second stop four laps later.
Returning to the track on new Mediums, Sebastian's pace improved, but he was unable to make progress, his race compounded further when Mick Schumacher made contact at Turn One.
Sebastian enjoyed a back-and-forth duel with Robert Kubica, eventually coming out on top as the greater cornering speed of the AMR21 told, going on to finish the race in 12th.
"It [the Safety Car] gave us hope that we could perhaps close up on the cars ahead, but there was just too much ground to make up," said Sebastian.
"Esteban [Ocon] and Mick [Schumacher] also made contact with me, which did not help.
"I enjoyed a good battle with Robert [Kubica] towards the end and we did all we could today.
"I also want to say congratulations to Daniel [Ricciardo] for winning the race today."
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