FRANCE’S Pierre Gasly ended a number of droughts with his “unbelievable” and “crazy” debut Formula 1 victory in the Italian Grand Prix. The win at Monza was the first for a team other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull since the first race of 2013, when Kimi Raikkonen won for Lotus in Australia.

“It’s unbelievable,” gasped Gasly, who was demoted by Red Bull’s main team last year but has come on in strides in a season disrupted by COVID-19 and without spectators.

“It was such a crazy race and we capitalized on it. I’ve been through so much in 18 months, I struggle to realize this,” added the 24-year-old of his first F1 win.

Mercedes’s championship leader Lewis Hamilton finished seventh after starting on pole, leading and dropping to last following a 10-second stop/go penalty for entering the pit lane under a red light during the first of two safety car deployments.

Despite the setback, the six-time world champion fought back and retained his 47-point lead at the top — now over teammate Valtteri Bottas, who made a dismal start and was fifth.

Hamilton, though, equaled a Formula One record with 41st successive classified finish, originally created by Nick Heidfeld at BMW Sauber between 2007 and 2009.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, previously Hamilton’s closest rival, retired with mechanical problems and dropped to third on 110 points. The race had to be stopped at the halfway mark, 27 laps, after Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc crashed heavily into the tire wall at Parabolica, emerging unscathed from the impact but still taking a trip to the medical center.(SD-Agencies)