Lance battles his way to P3 in edge-of-the-seat thriller!

‍Where to begin after that wild Italian Grand Prix? Lance on the podium for the second time in his Formula 1 career and our team’s best result in the Racing Point era sounds like a great place to start!

‍We were right in the fight for a podium at the start as Checo bounced back from being swamped at the start, dropping back from P4 but putting in some fine driving to return to his original place soon after.

‍Lance meanwhile got his elbows out from his P8 grid slot and moved to P7 with a lovely move on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, setting us up for a nice run to a double top 10 finish… but the race soon turned on its head!

‍The Haas of Kevin Magnussen stopped right at the entry of the pit lane on Lap 20 of 53 and required the Safety Car to head out.

‍We reacted swiftly to bring Checo in to swap from his used Soft tyres to switch to a set of the Medium.

‍A difficult stop meant Checo lost a few places, but we were all set to fight our way back up the order, while Lance stayed out and ran in P2.

‍But Charles Leclerc’s high-speed crash at the Parabolica brought out the Red Flag on Lap 26, costing Checo – running in P14 – but handing a huge boost to Lance.

‍Able to change tyres under the Red Flag conditions, Lance had a free pitstop to switch to a set of new Medium tyres.

‍That meant Lance lined up second at the restart – with Lewis Hamilton ahead about to take a stop/go penalty that helped propel our Canadian into the battle for victory!

‍A difficult launch when the race went green cost Lance several places, but he was soon battling the McLaren of Carlos Sainz Jr for second as the pair hunted down the race-leading Pierre Gasly in the final laps.

‍In the end, the order remained the same – but that just meant Lance was on the podium!

‍His team-mate Checo had to overcome an early scrap with Verstappen, which took place shortly after his earlier pitstop, and the subsequent damage affected our Mexican’s race.

‍Not to be deterred, Checo fought his way up the order to make it to P10 at the flag and ensure our sixth double-points score of the 2020 season.

‍And for the cherry on top, Lance’s podium marked our best race result of the Racing Point era! We’ll be celebrating this result tonight, but before we do – our boys and the boss Otmar have the final word…

‍Lance: “It’s been a while since I’ve stood on the podium, but it was worth the wait to get my second one! It feels great to be back on the podium, I’m still pinching myself!

‍Firstly, I want to congratulate Pierre, it was such a crazy race, but he fully deserved that win. He had a great launch at the restart and was so consistent after that. It’s a bit of a bummer for me, because I think it was our race to win.

‍”We got a bit of luck with the timing of the red flag, but that’s part of Formula 1 and I’ll take it when it comes!

‍“Regardless, I’m delighted with third today. I’m so happy for the team – thanks to them for giving me such a strong car.”

‍Checo: “Well done to Lance and the team on the podium, it’s a great result. From my side, it’s been a disappointing day. Anything that could go wrong seemed to happen to us.

‍”The main positive is that I was able to recover to get back into P10 and earn a point – and the team had a great day with Lance’s finish too.”

‍Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal: “Congratulations to Lance and the whole team for today’s podium – the first of the Racing Point era. It was a day all about taking opportunities and I’m very proud of the whole team.

‍”Lance battled hard today – making some excellent overtaking moves – and he really deserves this result.

‍“On the other hand, the luck didn’t go Sergio’s way today and his chances of scoring good points ended when the safety car came out.

‍”All in all though, it’s a day of celebration for everybody at Racing Point.”