Ricciardo wins at Monza, Verstappen gets grid penalty over Hamilton wipe-out

Daniel Ricciardo earned McLaren their first Formula One win since 2012 at the Italian GP on Sunday

Lewis Hamilton (L) and Max Verstappen crashed out of the Italian Grand Prix after colliding with one another

Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday as Max Verstappen was blamed by the Monza stewards for the dramatic airborne crash with Lewis Hamilton who said his car's halo safety device "saved my neck".

Red Bull's Verstappen, who leads his Mercedes rival by five points in the Formula One standings, must serve a three-place grid penalty at the Russian Grand Prix in a fortnight's time for his role in the frightening crash.

This was the British team's first win since 2012 and their first one-two finish in 11 years.

But Verstappen's car, pushed onto the sausage kerb at the Turn One chicane, ended up with its back wheel rolling over the top of his rival's Mercedes, the halo protecting Hamilton's head.

"I feel very fortunate today," said Hamilton. "Thank God for the halo which saved me, and saved my neck."

"I don't think I've ever been hit on the head by a car before - and it is quite a big shock for me," Hamilton said.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff commented: "The championship was good fun up until now but we saw the halo save Lewis' life today. We don't want to see someone seriously hurt."

Verstappen was, they said, "predominantly to blame".

"To lead literally from start to finish, I don't think any of us expected that. There was something in me on Friday, I knew something good was to come," said Ricciardo.

- 'Awesome weekend' -

"We've had a pretty awesome weekend," the British driver said. 

Verstappen started the race on pole after finishing second behind Valtteri Bottas in Saturday's sprint, but dropped back to second at the start as Ricciardo pipped ahead.

The real drama started just as the drivers started making their first pit stops. 

Hamilton then pitted himself on lap 25 before clashing with Verstappen almost immediately after his exit.

He had started at the back of the grid despite winning Saturday's sprint race as punishment for taking on power unit components in qualifying on Friday.

"I'm glad we get more points than Red Bull, we maximised and from my side, it was good fun."

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