It was a race whose outcome no one could have predicted.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took his maiden Formula One victory on Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix, held at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. He was joined on the podium by McLaren's Carlos Sainz who finished 0.4 seconds behind, and Racing Point's Lance Stroll a few seconds back.

Mercedes-AMG's Lewis Hamilton started on pole, with fellow Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas by his side. While Hamilton got a clean start, Bottas struggled and quickly fell down a few places, including losing position to Sainz.

Things then settled, though Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel had to retire on lap seven due to brake trouble. At this point, Gasly, who started the race at 10th, had moved up to third, with Stroll and Hamilton still ahead. Then, just after lap 20, Haas' Kevin Magnussen ran off the track at the exit of Parabolica, bringing out the safety car. Hamilton ran straight to the pits but failed to note that the pit lane was closed, an error also made by Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi.

2020 Formula One Italian Grand Prix

2020 Formula One Italian Grand Prix

The punishment was a stop-go penalty, which meant Gasly was able to take the lead. It wasn't a cruise to the finish line for the young Frenchman, though. Sainz was on his tail for the final ten laps, getting closer and closer as the laps counted down. It was a moment of high drama toward the end when Sainz used his DRS when he got to within less than a second of Gasly, but Gasly kept his cool and was able to defend his position. Hamilton fought his way back but had to settle for seventh by the end of the race.

There was a major crash midway through the race with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc losing control of his car due to an error, causing him to crash heavily into the barriers at the Parabolica corner. Fortunately, he only suffered a few bruises from the impact and will be able to compete at the next round, which is on this weekend, also in Italy. As part of the revised 2020 F1 calendar, a special Toscana-Ferrari 1000 Grand Prix celebrating Ferrari's 1,000th F1 race will be held at Mugello.

Hamilton holds onto his lead in the 2020 Drivers' Championship with a total 164 points. Bottas is second with 117 points and Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen is third with 110 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes leads with 281 points versus the 158 of Red Bull and 98 of McLaren.

In other F1 news, it was the end of an era as Claire Williams stepped down as deputy team principal from Williams following the Italian Grand Prix. It marked the end of the Williams family's connection with the team founded by Frank Williams, Claire's father, together with Patrick Head in 1977.

2020 Formula One Italian Grand Prix

2020 Formula One Italian Grand Prix

Below are the full results from the 2020 Formula One Italian Grand Prix:

1) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
2) Carlos Sainz, McLaren +0.415 seconds
3) Lance Stroll, Racing Point +3.358 seconds
4) Lando Norris, McLaren +6.000 seconds
5) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-AMG +7.108 seconds
6) Daniel Ricciardo, Renault +8.391 seconds
7) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG +17.245 seconds
8) Esteban Ocon, Renault +18.691 seconds
9) Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri +22.208 seconds
10) Sergio Perez, Racing Point +23.224 seconds
11) Nicholas Latifi, Williams +32.876 seconds
12) Romain Grosjean, Haas +35.164 seconds
13) Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo +36.312 seconds
14) George Russell, Williams +36.593 seconds
15) Alexander Albon, Red Bull Racing +37.533 seconds
16) Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo +55.199 seconds
NC) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing DNF
NC) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari DNF
NC) Kevin Magnussen, Haas DNF
NC) Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari DNF