France’s Pierre Gasly won an astonishing Italian Grand Prix thriller for Italy-based AlphaTauri on Sunday in a topsy-turvy race packed with suspense and none of the usual top teams on the podium.

McLaren’s Spaniard Carlos Sainz finished a close second at Monza after a nail-biting chase to the flag, with Racing Point’s Lance Stroll third on a podium of youngsters.

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

Despite the setback, the six-time world champion retained his 47-point lead at the top — now over teammate Valtteri Bottas, who was fifth, after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen retired.

It was the first time since 2013, when Kimi Raikkonen triumphed with Lotus in Australia, that a team other than Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull had won a race.

“It’s unbelievable,” gasped Gasly, who was dropped by Red Bull’s main team last year but has come on in strides in the strangest of seasons. “It was such a crazy race and we capitalised on it.”