9:45 – Lewis Hamilton moved into the lead of the title race for the first time this season with another victory at Monza, as Sebastian Vettel salvaged third. GPUpdate.net provides a pictorial review of the Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton fends off youngsters
Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon starred in qualifying as they mastered wet conditions to take fourth and fifth, which became second and third when the Red Bull drivers were penalised. Lewis Hamilton, who also stunned in Q3, lapping a second faster than the field, made a strong start to fend off the youngsters, who behaved well.
Bottas recovers from poor start
Valtteri Bottas had a sluggish getaway as the lights went out and dropped behind Kimi Räikkönen, but quickly regrouped to regain position, before picking off Ocon and Stroll in quick succession to form a Mercedes 1-2.
Verstappen runs into (more) trouble
As the Ferrari pair fell away from Mercedes, with Sebastian Vettel – as expected – clearing Räikkönen, scraps behind included Max Verstappen and Felipe Massa coming together at the Rettifilo chicane. Verstappen initially appeared to have escaped without damage, but a puncture developed and he tumbled down the order.
Alonso and Palmer clash (again)
Fernando Alonso jumped in with Jolyon Palmer for the drivers’ parade laps after his car ironically broke down. But in the race, as per Belgium, they banged wheels. Palmer cut the Roggia chicane to move ahead of Alonso, who shouted over the radio and described the five-second penalty handed out as a “joke”. And later on, after asking his engineer for an update, Alonso was told that Palmer had retired, to which he replied: “karma”.
From bad to worse…
McLaren’s day would go from bad to worse as both Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne retired with technical issues. Alonso was called in to the pits a few laps from the chequered flag, the team claiming that it lost the ability to monitor his gearbox, while team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne retired due to another problem on Honda’s power unit.
Honey Badger on the move
Ricciardo, who started 16th with a grid penalty, picked off several drivers in the early stages and extended his first stint on Soft tyres to make up further ground, emerging from the sole pit-stops in fifth. On fresher tyres, he soon closed on Räikkönen’s Ferrari and dived up the inside at Rettifilo from distance. “I had blinkers on for the move and was happy to pull it off,” said the Australian, who was voted ‘Driver of the Day’ by Formula 1 fans.
Hamilton takes win, points lead
Hamilton controlled the race from start to finish, only briefly relinquishing the lead during the pit-stop phase. He crossed the line four seconds clear of Bottas, as Mercedes grabbed its third 1-2 of the season, with Vettel and Ferrari over half a minute behind in third. Hamilton now leads the championship standings by three points.
Hamilton responds to boos
Hamilton was unsurprisingly booed during the podium ceremony, as Mercedes upset Ferrari on home soil, but he seemed to enjoy being the villain. “I love the passion of the fans, particularly the Ferrari fans, they’re fantastic; this energy is like nowhere else we ever really get to see, apart from maybe Silverstone, so I respect it, I appreciate it.” He then added the killer line: “Mercedes power is definitely better than Ferrari power!”
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