LEWIS HAMILTON UNSTOPPABLE AT MONZA
Lewis Hamilton put on another commanding performance to lead the the Italian Grand Prix at Monza from start to finish.
The Mercedes driver was untouchable, clearing away from the field on the opening laps, leaving Hamilton unchallenged to take the victory. Also moving him into the Championship lead for the first time this season.
It wasn’t quite so easy for his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Starting further down the order, the Finnish driver got caught up in a battle with the two Ferrari’s at the start. Once clear of the local favourites he made short work of Esteban Ocon (Force India) and Lance Stroll (Williams) to move up to second.
The Ferrari’s struggled on home soil, with Sebastian Vettel able to salvage a podium result for the Italian marque. Kimi Raikkonen could only manage fifth.
Aussie Daniel Ricciardo was easily the driver of the day. The Red Bull driver pulled off some sensational passes to move up 12 places, then produced back to back fastest laps of the race to almost chase down Vettel for that final podium spot.
“We were closing down the podium,” said Ricciardo.
“At one point we were catching Seb about a second a lap and at that rate we would have caught him by the final lap, but then he was able to turn it up a bit. I was using every bit of my tyre that I could.
“It was fun. I definitely had some good overtakes and it was a little bit like the race in 2014 when we came through the pack. Hopefully we created a few more highlights.”
Ocon and Stroll also put in notable performances. After starting in personal best grid positions, the two kept out trouble, battling each other for the duration of the race to finish sixth and seventh respectively.
Hamilton now has a slender 3 point lead in the Formula 1 Championship leading into the next round at Singapore.
Formula 1 – Italian Grand Prix – Result
Position | Driver | Car | Laps | GAP |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 53 | |
2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 53 | 4.471s |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 53 | 36.317s |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 53 | 40.335s |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 53 | 1m00.082s |
6 | Esteban Ocon | Force India/Mercedes | 53 | 1m11.528s |
7 | Lance Stroll | Williams/Mercedes | 53 | 1m14.156s |
8 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 53 | 1m14.834s |
9 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 53 | 1m15.276s |
10 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Renault | 52 | 1 Lap |
11 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 52 | 1 Lap |
12 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Renault | 52 | 1 Lap |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 52 | 1 Lap |
14 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Renault | 52 | 1 Lap |
15 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 52 | 1 Lap |
16 | Pascal Wehrlein | Sauber/Ferrari | 51 | 2 Laps |
DNF | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 50 | 3 Laps |
DNF | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 49 | 4 Laps |
DNF | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren/Honda | 33 | Retirement |
DNF | Jolyon Palmer | Renault | 29 | Retirement |
Formula 1 – Championship Standings
Position | Driver | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Lewis Hamilton | 238 |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | 235 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | 197 |
4 | Daniel Ricciardo | 144 |
5 | Kimi Raikkonen | 138 |
6 | Max Verstappen | 68 |
7 | Sergio Perez | 58 |
8 | Esteban Ocon | 55 |
9 | Carlos Sainz | 36 |
10 | Nico Hulkenberg | 34 |
11 | Felipe Massa | 31 |
12 | Lance Stroll | 24 |
13 | Romain Grosjean | 24 |
14 | Kevin Magnussen | 11 |
15 | Fernando Alonso | 10 |
16 | Pascal Wehrlein | 5 |
17 | Daniil Kvyat | 4 |
18 | Stoffel Vandoorne | 1 |
19 | Jolyon Palmer | 0 |
20 | Marcus Ericsson | 0 |
21 | Antonio Giovinazzi | 0 |
We’ll have a more analysis of all the Formula 1 action as well as all the latest news from the paddock in the next issue of Auto Action Magazine, on sale Thursday. In the meantime, make sure you follow on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or our Weekly Newsletter to keep up to date.