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LEWIS HAMILTON UNSTOPPABLE AT MONZA

Lewis Hamilton was unstoppable at Monza - Photo: LAT

By Bruce Williams

Lewis Hamilton was unstoppable at Monza - Photo: LAT

Lewis Hamilton was unstoppable at Monza – Photo: LAT

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 earned drive of the day with his performance - Photo: LAT

Aussie Daniel Ricciardo earned drive of the day with his performance – Photo: LAT

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.”

Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll had a race long battle - Photo: LAT

Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll had a race long battle – Photo: LAT

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 FacebookTwitter, Instagram or our Weekly Newsletter to keep up to date.