ITALIAN GRAND PRIX - RACE
The gap at the front of the championship is now down to only two points as Nico Rosberg took his second win in a row. The German finished ahead of team mate Lewis Hamilton, who fell back to sixth at the start of the race.
It was expected to be a walk in the park for Hamilton. The championship leader started on pole with Rosberg alongside him. A mistake cost the Brit greatly, though, as car after car sped past him at the lights. He eventually slipped in behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo whilst Rosberg defended against the home favourites Ferrari to take the lead of the race.
Rosberg and Hamilton were the only drivers at the front of the field on the harder compound tyre. It may have been the slower tyre, but it would have given them a tactical advantage when it came to pit stops. Ricciardo and the rest of the drivers separating Hamilton and his team mate would have to pit earlier, meaning Hamilton wouldn’t really have to be racing against them in the first stint.
Tell that to Hamilton. As the Brit struggled to find a way past the Red Bull and then the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, Rosberg was building up a gap to the Ferraris. A gap Hamilton would have to close when he got into second to have any chance of winning the race.
Hamilton eventually got up into fourth, behind Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari, and was promoted to third on lap sixteen when the Ferrari pitted. A lap later, Sebastian Vettel pitted too and Hamilton could finally get back to the real race, but Rosberg was already over ten seconds up the road, and we hadn’t really even seen the full power of the Mercedes yet.
Rosberg pitted first, coming out behind Hamilton only for the Brit to pit the following lap. Hamilton came out behind the Ferraris again and, despite the fact they would have to pit again, it still put the Mercedes at a disadvantage.
By the time Hamilton had gotten past the Ferrari duo again, there was no catching his team mate. Rosberg, in a relatively quiet race, took his seventh win of the season and his first win at Monza, whilst Hamilton would have to settle for second.
Ferrari did get one driver on the podium at their home race, with Sebastian Vettel taking third just ahead of Kimi Raikkonen.
As usual for Formula One, there was more interesting battles further back in the field.
Once Hamilton had passed the pair of them, Bottas and Ricciardo began a race long fight. The pair were on different strategies and Ricciardo, who spent most of the race chasing Bottas, had other cars to pass on a few occasions, but the battle went right down to the end of the race.
In the closing stages of the race, the Australian got up alongside Bottas at one of Monza’s many chicanes, sending Bottas onto the curb in defence. Bottas couldn’t close the door quick enough on Ricciardo, and the Australian moved up into fifth. Bottas couldn’t find the pace to challenge Ricciardo back, and would have to settle for sixth.
Still, it was ahead of both Force India drivers. Williams lost out in the constructors’ championship to the team last time out, and were looking for revenge. Though Felipe Massa could only finish ninth, behind Sergio Perez, he finished ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. Together with Bottas’ sixth, Williams managed to take fourth in the constructors’ championship back from Force India, now a whole three points ahead.
Elsewhere, there were four retirements from the race. Felipe Nasr and Jolyon Palmer came together on the opening lap and, though both cars were able to continue, they both eventually retired, leaving a mess in their wake. Luckily, nobody’s tyres were damaged on the scraps of carbon fibre, and the pair’s retirement went by fairly unnoticed.
Retirement three came from Pascal Wehrlein. Dramatic radio messages came through to the Manor driver to stop the car immediately and switch it off. He did on lap twenty eight, but stayed out of the way of everybody. There was no need for anything more than a few yellow flags.
Daniil Kvyat was the fourth and final retirement. After being handed a five second penalty for speeding in the pit lane, the Russian returned to the pits to retire.
RESULTS:
1. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 18 Points
3. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 15 Points
4. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 12 Points
5. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Australia / + 10 Points
6. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland / + 8 Points
7. Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Netherlands / + 6 Points
8. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 4 Points
9. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 2 Point
10. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany / + 1 Points
11. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France
12. Jenson Button / McLaren-Honda / Great Britain
13. Esteban Gutierrez / Haas-Ferrari / Mexico
14. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain
15. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Spain
16. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
17. Kevin Magnussen / Renault-Renault / Denmark
18. Esteban Ocon / Manor-Mercedes / France
RETIRED - Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Russia / Battery
RETIRED - Pascal Wehrlein / Manor-Mercedes / Germany / Oil Leak
RETIRED - Felipe Nasr / Sauber-Ferrari / Brazil / Collison Damage
RETIRED - Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain / Collision Damage
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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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