Hamilton returns to winning form in Italy

Lewis Hamilton has won the Italian Grand Prix; a much needed victory for the Brit who is looking to catch teammate Nico Rosberg in the World Championship standings as the 2014 season moves towards the final few races of the year.

After a slow start which saw the one-time World Champion fall from pole position to fourth place before even getting to the first corner of the first lap, a couple of costly mistakes by Nico Rosberg ensured Hamilton was able to easily move towards the front of the pack again, before breezing into first place and holding on for the win.

Felipe Massa placed on the podium after a well-deserved third place finish for the Williams Racing driver. It is Massa’s first podium finish since Spain 2013 in a Ferrari seat.

Williams Racing teammate Valtteri Bottas finished in fourth place after a hard fought race which saw him drop to 11th in the early laps whilst a late push from Red Bull’s Daniel Riccardo saw the Australian finish fifth ahead of his four-time World Champion teammate Sebastian Vettel. Sergio Perez and Jenson Button took seventh and eighth whilst Kimi Raikkonen scored the only point for Ferrari in front of the Tifosi.

Kevin Magnussen completed the top ten having taken a time penalty for an earlier racing incident.

Starting on the medium compound Pirelli tire, as the entire top twelve did, Lewis Hamilton was terribly slow off the line, almost immediately conceding first place to teammate Nico Rosberg who took off to turn one. Shortly thereafter Magnussen and Massa also passed Hamilton, swamping the Brit and dropping him into fourth place before even getting through the first chicane. Valtteri Bottas also had an awful start, immediately dropping back to 10th place before losing another place by the second lap leaving him in 11th. By the end of the second lap, Rosberg had a 2.1 second lead on the McLaren of Kevin Magnussen.

At the back of the grid, Daniil Kvyat, who started the race from the back of the grid after taking a ten place grid penalty for using a new engine, managed to get himself from 20th to 18th by passing both Marussia cars by the fourth lap, charging ahead further to overtake the Caterham of Kobayashi and poising an attack on the Sauber of Gutierrez. Meanwhile back towards the front, Massa was told to use ‘overtake’ to get round Magnussen, attacking the McLaren at Roggia to make the move stick and move into second place, registering a fastest lap in the process.

Max Chilton became the first DNF of the race on lap 6, entering Roggia too quickly, launching himself over the second set of curbs and flying into the barriers. Race leader Nico Rosberg also had a hairy moment a few laps later when he was forced to go straight on at Rettifilo, swerving to avoid the polystyrene signage and then rejoining the track safely at the front still.

A lap later and at the same corner, Lewis Hamilton completed a high-speed around-the-outside move on Massa, putting himself into second place and just 2.2 seconds back on Rosberg. A few places back and Sebastien Vettel, running fifth, was lining up Kevin Magnussen for fourth after the Dane fell back from second position.

Vettel’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who has won two Grand Prix this season, found himself in a rut down in 11th place. Down 20 seconds on the race leader, Ricciardo found himself unable to find any pace, dropping back from Kimi Raikkonen just ahead and creating a gap stopping him using DRS.

Back at the front, Rosberg barked at his team not to tell him the gap from himself to Hamilton. Not using a time call, the team quickly informed Rosberg that Hamilton was closing on him. By lap 16 Hamilton had decreased the hap to just 1.4 seconds.

Esteban Gutierrez made an early pit stop this race on lap 17, becoming the first driver to take a scheduled stop. The result was the Gutierrez dropped to last place behind the Caterham of Ericcson who started the race from the pit lane. Vettel was the first frontrunner to take a scheduled stop at the end of lap 18 and then Sergio Perez the third stopper on lap 19.
After a dreadful start, by lap 21 Valtteri Bottas had worked himself back up to fourth place having overtaken Kevin Magnussen into the first chicane.

A strong of stops then followed at the end of lap 21 as Fernando Alonso followed Kevin Magnussen into the pit lane to take their expected one and only stop of the afternoon. Both Ferrari’s had completed their stops by the 22nd lap, leaving the dup of Alonso and Raikkonen to fight for the highest position possible in front of their home crowd. Both Lotus’s had also completed their stops by the 22nd lap, providing no advantage or disadvantage to their positions; leaving Maldonado in 16th and Grosjean a shocking lap down in 21st.
Felipe Massa stopped from third on lap 23, returning him in fifth place and looking for a podium finish at the end of the remaining 29 laps.

Race leader Nico Rosberg came into the pits on lap 25, almost exactly at the halfway mark of the race, leaving Hamilton to inherit first place and run full engine in order to attempt to overcome the 2 second deficit Rosberg had on him. Hamilton then pit the following lap and although the stop was fast, Rosberg made it back into the lead.

Having made up ground earlier in the race, Bottas lost momentum after his stop and dropped him back to ninth after being overtaken by Magnussen and Perez. Bottas made the place back from Perez a lap later, but has certainly had to work for his pay today.

By lap 27, Hamilton was within DRS range of Nico Rosberg but the team asked him to hold back until the end of the race. Sticking on Rosberg’s tail, Hamilton seemingly got the psychological edge on Rosberg, forcing him to go straight on again Rettifilo and whilst trying to avoid the signage for the second time this race, Hamilton breezed into the lead on lap 28 and quickly increased the gap to well over two seconds in a single lap.

Much to the disappointment of the Tifosi in Monza, lap 29 marked the end of the road for Fernando Alonso; forced to retire the car after it made a horrible noise and lost power approaching the first chicane. It is Alonso’s first retirement this season.

Bottas and Magnussen found themselves involved in a steward’s investigation on lap 35 when Magnussen looked to have forced Bottas off the track at the first chicane. Both drivers escaped unscathed but the incident required a second look to ensure there was no foul play. Just ahead, Ricciardo’s race was starting to develop after a slow first half. Putting a late move on the remaining Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen late into Rettifilo, Ricciardo had moved up to ninth with the team informing him things were “about to get tasty” as he found himself within 3 seconds of the Magnussen / Bottas / Perez / Button battle ahead.

A few laps later, Ricciardo’s job was made somewhat easier when Magnussen was handed a five second stop go penalty for forcing Bottas off the track. With another charge into Curva Grande, Ricciardo held firm to cover the inside line at Roggia to pass Perez for seventh, leaving some fantastic action between Button and Perez for eighth place as Button stepped his racing up a notch. Ricciardo then moved onto Kevin Magnussen who appeared to be taking the time penalty to his final race result at the end of the race. Easily passing Magnussen for sixth, Ricciardo was poised for a fifth place battle with teammate Sebastian Vettel in the dying laps of the Grand Prix.

At the front, Hamilton and Rosberg were racing almost on their own, rarely being shown by the TV Director and dictating their own race. With 8 laps remaining, Hamilton was holding a four second gap on Rosberg who seemed unable to mount any kind of attack as the laps continued to fade away.

Ricciardo ultimately passed Sebastian Vettel for fifth place as Perez and Button moved in on the struggling McLaren of Kevin Magnussen. Magnussen’s placed finished would drop back though due to the time penalty.

Daniil Kvyat, who drove so well to get to 11th by the end of the race, had a scary incident going into the first corner on the final lap. Completely out braking himself, he ran wide and did well to hold on to the car to get himself to the finish line.

At the end of the race, Nico Rosberg continues to hold the lead of the Drivers World Championship standings by 22 points with a total of 238; Hamilton in hot pursuit whilst Daniel Ricciardo holds on to third place. Williams Racing’s Valtteri Bottas moves ahead of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso for fourth place by one point.

Mercedes go almost unchallenged for first in the Constructors’ standings with a massive 454 point. Red Bull Racing hold on to second place; Williams move into third ahead of Ferrari for the second time this season.

The Formula 1 calendar resumes two weeks from now for the 2014 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix on the weekend of September 19 – 21.