Lewis Hamilton takes victory in eventful Italian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has taken a dominant victory at the Italian Grand Prix, his first career win around the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. The Briton was followed home closely by the late charging Sergio Perez, with Fernando Alonso a competitive 3rd after starting back in 10th. Both Red Bull’s failed to finish the race, greatly benefiting Alonso.

The opening few corners were miraculously incident free, contrary to many who feared a repetition of Belgium would occur. Lewis Hamilton glided into the lead as the five red lights went out, whilst Felipe Massa stormed into 2nd position after Jenson Button was slow away. By the third lap, Fernando Alonso was already up to 6th position as the Spaniard set his sights firmly on catching the likes of Jenson Button and team-mate Felipe Massa. Paul di Resta and Bruno Senna nearly came together through turns 4 and 5, as the Scot forced the Brazilian driver off the track. Senna then dangerously rejoined the track, almost colliding with the Red Bull of Mark Webber.

Jean-Eric Vergne became the first retirement of the race, as the Toro Rosso driver suffered what looked like a suspension failure on the run down to turn 1. The Frenchman was launched violently into the air, as his Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso bounced dangerously over the ‘sausage’ kerbs. Jerome D’Ambrosio’s return to the sport failed to match his expectations in the early stages, as the Belgian driver was informed he had a KERs failure on his Lotus E20.

Prior to the race, many teams were unsure as to what strategy to opt for during the race. With Pirelli expecting many teams to run a one-stop strategy, it was expected this tactic would be utilized by many of the front runners. Pastor Maldonado became the first driver to take to the pits on lap 13, after the Venezuelan driver started the race in a lowly 22nd. The Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher followed suit and pitted several laps later, with the German pairing believed to be on a two-stop strategy.

Whilst several drivers further down the order opted to pit, Jenson Button was able to find a way around Felipe Massa for 2nd. With worried faces down in the Ferrari garage, it was confirmed that no data or telemetry was being transmitted back to the Ferrari pit wall. Felipe Massa pitted on lap 19, before team-mate Fernando Alonso carried out his opening stop along with Sebastian Vettel on lap 20. The German was able to rejoin the circuit just ahead of Alonso, however two duo were still behind Massa when they rejoined the track.

Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton pitted on lap 23 and 24 respectively, thus handing the lead down to the Sauber of Sergio Perez. Whilst the McLaren duo pitted, Fernando Alonso desperately tried an overtake on Sebastian Vettel around the outside at turn 3. However, the Spaniard was unable to make the move stick, as Vettel forced the Ferrari driver on to the grass. This was reminiscent of the previous year’s race, however Alonso failed to gain a position, unlike Vettel the year before.

Jerome D’Ambrosio’s race failed to improve, as the Belgian driver skipped through the gravel at turn 7. Whilst the former Virgin Racing driver struggled in the midfield, Lewis Hamilton was able to overtake Sergio Perez for the lead, with the Mexican driver still out on track and yet to pit. Perez finally pitted for his one and only stop on lap 29, as the stewards announced they were investigating the earlier incident between Alonso and Vettel at turn 3.

Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel was then issued a drive-thru penalty, for forcing Fernando Alonso off the track earlier in the race. The German served his penalty several laps later, dropping him further down the order and greatly benefiting the Ferrari of Alonso. With McLaren seemingly on course for a competitive 1-2 finish, disaster struck on lap 33 when Jenson Button was seen coasting to a halt on the run down to the final corner. As the 2009 World Champion removed himself from his stricken McLaren, it was confirmed his car had suffered a fuel pick-up issue.

With Ferrari now running 2nd and 3rd behind the sole remaining McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari’s notorious team orders made a return as Felipe Massa was warned on the radio that team-mate Alonso was gaining on the Brazilian. The inevitable occurred on lap 39, as Alonso used DRS to glide majestically passed Felipe Massa for 2nd.

However, as the race entered its closing stages the Sauber of Sergio Perez began to reel in the Ferrari do, as the Mexican set several immensely quick lap times. Within several laps, Perez had caught and passed both Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, and was rapidly closing down on race leader Hamilton. Red Bull’s race weekend suffered yet another intervention from mechanical gremlins, as Sebastian Vettel’s alternator issue returned once again, forcing the German to pull to the side of the track and retire. Mark Webber followed his team-mate into retirement shortly after, as the Australian driver spun on the exit of turn 10 and coasted back to the pits to retire.

As rivals Red Bull dropped out of the race, Lewis Hamilton crossed the line to take his third race victory of the season. The Briton was followed home in 2nd by the Sauber of Sergio Perez, with local hero Fernando Alonso 3rd for Ferrari. With Red Bull failing to score a single World Championship point for the first time since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso will head to the next race at Singapore in two weeks time 37 points ahead of his nearest rival Lewis Hamilton. Vettel and Webber have now dropped to 4th and 5th in the Drivers’ Championship respectively, and will striving for a more competitive result next time out as the F1 paddock jets off to Asia.

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