The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is such a fantastic spectacle. Here the sheer amount of passion from the fans is off of the chart and this being Ferrari’s home race, a sea of red populates the stands. This is one of the fastest circuits on the Formula One calendar and so gives these all-new 2014 cars the opportunity to use their new 8th gear. After the coming together of the two highly competitive Mercedes cars last race, tensions were high. Hamilton began on pole with his teammate right along side. Both Williams cars also had good odds sitting on the silver cars tails.
As the lights went out it was a poor start from Hamilton, bogging down with technical problems he lost several places. Rival Rosberg was now leading the pack. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen made a great getaway and found himself in second after the first corner. He then dropped to third not being able to keep pace with the Williams of Massa. However, by lap 5 Hamilton was back on the charge swiftly disposing of the McLaren and gaining on the Williams car. Rosberg may have been out in front but the pressure of Hamilton was clearly getting to him as a mistake resulted in taking the escape road and losing time. Great racing from the Brit saw him take Massa on lap 10 and begin hunting the other silver arrow. Bottas then picked off the McLaren of Kevin to claim fourth. Hamilton and Rosberg pitted within laps of each other and found themselves one behind the other. On lap 29 Hamilton won a psychological battle with Rosberg forcing him to make the same mistake as earlier. It is moments like this that can determine which of the two is strong enough to win the championship. Alonso then retired due to engine troubles in his Ferrari, a bitter blow at the teams home race. After the pitstops had revealed the pecking order a gripping battle between four times world champion Sebastian Vettel and new boy Daniel Ricciardo broke out. They chopped and changed position showing excellent race-craft, but it was the Australian who showed Vettel who is boss this season.
Hamilton won the race followed by his teammate, a key victory in his championship bid. Williams took third and fourth showing that their car has strength.
1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Nico Rosberg
3. Felipe Massa
4. Valtteri Bottas
5. Daniel Ricciardo
6. Sebastian Vettel
7. Sergio Perez
8. Jenson Button
9. Kimi Raikkonen
10. Kevin Magnussen
11. Daniil Kvyat
12. Nico Hulkenberg
13. Jean-Eric Vergne
14. Pastor Maldonado
15. Adrian Sutil
16. Romain Grosjean
17. Kamui Kobayashi
18. Jules Bianchi
19. Marcus Ericsson
20. Esteban Gutierrez
Rtd. Fernando Alonso
Rtd. Max Chilton
