Lewis Hamilton won the FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO HEINEKEN D’ITALIA 2017 at Monza, in front of an eager Italian crowd. Daniel Ricciardo showed great pace, despite a round of grid penalties that hindered much of the grid.
After a drenched running on Saturday, it was a relief to see the sun return to the circuit for Sunday’s race. Thanks to the rain during qualifying and a plethora of grid penalties, the grid was shuffled dramatically.
Off the line, Lance Stroll had a fantastic start alongside Lewis Hamilton in the front row. The Mercedes driver moved over to the right to block the Canadian and Stroll went into turn one a little cautiously, allowing Esteban Ocon to sneak by easily. A little further back, Felipe Massa and Sergio Pérez made contact in the first chicane, with the Force India receiving minor damage.
Kimi Räikkönen was able to get by Valtteri Bottas on the opening lap, although Bottas was able to over his fellow Finn in the final corner and down the main straight, after a thrilling wheel to wheel battle. On the third lap, Bottas began to put cars between himself and the Ferrari competitors, overtaking Stroll easily down the main straight and Ocon a lap later in the same place.
Max Verstappen had a brilliant start, climbing to P8. Unfortunately for the Red Bull driver, Massa made contact with him into turn one a few laps later and gave him a front right tyre puncture. The collision warranted no further action from the stewards.
Räikkönen got stuck behind Ocon and Stroll, over shooting the first corner on lap seven and cutting the chicane. However, Vettel had managed to get by his teammate and both cars ahead to chase down the Mercedes rivals. Räikkönen was the first of the top cars to pit, boxing on lap 16 after complaining of poor rear grid and oversteer.
Fernando Alonso and Jolyon Palmer had a little arguing to do during the race, as Palmer cut the second chicane while overtaking the McLaren driver. The stewards investigated the incident and handed Palmer a five second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, which was served during his pit stop. He eventually retired from the race.
After many laps of chase and battle, Räikkönen was finally able to get by Ocon in the first corner on lap 26. This left Ocon in the sights of Stroll.
Vettel was the first of the top three drivers to pit for tyres, pitting on lap 32. This triggered a chain reaction at the front of the field, with Hamilton pitting a lap later and Bottas following suit. The Mercedes drivers retained their respective positions, but Vettel came out of the pits behind Ricciardo. Ricciardo still had to pit, but was trying to stretch the gap to Ocon behind to make sure that he could come out of the pits in front of the Force India driver.
Ricciardo finally pitted on lap 37. Building the gap had worked, keeping Ricciardo comfortably ahead of Ocon. The Australian also took the opportunity to dive up the inside of Räikkönen into turn one a few laps later. He began chasing down Vettel, but was unsuccessful.
Hamilton cruised home in P1, to take his first back to back victory in 2017. This allows him to take the World Drivers’ Championship lead away from Vettel, who finished on the bottom step of the podium in front of a slightly disappointed Italian crowd. Bottas was able to finish in P2, giving Mercedes a 1-2 finish.
