Italy – Race: Hamilton breaks Rosberg and Massa returns to the podium at Monza!

The sky is dotted with a few clouds over Monza, just like the one over Mercedes. That’s what’s at stake in this race!

**The start is given!** And Lewis Hamilton misses it! Nico Rosberg, Kevin Magnussen, and Felipe Massa have passed the Brit, who is complaining about an electronic problem over the radio. Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas has dropped to 11th position and Daniel Ricciardo to 11th place. By the third lap, Massa is putting pressure on Magnussen, but the cars, with little aerodynamic load, offer few opportunities. In the 5th lap, Massa can finally get alongside the McLaren, which he can’t overtake at the first chicane but overtakes in the Curva Grande. Hamilton does the same before Lesmo. Bottas is making his way through the pack, passing Hülkenberg, who is on hard tires.

In the 6th lap, Chilton makes a mistake in the second chicane, jumps the curb, and crashes into the tire wall: he is unharmed but it’s a retirement. Yellow flags are waved at that spot. Bottas tries to pass Räikkönen at the first chicane but arrives over-speeding, a bit too wide, and Ferrari regains the advantage. At the front, the Massa-Hamilton duo is lapping faster than Rosberg. The German driver, in the 9th lap, makes a braking error at the end of the straight and has to take the escape road. He loses more than a second in the process. In the next lap, Hamilton takes advantage over Massa: he positions himself on the outside as they approach the first chicane and overtakes Massa; a very fair fight between the two men.

After 11 laps, Rosberg leads Hamilton (+2.2s), Massa (+3.4), Magnussen (+8.4), and Vettel (+9.1). The top three are the only ones driving under the 1:29 mark. At the back, the battle for the 18th position is fierce between Bianchi and Grosjean who almost collide at the first corner. Behind the leading trio, two small groups have formed: the first for the 4th place consists of Magnussen, Vettel, and Button separated by a second from the trio Alonso-Pérez-Bottas. The Finn, in fact, overtakes the Mexican on the 14th lap.

In the 15th lap, Hamilton closes to within 1.5s of Rosberg. The Brit sets multiple fastest laps, dropping under 1:28, gaining about two-tenths per lap. Bottas takes 7th place from Alonso on the pit straight. The Williams driver plans to overtake Button in the small train that has formed starting with Magnussen in 4th. He passes him on the 18th lap. Vettel, who was ahead of the Finn, is the first to stop, braking heavily to avoid overspeed: he switches from mediums to hards.

After 20 laps, Rosberg leads the GP ahead of Hamilton (+1.2s), Massa (+8.2), Magnussen (+20.6), and Bottas (+21.2). Räikkönen, in 8th, pits as well, locking his wheels. Bottas passes Magnussen in the 21st lap and takes the 4th position. The Dane and Alonso enter the pits; the stops are good, but Vettel took advantage of his undercut to pass both men. Pérez is positioned behind the McLaren. The other chromed car, Button’s, stops as well: he was in 5th and comes out 11th, between Pérez and Alonso.

On the 24th lap, the battle continues at the front: Massa stops, and the following lap, it’s Rosberg. Hamilton temporarily takes the lead. Bottas comes in as well: the Finn, who was 4th, immediately loses three places to the benefit of Vettel, Magnussen, and Pérez. It’s finally Hamilton’s turn to stop. He comes out behind Rosberg: the two men are now separated by 1.8s, and the fight can resume for the remaining 22 laps. On the second lap with this new set of tires, driver No. 44 gains the half-second he lost during the stop; his team asks him to save his tires, but the 2008 world champion has other ideas.

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On the 29th lap, the two Mercedes drivers are separated by 7 tenths. Rosberg misses his braking at the first corner again, but this time the mistake is costly: Hamilton passes him! At the same time, Alonso has to retire: his Ferrari lost power on the pit straight. At the front, Hamilton begins to relax: 2 then 3 seconds ahead of Rosberg by the 32nd lap. Behind them, Bottas attacks Magnussen at the first chicane for 5th place, but the McLaren driver doesn’t give in and forces the Williams to cut the chicane.

After 33 laps, Hamilton leads Rosberg (+3.6s), Massa (+17.4), Vettel (+35.0), and Magnussen (+36.5). Further behind, Ricciardo dives inside at the first chicane and overtakes Räikkönen in a tough but fair maneuver; it’s the battle for 9th place. Race direction announces an investigation is underway on Magnussen’s defense against Bottas. He is given a 5-second penalty, although the Finn eventually manages to gain the upper hand over the Dane on the 37th lap.

In the 39th lap, a superb battle between Pérez and Button for 7th place. Both men stayed side by side from Curva Grande to the second Lesmo, Pérez was forced to cut the second chicane to avoid a collision. Ricciardo took advantage by passing Button under braking at the first chicane the following lap and then overtaking the Mexican in Curva Grande in the next loop. Bottas, meanwhile, gained the advantage over Vettel for 4th position.

After 43 laps, Hamilton leads Rosberg (+4.4) and Massa (+21.4). They are followed by Bottas, Vettel, Magnussen, Ricciardo, Pérez, Button, and Räikkönen. The gap seems to have stabilized between the two Mercedes. A change in 6th place as Ricciardo gains the advantage over Magnussen. The Australian is 1.5s behind his teammate: in a few laps, he closes in on his exhaust. He attempts a first maneuver at the braking of the first corner, but the German insists, and it’s finally at the braking of the second chicane that he gains the advantage, much faster than his teammate.

With five laps to go, Hamilton and Rosberg are still separated by 4.5s. Massa is in third place: 18 seconds behind the German and 17 seconds ahead of his teammate. Vettel seems to be struggling with his tires as the trio of Magnussen-Pérez-Button closes in on him. Gutierrez, battling with Grosjean, moves over on the Frenchman at the braking zone of the first chicane and punctures his right rear tire in the maneuver.

**Two laps from the end**, Hamilton holds steady, allowing Rosberg to close the gap to less than four seconds, then three seconds as they approach the final lap. At the same time, Kvyat completely misses his braking at the first chicane, likely due to a brake issue.

It’s done, victory for Lewis Hamilton ahead of Nico Rosberg!