Hamilton wins Italian GP, Vettel fourth

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Updated : Sep 02, 2018 20:07 IST

Top three qualifiers Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton celebrate in parc ferme after qualifying for Italian Grand Prix on saturday.
Top three qualifiers Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton celebrate in parc ferme after qualifying for Italian Grand Prix on saturday.
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Top three qualifiers Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton celebrate in parc ferme after qualifying for Italian Grand Prix on saturday.

CHEQUERED FLAG!

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS HIS FIFTH ITALIAN GRAND PRIX, MATCHING MICHAEL SCHUMACHER'S RECORD!

Kimi Raikkonen crosses the line in second. The last time Ferrari won its home race was in 2010, by the retiring Fernando Alonso. "That was disappointing. But there's nothing I could do on those tyres," Raikkonen tells him team over the radio.

Max Verstappen crosses the line ahead of Valtteri Bottas, but the Finn will take the podium because of the Red Bull's five-second penalty. In fact, even Sebastian Vettel will be classified ahead of Verstappen.

So, Hamilton is on 256 points, extending his lead to 30 points over Vettel. Raikkonen holds third with 164, followed by Bottas on 159. Verstappen is fifth with 130.

Lap 52/53: Raikkonen has slowed down and let Sirotkin unlap his Williams. Behind him, a furious Verstappen is holding on to third. He knows he'll be classified fifth, but he's a hard racer and that penalty has really fired him up.

Lap 50/53: Raikkonen's rear tyres are shot. He's doing a good job just keeping his car on the road. Three laps to go.

Lap 48/53: As it stands, Verstappen will drop from third to fifth, not fourth. Bottas is right on his tail, and Vettel in fifth looks like he'll definitely be less than five seconds behind, if not catch up. That's an extra two points for the Ferrari.

Lap 46/53: The stewards give Verstappen a five-second penalty. The Red Bull loses the podium even if he finishes in this position. "For what?" Verstappen asks immediately after his team tells him about it, followed by a slew of expletives.

Meanwhile, Hamilton has immediately opened a three-second gap to Raikkonen. A huge blow for Ferrari. The gap between Hamilton and Vettel opens up to 32 points if they finish in this order. And Raikkonen loses the opportunity to win his first race since the 2013 Australian Grand Prix.

Lap 45/53: Lewis Hamilton takes the lead from Kimi Raikkonen! He moves to the outside on turn 1 and holds on to the inside line as they enter the chicane.

Lap 43/53: Contact between Verstappen and Bottas. The Mercedes goes off track and then weaves through the barriers. Doesn't seem to be any damage. Their tyres touched as the Red Bull went wide while defending third. Still, the incident is being looked into.

Lap 41/53: Bottas has reeled in Verstappen in third place. The gap's less than a second now.

Up front, Raikkonen and Hamilton have both been told to look after their tyres.

 

Lap 39/53: Sebastian Vettel is back up in fifth. He's 13 seconds behind Bottas. And there's 14 laps to go.

Lap 36/53: Valtteri Bottas finally pits, his job of slowing Raikkonen done. Hamilton's tyres are seven laps fresher than Raikkonen's. On cue, the Ferrari driver is warned on the team radio to look after his tyres.

Bottas, meanwhile, comes back out in fourth, 3.5 seconds behind Max Verstappen.

Lap 33/53: Raikkonen is still stuck behind Bottas. And Hamilton is right on his tail and within DRS distance. It's a Mercedes sandwich for the Ferrari.

Lap 31/53: Bottas is slowing Raikkonen down massively. Hamilton pulls 1.6 seconds on the Finn on the last lap.

Lap 30/53: Vettel pits! He's gone on to the super-softs. He's back in 10th position, with 23 laps to play catch-up with the leaders.

Lap 28/53: Hamilton pits! He'll come out behind Raikkonen but ahead of Vettel. Bottas inherits the lead, but he's yet to pit and Raikkonen is less than two seconds behind.

Lap 26/53: Raikkonen is under 20 seconds behind Hamilton.

Lap 25/53: Another retirement for Daniel Ricciardo. That's the second in a row since he announced his move from Red Bull to Renault at the end of the season.

 

Lap 22/53: And Hamilton's crews heads back in as the champion does a monster lap.

But now Raikkonen is putting in some fast sector times. The gap's 22 seconds. The Ferrari needs to keep it below 24.

Lap 21/53: Kimi Raikkonen pits from the lead. And he comes out in clean air 13 seconds behind Bottas.

Hamilton's crew gets ready.

Lap 19/53: Vettel goes past Perez for eighth. He's a little over 27 seconds behind Hamilton in second. A pitstop takes 24 seconds at Monza. If Vettel is gambling on a one-stopper, we have a race on our hands. But will his soft tyres last 52 laps? He's got 31 more to do on them.

Verstappen cuts the corner as Bottas dives down the inside. The Mercedes wasn't close enough, so it doesn't look like Verstappen will have to give up third place.

Lap 17/53: Vettel is currently in P9, 0.8 to Perez. The pit stop at Monza is 23 seconds and Vettel's gap to the leaders is 27 seconds.

Lap 16/53: Vettel is barging his way towards the top. The Ferrari hits 360km per hour as he gets past Lance Stroll in ninth. And Raikkonen and Hamilton are not really running away at the front. The Ferrari seems to be controlling the race speed to let Vettel catch up with his championship rival.

Lap 14/53: Vettel is back into the points. The Ferrari driver says he's still got damage on his car.

In third place, Max Verstappen is staying a second ahead of the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas.

Lap 13/53: Sergio Perez has made his way to ninth, having started 14th. He's just two places behind teammate Estaban Ocon.

Lap 13/53: Ricciardo gets past Gasly for 12th. Vettel is right ahead of the Red Bull, making his own way back up after that first lap incident with Hamilton.

Lap 12/53 : Raikkonen leads from Hamilton after 12 laps, but the gap is under a second.

 

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