Hamilton wins Italian Grand Prix; Rosberg 2nd for Mercedes one-two finish

Ryan Joseph Ramos September 7, 2014

Lewis Hamilton raced well and had great pace throughout the race to win the 2014 Italian Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg for yet another Mercedes one-two finish.

That’s a nice recovery after retiring from the last race, as Hamilton now gets back some lost ground thanks to the points differential. Hamilton cuts Rosberg’s lead in the drivers’ standings by 7 points, and the two are now separated by 22 points – 238 for Rosberg, and 216 for Hamilton with six races left on the calendar.

The win gives Hamilton 28 for his F1 career, surpassing Sir Jackie Stewart’s total and putting Hamilton at seventh all-time. In addition, this makes it 12 times out of the last 15 Italian GPs that the driver who took pole position eventually won the race.

Things didn’t go quite smoothly for Hamilton right from the get-go, however. He dropped back to P4 with what appeared to be recorery system issues after the five red lights lit up and with Rosberg taking the lead. He had great pace, though, and battled back into contention.

The Brit pushed hard behind the erstwhile race leader Rosberg, pressuring his teammate into a mistake in lap 29, where he went straight into the run-off and allowed Hamilton to go past. It was all about managing the lead and his tyres until the end for Hamilton, and he was able to get the victory.

“It’s a terrible feeling to lose the lead like that but in the end Lewis was really quick in the whole race,” Rosberg said. “He came like a rocket and I had to push and I made the mistake.”

Williams’ Felipe Massa had a terrific race and had his first podium finish this season. Valtteri Bottas recovered from some early problems and had a great battle with Daniel Ricciardo, eventually claiming fourth ahead the Red Bull. Rounding out the points finishers are, in order: Sebastian Vettel, Sergio Perez, Jenson Button, Kimi Raikkonen, and lastly, Kevin Magnussen at P10.

Hamilton will surely try to eat more into Rosberg’s lead at the Singapore Grand Prix on September 21, an event which he hasn’t won since 2009. Rosberg has said he will also push hard and try to win.