2018 ITALIAN GP

Despite having the fastest car, at least in qualifying, all was not well at Ferrari on home ground. First of all, it was the ‘wrong’ driver on pole position – Raikkonen instead of title contender Sebastian Vettel – and the team also chose to tell the Finn that his services would not be required for 2019 prior to the race. It was perhaps not a surprise when Raikkonen decided not to make life easy for Vettel at the start to hold the lead.

Apparently perturbed, Vettel was still focusing on his team-mate into the second chicane on the inside line. With typical opportunism, Hamilton moved to the outside entering the left part of the chicane and went the long way around the Ferrari (above). Vettel appeared to be taken by surprise and understeered into the Mercedes, the slight contact being enough to spin him around.

Hamilton then breezed into the lead following a safety car period, but Raikkonen was in one of his more combative moods. He picked up the tow and went back into the lead around the outside approaching the second chicane. It was good, clean racing.

Hamilton hounded Raikkonen for the rest of the stint and made his stop much later – lap 28 to the Ferrari’s lap 20. He rejoined 5.7s behind but with fresher rubber.

Mercedes left Valtteri Bottas out and he now held Raikkonen back, helping Hamilton to close in. Perhaps even more importantly, the Ferrari also started suffering with a blister on the left-rear tyre.

Hamilton had some front blistering, but it was less severe and he remained in Raikkonen’s wheeltracks even after Bottas finally made his stop. At the end of lap 44 Hamilton got a run on the Ferrari down the start/finish straight. Raikkonen defended on the inside, but Hamilton braked later and completed the move around the outside into the first chicane (below). The Mercedes then raced clear to take the chequered flag 8.7s ahead of Raikkonen. Vettel took fourth and fell yet further behind in the championship fight.

“This was Hamilton’s victory, because he forced errors and made the vital passes when he had to,” said Autosport’s report. “Mercedes did an impeccable job at Monza, but the brilliance of Hamilton was the key ingredient that made all the difference.”