Lewis Hamilton denies Ferrari a home win at Italian GP

MONZA, Italy – Lewis Hamilton denied Ferrari a dream home win at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday as he overtook Kimi Raikkonen eight laps from the end to claim a fifth victory in seven years at Monza.

The Mercedes driver beat Raikkonen, who had started in pole, to tie Michael Schumacher’s record of five Italian GP victories and extend his championship lead to 30 points over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who had a nightmare start.

Valtteri Bottas was third in his Mercedes, ahead of Vettel and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who received a five-second penalty.

Hamilton had started third, behind Raikkonen and Vettel after the Ferraris started on the front row, booking the top two places at Monza for the first time since 2000.

The championship leader put Vettel under pressure immediately but Vettel pulled clear and was alongside Raikkonen into the first corner.

Hamilton had another go down the outside heading into the second chicane, inching ahead of Vettel when they made contact causing Vettel to spin.

The safety car was deployed and Vettel went into the pits for a new front wing, coming out 18th.

Both drivers complained on team radio but an investigation decided that no further action was necessary.