Another win for Rosberg puts real pressure on Hamilton, closing the gap in the championship to just two points. Poor starts for many drivers, including Hamilton, severely compromised their races and lost them places. Meanwhile, other drivers excelled, the likes of Button and Alonso in some entertaining midfield battles. Read the story of the race from each drivers’ perspective…

Mercedes

After a terrific pole position on Saturday, Hamilton lost victory at the start. Dropping to 6th, he was forced to fight through the pack whilst his teammate ran away with the win. For Rosberg, it was an easy win and he closes the gap in the championship to just two points.

Nico Rosberg P1

Taking his first victory at the famous Monza, Rosberg took advantage of Hamilton’s poor start to claim his seventh victory of the season. Starting the race on the soft tyres, he made a single stop to change to mediums for his second and final stint. From there, it was a case of maintaining his 15 second lead until the chequered flag. Following his win last weekend in Belgium, this has allowed him to significantly reduce Hamilton’s championship lead.

Lewis Hamilton P2

Having looked quickest all weekend, Hamilton ruined his prospect of a victory with a poor start. With too much wheelspin as he left the line, he dropped to sixth before the first corner. He passed Ricciardo on lap 2 but it took until lap 11 for him to pass Bottas, losing him over 10 seconds to teammate Rosberg. Opting for the same, one-stop strategy as Rosberg, he was unable to gain an advantage over the race leader but it was enough to keep the Ferraris behind. With his championship lead reduced to two points, he is in need of some strong results to retain the lead.

Ferrari

Both drivers overtook Hamilton after the Brit’s awful start, promoting them to second and third. But they were on a two-stop strategy, having qualified on the supersofts. This allowed Hamilton to jump the pair of them. However, Vettel secured a podium finish at their all-important home race.

Sebastian Vettel P3

After a strong qualifying on Saturday, Vettel started 3rd on the grid and was able to take advantage of Hamilton’s poor start. With the championship leader dropping way down the order, it looked as if Vettel would be able to hold on to second and at one point the win looked possible.

However, having started on the supersofts, Vettel was forced to make two pit stops and, despite running on softer compounds to the Mercedes drivers, the 23 second deficit from the extra stop was impossible to catch up.

Despite this, third is a strong result for the team and they beat both Red Bulls, bringing them closer to the second-placed team. And, of course, the Tifosi were happy to have a Ferrari driver to cheer on the podium – although would have been happier to see him on the top step.

Kimi Raikkonen P4

Like Vettel, Raikkonen also opted for the two-stop strategy and lost out to Hamilton. However, the Ferrari still showed encouraging pace and they were faster than Williams, who had expected to run strong here. Just missing out on the podium, he should still be happy with fourth.

Williams

A slightly disappointing race for Williams at a circuit where they have finished on the podium in the previous two years. However, they did manage to beat Force India this weekend and it was enough to move them back into fourth in the constructors’.

Valtteri Bottas P6

Quick in the opening laps, Bottas was able to keep Hamilton behind for 11 laps. Even after the Mercedes got past, he clung onto 5th for most of the race. But tyre degradation again proved a problem for Williams, meaning he struggled at the end of the race. An exceptional overtake from Ricciardo in the closing stages of the race meant Bottas dropped to 6th, but finished ahead of both Force Indias.

Felipe Massa P9

Massa had initially planned a one-stop race but, in order to keep ahead of Hulkenberg, he switched to a two-stop. This strategy paid off in the end but, given another lap, he could have gained further places on the quick supersofts.

Red Bull

Ricciardo had a strong race despite the Red Bull being no match for the superior Mercedes and Ferrari cars. Behind Bottas most of the race, a brilliant pass in the final laps brought him up to a strong fifth. For his teammate, the race was rather disappointing after dropping to 11th due to a poor start. Fighting back through the pack, he came through to finish 7th.

Daniel Ricciardo P5

Unable to challenge the Ferrari or Mercedes, Ricciardo was in a battle for fifth with Bottas. A great strategy gave him the supersofts to attack with at the end of the race, giving him a chance to snatch 5th place from the Williams driver. A stunning overtake in the closing stages saw him come from a long way back to make the pass. Super late braking into the Rettifilio chicane, just stopping the car in time, allowed him to take fifth position from Bottas.

Max Verstappen P7

Going into anti-stall at the start, Verstappen dropped way back to 11th position on the opening lap. This compromised his strategy, as the tyre degradation is much higher when fighting for position. But in a strong, trouble-free race he was able to work his way up into seventh overall – a good result given the circumstances.

Force India

Force India had expected a tough race here and they could only manage 8th and 10th. But, for the third race in a row they finished with both drivers in the points. However, it wasn’t enough too retain fourth in the championship, a strong race for Williams dropped Force India to fifth – but it is going to be a tough, season-long fight.

Sergio Perez P8

Like many of his rivals, Perez opted for a two stop strategy. In a fairly uneventful race in the midfield, he was able to hold on to eighth position and claimed four points. Chosing an aggressive tyre strategy, Force India tried to keep Verstappen behind. But he was unable to do so, with the Red Bull driver just making it through in the closing stages.

Nico Hulkenberg P10

Starting behind Verstappen, Hulkenberg lost positions off the line despite a strong getaway from himself. Forced to swerve around the Red Bull, he lost traction and with that was overtaken in the run up to turn one. Side-by-side with Massa around turn 4, he was pushed wide and lost another place, to Alonso. Unfortunately, this compromised his whole race and he could only manage 10th in the end.

Toro Rosso

Technical issues on the car meant that Kvyat was forced to retire the car in a disappointing weekend for the Russian. Sainz also had a tough weekend and could only manage 15th in the end, struggling for pace in the Toro Rosso.

Carlos Sainz P15

Opting to go for a one-stop race, Sainz struggled with degradation in the second part of the race and was forced to make another stop. This dropped him way down the order and put him out of contention for a points finish. Struggling for pace all weekend due to their year-old power unit, Toro Rosso should have a stronger race in Singapore where top speed is less important.

Daniil Kvyat DNF

Contact at turn one damaged the floor of the car, losing downforce and therefore performance. An issue with the battery overheating meant that he was forced to retire after completing just 36 laps of the race.

Renault

Kevin Magnussen P17

A good start for Magnussen was ruined when he had to go onto the run off in order to avoid a spinning car. As a consequence, he dropped to the back of the field, spending most of his race fighting the Manors.

Jolyon Palmer DNF

Contact on lap two of the race with the Sauber of Nasr ended Palmer’s race prematurely. He was highly critcal of Nasr during interviews but ultimately it didn’t change the result of the race. He is going into Singapore hopeful of a strong weekend.

Sauber

Clashing with the Renault of Jolyon Palmer, Nasr’s race ended in the early stages of the race. He received a 10-second penalty for the incident, but he took this before he retired the car so no penalties will be carried forward. Ericsson was involved in a mid-field battle early on in the race but slipped back to 16th.

Marcus Ericsson P16

Despite a promising start, in which he was involved in battles with the likes of Button and Gutierrez, he soon dropped down the order. He was able to hang on to 16th, ahead of Magnussen and Ocon. Encouraging pace in the race gives Sauber some optimism going into the final stages of the season.

Felipe Nasr DNF

A crash with Palmer on lap two ended Nasr’s race early. After a good start, in which he gained four places, it was disappointing to end the race so early on. He doesn’t believe that he was responsible for the incident despite receiving a penalty from the stewards and being criticised by rival Palmer.

McLaren

A poor start for Button dropped him six places at the start, moving him effectively to the back of the pack. From there he battled through the pack and passed his teammate on lap 44. Struggling with tyre degradation, Alonso pitted a few laps from the end for supersofts and took the fastest lap.

Jenson Button P12

Pushed onto the gravel in the opening lap, Button dropped from 14th to the back of the field. Strong management of tyres allowed Button to push harder in his final stint, involved in some great battles throughout the race. By lap 44, he caught and passed Alonso, who had a much stronger start to the race. In the end, he just missed out on the points in 12th position.

Fernando Alonso P14

Moving from twelfth to ninth at the start, Alonso initially ran strong in the McLaren. However, later in the race he struggled with tyre wear and dropped back down the order. Changing onto new tyres with two laps to go, he dropped slightly further back but set the fastest lap of the race.

Manor

After a strong qualifying for Wehrlein, lining up 14th on the grid, it was disappointing to see him forced to retire at half distance due to a technical issue. His teammate started from the back after electrical problems in qualifying, making little progress in the race, Ocon finished down in 18th.

Esteban Ocon P18

Starting from the back after setting no time in qualifying, Ocon was prepared for a tough race. A long stint on the mediums followed by a single stop onto softs meant that he struggled with tyre degradation in his second stint. It was good to see him reach the chequered flag after the issues earlier in the weekend but a disappointment for it to be 18th.

Pascal Wehrlein DNF

Splitting the two McLaren’s in qualifying after reaching Q2, Wehrlein was optimistic about the chance of scoring points in the race. However, he was forced to stop the car on lap 26 with a technical problem. Overall, a fairly tough weekend for both drivers, with reliability proving to be an issue.

Haas

With a poor start, Gutierrez dropped all the way back to 18th by the first corner. Despite a strong race, fighting through the midfield, he ended up a long way off points. On a one-stop strategy, Grosjean managed tyre degradation well, holding on to 11th place in the closing stages of the race.

Romain Grosjean P11

Opting for an aggressive, single-stop race Haas hoped Grosjean would make it into the points. But he missed out due to simply lack of pace in the car, and finished 12 seconds from the top ten. However, he believes he got the best out of the car, and is optimistic of his chances in Singapore.

Esteban Gutierrez P13

After the team’s best qualifying since they started F1, Gutierrez started an impressive 10th in the race, giving him a hope of scoring his first points of the season. However, it wasn’t to be, as he dropped down to 18th after a terrible getaway. This left him with a lot to do in the rest of the race, and he managed to fight back to 13th. It was a disappointing result after the incredible performance on Saturday.