Lewis Hamilton won Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix to make a seven-point cut into Nico Rosberg’s world championship lead – and he did so by once again ignoring a message from his Mercedes team.
Hamilton was two and a half seconds behind Rosberg after making a terrible start when he was told to maintain the gap and have a go at making a pass at the end of the race.
But he continued to press Rosberg and on lap 29 the German appeared to crack under pressure when he went straight on at Turn One for the second time in the afternoon, allowing Hamilton to take the lead.
However, Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff appeared to be smiling after the move, reflecting relief that Hamilton had done his business without coming into contact with his team-mate.
Hamilton's 28th win takes him ahead of Jackie Stewart to become Britain's second most successful driver after Nigel Mansell. It also cut Rosberg's lead from 29 points to 22. His victory – he finished three seconds ahead of Rosberg – was also his second on this track. It was a fair result, because he had been about a quarter of a second a lap faster than Rosberg all weekend.
Yet Hamilton got off to a shocking start because of a problem with his DRS, slipping from his pole position back to fourth as he was overtaken not just by Rosberg but also by Kevin Magnussen and Felipe Masaa.
Hamilton was told by his engineer: “Everything is in a muddle. Don’t change anything. We’re looking into it.” Hamilton watched Rosberg disappear as the championship leader made the most of Hamilton’s bad fortune. But the car recovered and took its driver home to glory.
Max Chilton had only his second retirement in his career and there was a more high-profile failure when Fernando Alonso dropped out of the race just past the halfway stage, his first mechanical failure since 2009.
Massa showed a return to form to come third and Valtteri Bottas came from deep down in the field to finish fourth. Daniel Ricciardo once again beat Sebastian Vettel in the battle of the Red Bulls, a disappointment for the world champion who had outqualified his brilliant young team for the fourth time in five races.
Guardian Service
