Mercedes takes a 1-2 victory at Monza

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas took the two spots ahead of Sebastien Vettel in the Ferrari. This puts Lewis Hamilton at the top of the drivers standing. But the hero of the race was Daniel Ricciardo who started out at the 16th place only to overtake Kimi Raikkonen at the end of the race to take 4th place. That overtaking maneuver was spectacular. Hamilton didn’t have much of a problem throughout the race as he led the pack from start to finish. Hamilton now has 228 points to Vettel’s 225, with Bottas with 197 points.

Esteban Ocon won a race-long tussle with the Williams of Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa to secure sixth for Force India. Ocon’s team mate Sergio Perez was ninth and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who dropped to the back in an early clash with Massa, recovered to complete the top ten.

Kimi was suffering with an unstable rear end and on lap 16, he pitted to switch to the Soft tyres, rejoining in 11th place. Two laps later, Stroll covered the Ferrari’s strategy, but the Iceman was now out in front, also passing Vandoorne to go eighth. On lap 26, he pulled off a copybook move on Ocon, slipstreaming before outbraking him into the First Chicane. Seb meanwhile kept putting in the quick laps to free himself from traffic at the pit stop, which happened on lap 32. A perfect job from the mechanics saw him emerge in fourth place in clean air.

“This is obviously an incredibly exciting season; the last two races have been really strong for us as a team. The way things have come together in the second half of the season is exceptional. Today, the car felt fantastic, particularly on that first stint. As we had a bit of breathing room behind us, it was easier for us to extend the life of the tyres. Valtteri did a fantastic job to get through and get this one-two. It is amazing to have the first back-to-back wins in a long, long time and claim the lead in the championship. But the fight will continue, the Ferraris have been really quick this season, especially on the high-downforce tracks. It will continue to be really close between us, so it will be ‘ beast mode’ all the way to the last chequered flag,” said Lewis Hamilton

“Starting fourth, finishing second – I’m quite happy with that. What I’m really happy about is the one-two for the team! From my side it was a good race, even though I lost one position at the beginning. Luckily, I got it back quite quickly and could then overtake the Williams and the Force India. After that the pace was great and I was really enjoying it – the car war so strong today. It was amazing to be on the podium. Monza is definitely one of the best – if not the best – podiums in Formula 1. It’s such a great atmosphere, so much noise, so many people – I wish everyone could experience it. Looking forward, we know that we still have a lot of work to do, the races ahead will be a close battle with Ferrari,” said Valtteri Bottas

Here are the full results from yesterday’s race.