Lewis Hamilton wins Italian Grand Prix at Monza

DANIEL Ricciardo was a little too excited after a thrilling comeback and had a seriously awkward moment with a female reporter.

Dan finished fourth in a huge comeback.

• Young gun makes F1 history
• Verstappen’s trainwreck continued

Italian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has won his second grand prix after the summer break and now leads the driver’s championship.

LEWIS Hamilton has overtaken Sebastian Vettel’s lead in the driver’s championship after claiming a breezy win at Monza. The Brit sat comfortably in first for the majority of the race and looked to be in peak form.

Mercedes dominated in Italy this year with Vatteri Bottas claiming second ahead of Sebastian Vettel (third) and Daniel Ricciardo (fourth).

12am

Dan’s awkward post-race interview

The ever-cheery Daniel Ricciardo was over the moon after finishing fourth at Monza. The Aussie made a stunning comeback after starting 16th with a penalty, narrowly missing out on a podium as he chased down Sebastian Vettel late in the race.

The 28-year-old was bouncing up and down in a post-race interview with a female reporter and got a little too enthusiastic when he heard how excited the commentators were as he pulled off a number of overtakes.

“Our commentators were getting really excited,” the Sky Sports reporter told Ricciardo before he jumped in.

“Did they take their tops off?” he said. “Pop a few buttons?”

The reporter was quick to dodge the awkward moment.

“Maybe, maybe, maybe,” she said before asking about his Kimi Raikkonen overtake.

“I’ll give Kimi credit for racing clean and fair,” Ricciardo responded.

“But I’d have done the move on anyone to be honest. I was aware the deeper I got towards the front the harder overtakes would be. I had blinkers on for the move and happy to pull it off.”

‘Take that.’

Lewis Hamilton took the lead in 2017’s championship race against Sebastian Vettel with an unchallenged win at Monza.

Mercedes had a stellar race with Valtteri Bottas finishing second. Sebastian Vettel finished third and Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth.

Vettel complained about his engine in the final stages of the race after having Ricciardo dangerously close the gap before the finish line.

“The last 15 or 20 laps, after I went off, something went wrong,” the German star said over the radio.

“That’s why I was going up and down on the engine.”

Hamilton’s toughest test Sunday came when he was met with a chorus of whistles and boos atop the podium for the Italian Grand Prix. The throng of red-clad fans who invaded the track had come hoping to see a Ferrari victory as the automaker celebrated its 70th anniversary. Instead, Hamilton won virtually unchallenged from pole position, Mercedes teammate Valterri finished second, and Hamilton took the championship lead from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who placed third.

“Some are more happy than others. ... You might have to just punch through this,” former F1 driver Martin Bundle, who was handling the podium interviews, told Hamilton as the crowd made its feelings known loud and clear. “You know what?” Hamilton replied. “I love it here in Italy and I love the passion of the fans, particularly the Ferrari fans — they are fantastic. This energy is like nowhere else we get to see, apart from maybe Silverstone. So I respect it and I appreciate it.” It was the perfect response to calm the crowd down and crown a perfect weekend for Hamilton, who on Saturday eclipsed former Ferrari great Michael Schumacher’s record for Formula One pole positions, with his 69th.

Later, Hamilton went down into the crowd and was mobbed.

#F1 - @LewisHamilton takes #F1 Championship lead with easy #ItalianGP win pic.twitter.com/Hd4aePcmBH

— FIA (@fia) September 3, 2017

Hamilton finished nearly five seconds ahead of Bottas while Vettel came third, more than half a minute behind.

Hamilton now has 238 points, three more than Vettel with seven races remaining. “It’s obviously an incredibly exciting season and the last two races have been incredibly strong for us as a team,” said Hamilton, who faced more of a challenge from Vettel in Belgium last weekend.

Vettel had led the standings all season but Ferrari struggled in rainy qualifying conditions Saturday and couldn’t match Mercedes’ race pace, either, on a Monza circuit featuring long straights and high speeds better suited to Mercedes’ outright power.

“Mercedes power is definitely better than Ferrari power,” Hamilton said. “So it worked well this weekend.” After getting out of his car, Hamilton first greeted Bottas then jumped into a crowd of Mercedes team members.

“To get 1-2 here is incredible,” Hamilton added later. “I know it’s not easy for Ferrari fans to accept.” Vettel acknowledged that his result did not meet expectations. “But we’re coming,” Vettel told the crowd. “Even if this race has been difficult I know that we have a very, very strong car and we’ll have a very, very strong end to the season. I’m sure of that.” After a brilliant start to the season, Vettel has now won just one of the last seven races. He also trails Hamilton in wins, six to four.

“We didn’t have the pace of Mercedes today,” Vettel said.

10:54pm

Dan stuns with massive comeback

Daniel Ricciardo ate his Weetbix this morning, that’s for sure. The Aussie had a massive setback after starting 16th but has now slotted himself into fourth position while hot on Sebastian Vettel’s tail for fourth.

“That is sensational,” David Croft exclaimed as the Aussie expertly passed Kimi Raikkonen in the 41st lap. “This is a storming drive.”

Ricciardo very late on the brakes to pass Raikkonen
Blog: https://t.co/b3qcRtGXrA #SkyF1 #ItalianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/4cddxL7OJb

— Sky Sports F1 🏎 (@SkySportsF1) September 3, 2017

10:37pm

Raikkonen’s killer move, Hamilton still unchallenged

Kimi Raikkonen received a round of applause from the Ferrari pit crew after an aggressive overtake over Eseteban Ocon on Turn One at the midway point of the race. The Finn chose the dangerous option of going around the outside of the chicane and overtook his opponent for sixth.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is breezing through Monza with ease, sitting a hair under five seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas and 22 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

10:25pm

Hamilton on a warpath

Lewis Hamilton’s blistering form has continued on from Belgium and has put him in the box seat for this race. The Englishman sits three seconds ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas (second) and 12 seconds ahead of championship rival Sebastian Vettel (third).

“A total demonstration of domination here by Mercedes-Benz,” F1 expert Martin Brundle said.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo was having a quiet race back down in ninth position before making a stunning overtake over Force India’s Sergio Perez.

The Aussie now sits in fifth place after a killer run of overtakes and is hot on Felipe Massa’s tail.

10:10pm

Verstappen’s horror show continues

Verstappen's trainwreck continues at Monza.

Max Verstappen has angered the F1 gods this year.

The Red Bull young gun has been forced to the pits with a puncture after a run-in with Felipe Massa on the third lap. The 19-year-old had to slowly make his way back to his team on a dodgy tyre before returning at the back of the pack.

After last week’s blowout in Belgium, Verstappen said he was seriously upset with his team, so another retirement will surely bring the Dutchman to his knees in fury.

Sebastian Vettel has begun his climb and sits in fourth position after overtaking Lance Stroll.

LAP 3/53: Yet more bad luck for @Max33Verstappen - a puncture for the teenager after a collision with MAS #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/tx9hqreYba

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 3, 2017

10pm

Early drama in thrilling start

Sergio Perez has come into contact with Felipe Massa on the first lap in a tight scrap on Turn One.

Lewis Hamilton has blasted ahead with a ripping lead over Esteban Ocon in second, who is followed by youngster Lance Stroll.

Hamilton complained about his tyre grip during the formation lap. “It felt pretty poor,” he said.

Ferrari had a bit of early drama as Kimi Raikonnen and Sebastian Vettel went wheel-to-wheel on the first lap. Vettel eventually won out and now sits in fifth.

8:30pm

Hamilton speechless after trumping Schumacher

Lewis Hamilton is the most successful qualifier in history.

Lewis Hamilton has become the most successful qualifier in F1 history after breaking Michael Schumacher’s pole position record in a frenetic rain-hit Italian GP qualifying session.

Hamilton will take the lead of the World Championship for the first time this season with victory on Sunday.

His 69th career pole surpasses Michael Schumacher’s career total of 68, a record which stood for 11 years. The Englishman’s final lap in Q3 was a mighty 1.1 seconds faster than second-fastest Max Verstappen’s.

“To do this [the record] here at such a historic circuit, I’m going to have some pasta tonight to celebrate,” said a jubilant Hamilton. “I came across the line and I didn’t know if I had it but it felt a good lap.

“69, I can’t believe it.”

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel will start only sixth for Ferrari’s home race after an unpredictable conclusion to qualifying at a rain-lashed Monza resulted in Williams teenager Lance Stroll claiming the second front-row berth.

Red Bull pair Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo outpaced Stroll in Q3 but will drop to the back rows of the field after multiple engine penalties. Force India’s Esteban Ocon also starred and will start from a career-best third.

— with James Galloway, Sky Sports

8pm

Lance Stroll makes F1 history

What were you doing at 18.

Williams youngster Lance Stroll has begun to make a serious impression on motorsport’s most prestigious circuit after a shaky start to the year.

The 18-year-old, who came under fire for comparing his crash to a PlayStation game earlier in the season, became the youngest podium finisher in the sport’s history after claiming third place in Baku.

On Saturday (AEST), he continued his record-breaking streak by becoming the youngest man in history to qualify on the front row of the grid.

Stroll overtook Red Bull young gun Max Verstappen’s record by 23 days after finishing behind Lewis Hamilton during Saturday’s

“It’s a couple of ‘youngest-evers’ this season now, so it feels good,” he said. “(The) podium at Baku was great, and now starting on the front row here in Monza is great. Just keep it going.”

To make things crazier, the motorsport prodigy admitted he’d never raced a Formula 1 car in the rain before.

“It was a lot of fun. The car felt good,” he said after the dreary qualifying session.

“I’ve never driven a F1 car in the rain so I just tossed it around and it worked out today. Hopefully we can have a good one.”