MONZA, Italy, (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton battled back from a troubled start to win the Italian Grand Prix for Mercedes yesterday after team mate Nico Rosberg cracked under pressure and saw his Formula One championship lead cut to 22 points.
Rosberg, whose 29th lap mistake at the first chicane cost him the lead and the race, finished second as dominant Mercedes celebrated their first one-two since Austria in June and seventh in 13 races.
Brazilian Felipe Massa was third for Williams in his first podium appearance since May 2013.
Rosberg, who now has 238 points to Hamilton’s 216 with six races remaining after the end of the European part of the season, recognised his error.
“It’s a terrible feeling to lose the lead like that but in the end Lewis was really quick in the whole race. He came like a rocket and I had to push and I made the mistake.”
With the sport taking a deep breath as the championship rivals lined up together on the front row, two weeks after they had collided in Belgium on the second lap, the start provided immediate drama.
Hamilton had taken pole position for the first time since May but problems with the car’s start controls left him struggling to get away.
He was fourth into the first corner as Rosberg led untroubled.
It was the start of a thrilling chase, with the 2008 world champion fighting back and retaking the lead on the 29th of 53 laps when Rosberg missed the first chicane as he had done earlier in the race.
With the German driving straight on to avoid locking up and damaging the tyres, the car having to slow and zig-zag back onto the track, Hamilton seized the lead in the decisive moment of the afternoon.
The Briton had earlier shunned advice from his race engineer to back off and save tyres for a later attack and it proved the right approach.
The two crossed the finish line 3.1 seconds apart, with Hamilton celebrating his first win since Britain in July.
It was his fifth of the season and 28th of his career, taking him ahead of triple champion Jackie Stewart in the all-time lists.
