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Sebastian Vettel continued his imperious march to a fourth successive world title with a dominant win at Monza despite having gearbox problems with his car.
The race started off on a competitive note with Vettel being challenged at the first corner itself. However, that brief moment of alarm was the only one in the race for the German as he breezed through the remaining laps.
Fernando Alonso came in at second while Mark Webber finished in third. Alonso and Webber entertained throughout the race with the two making many strong movements to outclass each other, with Alonso’s inch perfect move around the outside of the Red Bull at the second chicane on lap three being the most notable.
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Red Bull and Webber will be happy with his third finish as this is his first podium at Monza in his last race. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa took the fourth spot ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, who is rumored to replace Massa at Ferrari. Nico Rosberg finished sixth while Red Bull bound Daniel Ricciardo came behind the Mercedes car.
Lewis Hamilton had a disappointing race after his W04 developed a slow puncture, thereby restricting him from reaching his maximum pace. Hamilton eventually finished 9th behind Lotus’ Romain Grosjean with Jenson Button completing the top ten.
Monza also witnessed Kimi Raikkonen’s title dreams fade after the Finn finished in 11th, failing to score for the second consecutive race, which means that he is now 88 point adrift of Vettel.
Red Bull’s constructor title defense was also given a boost as both its drivers finished at the podium.
This was Vettel’s 32nd Grand Prix win in his career and third at Monza. With the result, Vettel has extended his lead at the top to a whopping 53 points. However, the German was booed by the Tifosi below – something that has become a regular scene of the season.
“It was a fantastic race. You can hear the difference when you don’t win in a red suit, but it’s very nice because it means you’ve done very good and beaten the red guys,” Vettel said after the race.
“You can see most people are dressed in red, are here for Ferrari, but there are a few blue caps as well, so they’ll be happy. This is one of the toughest tracks we go to, but this year the car has been fantastic,” he added.
