Lewis Hamilton described his victory at Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix as one of his finest, after he passed both Ferrari drivers to extend his title advantage.
The Mercedes driver started from third on the grid, with Ferrari locking out the front row, but he was able to challenge Sebastian Vettel through the Roggia Chicane, although the pair made contact.
Vettel spun while Hamilton continued untroubled following the incident, which stewards investigated but deemed no further action was necessary.
Hamilton remained glued to the rear of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari through the first stint and was aided when the yet-to-pit Valtteri Bottas held up his compatriot at the head of the pack.
Hamilton went on to pass Raikkonen, who was struggling with rear-left tyre blistering, to record his sixth win of the campaign, and stretch Mercedes’ unbeaten record at Monza in the hybrid era.
“I always say I don’t have the best memory,” said Hamilton on where win number 68 ranked. “Under the sheer pressure that we are under I definitely will consider it to be quite far up there.
“To be able to do it on Ferrari’s home turf as well, with such a difficult crowd and with the pressure on the team to do the job to be able to pull that bit more out of the bag and really make it stick.
“I genuinely think that this year I have been quite consistent in my delivery.
“I’ve really been happy with what I have been able to extract from the car and just really grateful and proud of the team to keep the faith in me and keep pushing.
“There’s so many people that work in these teams and it’s incredible. There’s not one single component that’s more important than the other. It’s been a great teamwork and effort.”
Hamilton also revelled in his battle with Raikkonen, having eventually overhauled the Ferrari driver with a move around the outside through the Rettifilo Chicane.
The pair had also scrapped at the restart early in the race, with Hamilton prising away the lead before Raikkonen fought back into the following complex of corners.
“The battle was awesome to be able to have,” said Hamilton.
“The restart was obviously really good, then straight after that Kimi getting back past me, whilst it’s never good to lose a position it was a great move by him.
“I left him room and I was just hopeful that later on I would have the opportunity to continue the fight.
“I was between 1.1 to 1.3s behind most of the time so I was definitely hopeful to get another opportunity at some stage.
“The last manoeuvre he defended on the outside, he moved to the right and then I thought a little bit to the left but didn’t cause me any problems.
“It was then just about late braking into Turn 1 and trying to… It was very close. Kimi was very fair, gave me space. It was tooth and nail, as racing should be.”
Hamilton now holds a 30-point lead over Vettel in the standings.
