Fernando Alonso clinched his third victory of 2010 in Monza to the delight of several thousand Ferrari fans who had come to cheer the popular Spaniard.
He finished ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button who had secured the lead into the first turn before losing it at the first and only pit-stop.
Felipe Massa drove a clean race to secure third.
The start was key to the race with Button jumping Alonso into turn one. Minor damage was caused to the rear of Button’s MP4-25 as Alonso’s nose nudged the rear, damaging the diffuser.
Mark Webber suffered a poor start, something the Aussie needs to look at following a similar mistake in Belgium, which allowed Lewis Hamilton to pass him as well as Nico Rosberg and several others.
Hamilton’s charge came to an abrupt end when his front-tyre knocked Massa’s rear-tyre, damaging the Brit’s suspension and title hopes as he retired on lap one.
Much of the race was uneventful. Jaime Alguersuari was handed a penalty for cutting the chicane on the first lap, passing several cars in the process. Meanwhile the leading drivers held position, although the battle for first remained tight.
A slow pit-stop by McLaren, lasting 3.7 seconds, saw Alonso jump into P1 as his stop lasted just 3.5s, just enough for him to narrowly take the lead and for Button to slip into second ahead of Massa.
A tussle between Nico Hulkenberg and Mark Webber left the Red Bull driver frustrated as the German jumped the chicane on two occasions allowing him to stay ahead, before finally, Webber forced his way through.
The surprise of the race was Sebastian Vettel who finished fourth thanks to a long strategy which saw him pit on the penultimate lap (52/53). The position made up for his poor qualy performance.
Rubens Barrichello took the final points paying position in tenth whilst Timo Glock claimed the quickest newcomer title in 17th.
Italian Race results:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:16:24.572 |
| 2. | J. Button | McLaren | +2.938 |
| 3. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +4.223 |
| 4. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +28.196 |
| 5. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +29.196 |
| 6. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +31.276 |
| 7. | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | +32.812 |
| 8. | R. Kubica | Renault | +34.028 |
| 9. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +44.948 |
| 10. | R. Barrichello | Williams | +1:04.213 |
| 11. | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | +1:05.056 |
| 12. | V. Liuzzi | Force India | +1:06.106 |
| 13. | V. Petrov | Renault | +1:18.919 |
| 14. | Pedro de la Rosa | Sauber | +1 lap |
| 15. | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +1 lap |
| 16. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1 lap |
| 17. | T. Glock | Virgin | +2 laps |
| 18. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | +2 laps |
| 19. | S. Yamamoto | Hispania | +2 laps |
| 20. | L. di Grassi | Virgin | +3 laps |
| 21. | J. Trulli | Lotus | Retired |
| 22. | B. Senna | Hispania | Retired |
| 23. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | Retired |
| 24. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | Retired |
