With Ferrari stacked in positions one and two for the starting grid at Monza, the day looked set for the fanatical tifosi to paint the town red. But since losing to Vettel at the British GP, Hamilton has already beaten the German on his home soil and set out to further his lead at the top of this years Championship.
Ferrari were unquestionably the fastest cars on the track through qualifying after their engine upgrade since the British Grand Prix. Ever since then they have benefited from a noticeable speed advantage and had much more power over their rivals over the early laps.
Having the front row locked down should have assured victory for Ferrari – but they lined up the wrong way – with Vettel taking second spot and team mate Kimi Raikkonen taking pole. It was this line up which would prove crucial on race day.
Hamilton is unquestionably faster than Kimi, which lead to a crash on the second chicane which would see one of the three leaders spin out. With Hamilton taking Vettel on the outside, the decisive moment of the race came early as Vettel slid into Hamilton and spun out on the first lap. The collision damaged his car and required a fight back to regain places amongst the pack.
With Vettel behind, Hamilton drove a perfect race to keep within a second and a half of Raikkonen for the majority of the day before timing his pits to perfection.
Both Hamilton and Vettel are battling it out to win a fifth drivers’ title this year. The lead has changed hands constantly and with both cars fairly evenly matched, every point matters. This race is more lost points for Vettel, who has made numerous mistakes across the season already. Hamilton, on the other hand, has been ruthless at exploiting these individual errors form the German, winning three of the past four races, all of which Ferrari had the upper hand in.
Is Hamilton set to get the better of Vettel this season? Or are there more twists and turns to come?
