Formula One entered a time warp for the 2017 Italian Grand Prix and returned to the familiar Mercedes 1-2 snoozefests of 2015 and 2016 with Lewis Hamilton leading start-to-finish and his teammate Valtteri Bottas following him around the track at Monza to finish second. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finished a distant third to claim the third and final podium spot.
There was not much drama to the race as Hamilton started from pole position and immediately went to the front and pulled away easily for the win. Bottas, starting from the second row, had to make a pair of passes over surprise high qualifiers Lance Stroll of Williams and Esteban Ocon of Force India, before he settled into second. Vettel took eight laps before he, too, could pass Stroll and Ocon and claim third, where he sat for the majority of the remainder of the race.
With the win, Hamilton moves ahead of Vettel in the 2017 Formula One season driver’s standings, with 238 points to 235 for Vettel. Bottas is well back in third with 197 points.
2017 Italian Grand Prix Results
1 – Lewis Hamilton
2 – Valtteri Bottas
3 – Sebastian Vettel
4 – Daniel Ricciardo
5 – Kimi Raikkonen
6 – Esteban Ocon
7 – Lance Stroll
8 – Felipe Massa
9 – Sergio Perez
10 – Max Verstappen