It was another Mercedes snoozer at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix at Monza – at least for half of the dominant Mercedes Formula One team – as defending champion Lewis Hamilton used a good start to get off the line in first place and never looked back in building what would ultimately be a 25-second victory over the distant runner-up Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel with Williams’ Mercedes-powered car of Felipe Massa finished in third to claim the final podium position. Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, however, did not have the same such luck – getting stuck back in fifth in the opening lap and then blowing his backup engine with three laps remaining in the race. In the final laps of the race, with Hamilton leading by a comfortable 22 seconds, Hamilton was instructed by his pit to push hard and extend his lead when they suspected they would receive a post-race penalty for having their tires being under the pressure allowed for the race – but a penalty was not assessed.
The first lap turned out to be the most exciting portion of the race as it has been proven that the only way to at least attempt to stem the dominance of Mercedes is to get out in front of them in the first lap [as was the case in the earlier Hungarian Grand Prix], the chances appeared to at least be 50-50 that either Ferrari of Vettel or Kimi Raikkonen might be able to accomplish such a feat as they were starting alongside and immediately behind Hamilton. But Hamilton got an uncharacteristically good start and once he secured the lead over Vettel coming out of the first corner, the race for the win was essentially over at that point.
However, behind Hamilton and Vettel there was chaos on the first lap. Raikkonen bungled his start and dropped to last place while Rosberg – having had to start behind Raikkonen – got shoved to fifth place behind the Williams 1-2 of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Meanwhile, Lotus had both of its cars exit the race on the first lap with Pastor Maldonado damaging his car by driving over curbs and Romain Grosjean, who was coming off a podium finish in the 2015 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa last month – his one and only podium finish so far this year – having a structural issue caused by contact.
That was the end of the majority of the drama though until Lap 51 when Rosberg, in third, was closing the gap on Vettel in second, seemingly setting up a last lap showdown for second place when his engine quit and knocked him out of the race and points – and gifted Massa with a podium finish.
With the results, Hamilton maintains his overall lead in the 2015 Formula One points standings with 252 points to Rosberg’s 199 points and Vettel still holding on to third with 178 points.
The 2015 Formula One season continues with the Singapore Grand Prix at Sepang at 5 a.m. [PDT] on NBCSN on September 20, 2015.
2015 Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo di Monza – 53 laps – Results
1 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
2 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari
3 Felipe Massa – Williams
4 Valtteri Bottas – Williams
5 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
6 Sergio Perez – Force India
7 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
8 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull
9 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
10 Daniil Kvyat – Red Bull
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso
12 Max Verstappen – Toro Rosso
13 Felipe Nasr – Sauber
14 Jenson Button – McLaren
15 Will Stevens – Manor/Marussia
16 Roberto Merhi – Manor/Marussia
17 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
18 Fernando Alonso – McLaren
19 Romain Grosjean – Lotus
20 Pastor Maldonado – Lotus