Italian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton's title dash to Kimi Raikkonen turning back the clock, talking points from Monza race
FirstpostLewis Hamilton defied all odds and hatred to snatch victory from the two Ferraris and claim his fifth win at Monza; a record he now owns with former Ferrari great, Michael Schumacher. The 2018 Italian Grand Prix will also be remembered for Ferrari and Vettel’s mistakes, but before that there’s still Hamilton’s win and Mercedes’ strategic brilliance to celebrate. In the meanwhile, the spinning Ferrari of Vettel joined at the back of the pack, allowing Ferrari to focus on Raikkonen’s race as Hamilton chased him down followed by Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. This could be one of the reasons why Raikkonen’s soft tyres suffered from blisters as he defended hard against Hamilton while also attacking Mercedes’ strategic race pawn, Valtteri Bottas. By pitting Raikkonen first, Ferrari possibly lacked foresight that Mercedes could use Bottas in the Raikkonen vs Hamilton fight for the race lead by delaying their Finnish driver’s first pit-stop and using him to slow Raikkonen down — and that’s exactly what Mercedes did.