Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling Italian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday to stretch his championship lead to 30 points over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, who fought back to fourth after a first lap spin.

The Briton and Vettel made contact on the opening lap, with the German spinning down to 18th place.

Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took second, after starting on pole position and leading for much of the race in a duel with Hamilton, with fellow-Finn Valtteri Bottas taking third for Mercedes.

Hamilton had started third, behind Raikkonen and Vettel after the Ferraris started on the front row, booking the top two places at Monza for the first time since 2000.

The championship leader put Vettel under pressure immediately but Vettel pulled clear and was alongside Raikkonen into the first corner.

Hamilton had another go on the outside heading into the second chicane, inching ahead of Vettel when they made contact causing Vettel to spin and lose part of his front wing.

The safety car was deployed and Vettel went into the pits for a new front wing, coming out 18th.

Both drivers complained on team radio but an investigation decided that no further action was necessary.

Moments after the safety car came in on lap four, Hamilton swiftly overtook Raikkonen on the straight but gave the lead back almost immediately at the second chicane.

Meanwhile, Vettel was powering through the field and had made it back into the top 10 by lap 15 and was up to fifth nine laps later. But the German’s hopes of getting onto the podium were diminished when he was forced to make another pit stop and came out 10th.

Raikkonen pitted from the lead at the end of lap 20 and came out fourth, behind Hamilton, his Mercedes teammate Bottas and Verstappen.

Hamilton waited until the end of lap 28 to come in for fresh tires, handing the lead to Bottas who was ahead of a charging Raikkonen.

Hamilton emerged third and with his teammate holding up Raikkonen, the British driver was able to close the gap.

When Bottas eventually pitted at the end of lap 36, the fight was on, with Raikkonen holding a one-second advantage over Hamilton.

A few laps later Hamilton struck, coming around the outside of Raikkonen on turn one at the end of the straight to overtake the Finn and never looked back.

Behind them there was a scrap for third place culminating at the first chicane when Verstappen appeared to move into Bottas, forcing the Finnish driver onto an escape road.

Verstappen was furious when he was told he had been given a five-second penalty for his role in the incident on team radio, swearing and adding: “They’re doing a great job of killing racing, honestly.”

*Reuters