Italian Grand Prix results: Nico Rosberg beats Lewis Hamilton to close championship lead to just two points

Hamilton's terrible start allowed Rosberg to pull clear and left the reigning champion to battle back to second after dropping down to sixth

(Getty)

Nico Rosberg cut Lewis Hamilton's championship lead to just two points at the end of the European stint after he claimed a dominant victory at Monza to win a largely forgettable Italian Grand Prix beyond a potential overtake of the season from Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.

Hopes were high of a real battle between the two Mercedes teammates after the filled the front row, but a dreadful start from Hamilton left him down in sixth and immediately in recovery mode. The superior pace of the Mercedes not only helped him to fight back through the field, but also enabled a one-stop strategy to lift him up to second as all those not in the dominant car of the campaign were forced to pit twice in order to make their tyres last until the end of the race.

Hamilton had to pass both Ricciardo and Valterri Bottas to move up to fourth, before the extra pit stop for both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen saw the reigning champion inherit second place.

"It is a very special day for me, I am very happy to have finally won here in Italy", Rosberg said on the most passionate podium of the season as the fans flocked onto the finish line below. "You guys are unbelievable and it makes it phenomenal to be up here.

"It was all down to the start. I had an awesome start and that made the win. I am feeling great. The race is on with Lewis. It is always going to be a great battle and I look forward to what is to come."

Since winning in Monaco Hamilton has appeared on a relentless march to a fourth world championship, having won six of the last eight grand prixs, and overturned Rosberg’s 43-point lead to head the championship heading into the second part of the season after the summer break.

But he knew he would take a back-of-the-grid penalty in Spa last time out, and Rosberg appears to have grabbed the opportunity with both hands to reignite his championship challenge. Back-to-back wins mean he heads to Singapore in a fortnight’s time just two points behind his teammate, and Hamilton had no excuses other than to blame his own poor start for giving up the lead on Monza.

Hamilton initially got off the line well, but the second phase of the star saw his Mercedes wheelspin and allow his German teammate to surge ahead. To make matters much worse, Hamilton was engulfed by the chasing pack, as both Ferraris passed him as well as the Williams of Bottas the Red Bull of Ricciardo to relegate the Briton to sixth.

Rosberg leads into the first corner as Hamilton drops to sixth (Getty)

The fightback started on the next lap as Hamilton passed Ricciardo on the outside of the Curva Grande – the last time that the iconic corner will feature at Monza ahead of planned track changes next year – and despite being held up by the fast Williams given its Mercedes engine, Hamilton was able to dispatch Bottas heading into turn one at the start of the 11th lap.

Sadly, that would be it in terms of overtaking for the top four, as Hamilton inherited second when Ferrari decided to remain on a two-stop strategy compared to Mercedes’s one-stop option, but at least in Ricciardo fans had something to cheer about.

Ricciardo pulled off the move of the race on Bottas (Getty)

The Red Bull had been well off the pace of the Ferrari all weekend, yet as the race wore on Ricciardo was finding more pace to challenge the Williams that had out-qualified both the Australian and his teammate Max Verstappen.

Ricciardo ran longer into both his first and second stints, giving him the chance to put on the super-soft tyres for the race to the flag while Bottas attempted to stretch his soft compound tyres a lengthy 22 laps. Yet in the end it came down to Ricciardo’s sheer determination to showcase his talent that left the three-time grand prix winner grinning from ear to ear after the race, as he launched a move down the inside of Bottas at turn one from a near-impossible distance to catch him by surprise.

It should have been a bigger race between Ferrari and us this weekend but hopefully in the future it will

&#13; <p>Lewis Hamilton</p>&#13;

Where his younger, inexperienced teammate came under criticism in Spa for his overtaking and tactical decisions, Ricciardo as only applauded, and he left just enough room for Bottas to make the corner without either making contact.

“Just have a go,” Ricciardo said afterwards, having gestured from his cockpit in delight with the move. “I was in behind Valtteri for a long part in the middle of the race. Once you get close you start to damage your tyres on the straight and once I got that close I thought why not have a go. I didn’t want to leave on Sunday knowing I hadn’t had a go. Valterri is a good guy and I know he wouldn’t turn in.”

Fans flock to the podium as Rosberg celebrates (Getty)

For Hamilton, he appeared in a calm mood afterwards despite seeing his lead cut for the second race in succession.

"Look at this crowd. This is the best crowd we get all year. This is incredible,” he said.

"The start wasn't great, but it is still a great day for Mercedes-Benz and I am proud to be a part of it. It should have been a bigger race between Ferrari and us this weekend but hopefully in the future it will be."

Final Positions after Race (53 Laps):

1 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1hr 17mins 28.089secs

2 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:17:43.159

3 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:17:49.079

4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:17:55.650

5 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:18:13.384

6 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:18:19.104

7 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:18:22.325

8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:18:33.043

9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:18:33.706

10 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:18:46.745

11 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 at 1 Lap

12 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren at 1 Lap

13 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Haas F1 at 1 Lap

14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren at 1 Lap

15 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap

16 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari at 1 Lap

17 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Renault at 1 Lap

18 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Manor Racing at 2 Laps

Not Classified:

19 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 36 Laps completed

20 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Manor Racing 26 Laps completed

21 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 7 Laps completed

22 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 6 Laps completed