Lewis Hamilton secured his sixth win of the season ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg. Felipe Massa scored his first podium since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix by coming home third ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo. Here is a list of who I thought performed well this weekend.
Lewis Hamilton
It was a dominant display from Lewis Hamilton this weekend. The Brit topped every session except the second free practice session where he only completed a few laps due to a technical problem. His initial pole lap was a mammoth four tenths quicker than team-mate Rosberg – who later improved and cut the deficit by half. Despite a slow start and dropping to fourth behind Rosberg, Magnussen and Massa. He recovered swiftly and passed Massa and Magnussen. His pace was electric throughout the weekend and pushed Rosberg into mistake which ultimately won Hamilton the race. Overall, a perfect weekend for Hamilton as he closes the gap in the Driver’s Championship to twenty-two points.
Felipe Massa
In recent years, Massa has performed well at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, finishing third in 2010 and fourth in 2012 and 2013. The Brazilian continued his strong form by scoring his first podium of the season and his first since joining Williams. Despite not having the raw speed of the Mercedes, he was consistently quicker than the cars behind him and brought the car home in third place. It has been Massa’s best weekend to date in terms of points and he will be hoping for more at the Marina bay street circuit in two weeks time.
Valtteri Bottas
The young Finn has finished on the podium on four occasions. Many people expected the Autodromo Nazionale Monza would be Bottas’ best chance of winning his first Formula One race. Despite qualifying third, Bottas fell to eleventh on the first lap however quickly made his way up the field passing Raikkonen, the two McLaren’s and Sergio Perez. He was later under-cut however once again, he overtook them and recovered to fourth place. Despite a poor start, Bottas pulled off some fantastic overtaking manoeuvre’s and is certainly within a shout for driver of the weekend.
Daniel Ricciardo
After winning two races in a row, Daniel Ricciardo was right inform heading into the Italian Grand Prix. Qualifying was disappointing for the Australian as he qualified ninth on the grid. Like Bottas, Ricciardo made a slow start and was forced to adopt a longer first stint which proved crucial in his recovery. Ricciardo overtook several cars including his team-mate during the last fifteen laps of the race to come home in fifth. Despite the Red Bull’s lack of horsepower, Ricciardo managed to overtake and recover from a lowly position.
Who do you think was the Driver of the Weekend?
