Sebastian Vettel got pipped at the start of the Italian Grand Prix by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso but when Vettel eventually passed the Ferrari at the end of lap five, that was all the ‘racing’ he had to do as the Red Bull’s phenomenal pace, superior cornering speed/downforce/aerodynamics/tyre handling/whatever meant that the race win was in the bag even before the lap counter ticked into double digits!
The race for second place was won by Jenson Button who had passed Fernando Alonso after both of them fitted the harder prime tyres as Alonso had to settle for third place with his car not really as good as it was on the softer tyres. Lewis Hamilton came close to snatching the last step of the podium but had to settle for fourth place as his race didn’t go quite to plan. He was jumped at the start by Alonso who drove right around him into the lead and then lost out to Michael Schumacher for third place and was stuck behind him for the best part of the initial half of the race.
Michael Schumacher was fifth for Mercedes, which meant the top five places were held by the five World Champions on the grid! Felipe Massa was sixth for Ferrari, ahead of the Toro Rosso of Jaime Algersuari in seventh, Force India’s Paul Di Resta in eight, Renault’s Bruno Senna ninth and the second Toro Rosso of Sebastian Buemi in tenth.
