Reverend
September 9th, 2007, 20:39 PM
Lewis Hamilton's world championship lead was cut to just three points as his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso won the Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton finished second, overtaking Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen 11 laps from the end after the Finn passed him thanks to doing one pit stop fewer.
Raikkonen's team-mate Felipe Massa is effectively out of the title battle after retiring after just nine laps.
The Brazilian is 23 points off the lead with a maximum of 40 still available.
Alonso led from the start, and appeared comfortable throughout.
The double world champion was only a second ahead of Hamilton when the Englishman made his first stop for fuel and tyres on lap 18. But Alonso did not stop for a further two laps, and was nearly two seconds ahead when he rejoined.
He proceeded to inch away for much of the second part of the race, extending his lead by around 0.3secs most laps.
By the time of their second stops, Alonso was more than six seconds in the lead, and out of Hamilton's reach.
"Sometimes everything seems to go in the right direction and you need to keep the momentum," Alonso said. "The whole weekend has been good for me.
"But here at Monza [in the past] I have had some problems in the race and missed the win.
"All the wins are special but Monza is one of the circuits where I have never won before and I wanted to achieve that to try to make at least one win in all the circuits.
"All the people here maybe they are Ferrari fans but they are also F1 fans. They love F1 here."
Italian Grand Prix result:
1. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
4. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
5. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber
6. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota
7. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault
8. Jenson Button (GB) Honda
Championship standings:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 92 pts
2. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes 89
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 74
4. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 69
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 52
6. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 33
7. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 21
8. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 17
Constructors' championship:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 166 pts
2. Ferrari 143
3. BMW Sauber 86
4. Renault 38
5. Williams-Toyota 25
Full race report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6986033.stm)
Hamilton finished second, overtaking Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen 11 laps from the end after the Finn passed him thanks to doing one pit stop fewer.
Raikkonen's team-mate Felipe Massa is effectively out of the title battle after retiring after just nine laps.
The Brazilian is 23 points off the lead with a maximum of 40 still available.
Alonso led from the start, and appeared comfortable throughout.
The double world champion was only a second ahead of Hamilton when the Englishman made his first stop for fuel and tyres on lap 18. But Alonso did not stop for a further two laps, and was nearly two seconds ahead when he rejoined.
He proceeded to inch away for much of the second part of the race, extending his lead by around 0.3secs most laps.
By the time of their second stops, Alonso was more than six seconds in the lead, and out of Hamilton's reach.
"Sometimes everything seems to go in the right direction and you need to keep the momentum," Alonso said. "The whole weekend has been good for me.
"But here at Monza [in the past] I have had some problems in the race and missed the win.
"All the wins are special but Monza is one of the circuits where I have never won before and I wanted to achieve that to try to make at least one win in all the circuits.
"All the people here maybe they are Ferrari fans but they are also F1 fans. They love F1 here."
Italian Grand Prix result:
1. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari
4. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber
5. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber
6. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota
7. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault
8. Jenson Button (GB) Honda
Championship standings:
1. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 92 pts
2. Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes 89
3. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 74
4. Felipe Massa (Brz) Ferrari 69
5. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 52
6. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 33
7. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Renault 21
8. Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 17
Constructors' championship:
1. McLaren-Mercedes 166 pts
2. Ferrari 143
3. BMW Sauber 86
4. Renault 38
5. Williams-Toyota 25
Full race report (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/6986033.stm)