{"id":16249,"date":"2018-09-04T21:50:32","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T02:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=16249"},"modified":"2018-09-04T21:50:32","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T02:50:32","slug":"i-wasnt-going-out-without-a-fight-lewis-hamilton-on-his-magnificent-italian-gp-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=16249","title":{"rendered":"‘I Wasn’t Going Out Without A Fight’: Lewis Hamilton On His Magnificent Italian GP Win"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"Formula 1: Plain and simple, Lewis Hamilton is better than Sebastian Vettel<\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
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The Italian Grand Prix made one thing clear. Simply put, Lewis Hamilton is better than his four-time Formula 1 champion counterpart Sebastian Vettel.<\/h2>\n

Scuderia Ferrari\u2019s Sebastian Vettel entered Ferrari\u2019s home race, the Italian Grand Prix, in a familiar position. He was riding a wave a momentum that he picked up as a result of dominating the previous Formula 1<\/a> race. In this case, he had just dominated the Belgian Grand Prix.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Entering the 14th race of the 21-race 2018 season, Vettel trailed Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport\u2019s Lewis Hamilton by 17 points in the driver standings<\/a> (231 to 214). Prior to the Belgian Grand Prix, the gap from Hamilton to Vettel was 24 points (213 to 189).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\"\"After Vettel\u2019s dominant performance in the Belgian Grand Prix during which he led all 44 of the race\u2019s laps after blowing by race polesitter Hamilton on the opening lap, it was clear that Ferrari had the fastest cars, especially on the power-heavy circuits, which is what Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the host track of the Italian Grand Prix, is.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

@LewisHamilton<\/b><\/span> <\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

So nobody was surprised when Ferrari locked out the front row of their home race, with Kimi Raikkonen starting on the pole position and Vettel starting in second place. It was expected that they would then go on to dominate the race, likely with Vettel taking the checkered flag for his sixth victory of 2018.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"But was anyone really surprised when Vettel blew the race, which he has done a number of times this season, on the opening lap?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heading into turn four of the 11-turn, 3.600-mile (5.793-kilometer) Autodromo Nazionale Monza road course in Monza, Italy, Hamilton attempted to pass Vettel on the outside. Vettel made contact with Hamilton\u2019s car and spun out before falling to the back of the field. Meanwhile, Hamilton set his sights on Raikkonen and exchanged the lead with him twice before the pit stops, after which time Hamilton passed Raikkonen once again and held on for the race win, something that hardly anybody predicted that he would take in Monza.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vettel rallied to finish in fourth place, but he did so in a race for which he was the overwhelming favorite. As a result, he fell 13 points farther behind Hamilton in the driver standings. With seven races to go this year, the 31-year-old German trails the 33-year-old Briton by 30 points (256 to 226).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton said that the hostile Monza atmosphere spurred him on to win the Italian Grand Prix for the fourth time in five years to increase his championship lead to 30 points.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Mercedes driver clipped and passed title rival Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap before eventually passing Kimi R\u00e4ikk\u00f6nen to take the race lead with nine laps to go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

His performance ended Ferrari’s hopes of a home win after their first front-row lock-out at Monza for 18 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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LEWIS HAMILTON’S team-mate Valtteri Bottas admits he was right to help his Mercedes co-star win the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday.<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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\"Lewis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished on the podium at Monza (Image: Getty)<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Bottas played a big role in Hamilton’s fifth Monza win at the weekend, after spending the latter stages of his race trying to slow down Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But Ferrari didn’t react kindly to the tactics after they failed to win their home Grand Prix for the eighth year running.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Team boss Maurizio Arrivabene lashed out at Bottas, <\/strong>labelling him a ‘butler’ to Hamilton.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We hire pilots, not butlers, even if we wanted to give the order to the team it would have been impossible, it is very dangerous and crazy to give it at the start, if possible in the course of the race,” Arrivabene told Sky Sports.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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