McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton added the Italian Grand Prix to his list of Formula One victories on Sunday while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso stretched his overall championship lead to 37 points with 3rd place. Mexican Sergio Perez of Sauber denied Alonso 2nd place with a spectacular one-stop drive, overtaking the Spaniard seven laps from the finish in his Ferrari-powered machine in Ferrari’s own backyard. Attrition played an unusually large role in the race, as Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel all retired with mechanical failures.
“It was a difficult race, starting from 10th, but we knew we had maybe the quickest car this weekend,” said a beaming Alonso, who also addressed the crowd in Italian to another explosion of approval after being interviewed on the podium by former Ferrari champion Niki Lauda. “A perfect Sunday because the win was out of reach…it’s much better than expected.”