Before the Italian Grand Prix began Lewis Hamilton had described the hostile atmosphere at Monza as a “snake pit”. By its close he stood atop the podium telling the partisan and booing crowd how he had revelled in drawing energy from their negativity. His positive spin was entirely understandable from a win that had looked almost unthinkable when he took to the grid until he put in what he said was “up there” with his greatest drives.

The elation with which he leaves Monza was in stark contrast to the visible deflation of the massed tifosi but Hamilton will take away so much more having delivered an absolutely stinging blow to Sebastian Vettel.

His victory hinged on three decisive moments of overtaking and a peerless, ruthless piece of strategy from his Mercedes team. Vettel, who finished fourth and now trails Hamilton by 30 points in the title race, was involved only once and his misjudgment cost him any chance of the win and may have derailed his championship challenge. For the fourth time this season he made an error under pressure.

Lewis Hamilton wins the Italian Grand Prix: F1 – live! Read more

The Ferraris had been quickest all weekend and Hamilton had acknowledged the task. He started from third on the grid, behind Kimi Räikkönen, on pole, who was ultimately second, and Vettel. The three were clean together through the first chicane but Hamilton took a tow through the Lesmos and was able to go round the outside of Vettel into the Roggia chicane. Hamilton left him room but the German took too much kerb and chose not to back off and concede the place. They touched and Vettel spun, sending him back to 18th. Just as in Baku, France and Germany a single incident proved costly.

Shortly afterwards the second key moment could not have been more apposite. After a short safety car period Hamilton overtook Räikkönen on the start-finish straight but gloriously the Finn hit back immediately , coming back round the outside of Roggia with a great piece of late braking to retake the lead. It was exactly as Hamilton had done to Vettel but this time with both drivers exiting the chicane cleanly.

Finally, after Mercedes had kept Hamilton out for a long time so he had fresher tyres at the end and had used Valtteri Bottas, who finished third, to hold Räikkönen up on track, the battle for the lead fell to the British driver as he pulled off an inch-perfect pass on the Finn round the outside through the Retifillo chicane with eight laps to go. It was enough to secure victory, albeit once again to the disappointment of the tifosi.

It had been against the odds and against the head. Ferrari have enjoyed a pace advantage since the British Grand Prix. Asked afterwards if it was one of his greatest drives, Hamilton believed it was. “Under the sheer pressure that we are under I definitely will consider it to be quite far up there,” he said. “Especially to do it on Ferrari’s home turf as well, with such a difficult crowd and so much pressure on the team with the performance that they have, to really be able to pull a little bit more out of the bag and really make it stick.”

Vettel made an admirable comeback through the field, battling a damaged car, but insisted he had not been at fault. “I guess Lewis saw his chance but he didn’t leave me any room,” he said. “So I got spun around and couldn’t avoid what happened.”

Quick guide Italian grand prix results Show Hide 1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 1hr 16min 54.484sec; 2 Kimi Räikkönen (Fin) Ferrari 1:17:03.189; 3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:17:08.550; 4 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:17:10.635; 5 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 1:17:12.692; 6 Romain Grosjean (Fr) Haas 1:17:50.804; 7 Esteban Ocon (Fr) Force India 1:17:52.245; 8 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:17:53.162; 9 Carlos Sainz (Sp) Renault 1:18:12.624; 10 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams at 1 Lap; 11 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams at 1 Lap; 12 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber at 1 Lap; 13 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren at 1 Lap; 14 Nico Hülkenberg (Ger) Renault at 1 Lap; 15 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Toro Rosso at 1 Lap; 16 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber at 1 Lap; 17 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas at 1 Lap. Not Classified: 18 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 23 Laps completed; 19 Fernando Alonso (Sp) McLaren 9 Laps completed; 20 Brendon Hartley (NZ) Scuderia Toro Rosso 0 Laps completed. Fastest Lap: Kimi Räikkönen 1min 23.515sec on Lap 28. World Championship Standings Drivers: 1 Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes 256pts; 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 226; 3 Kimi Räikkönen (Fin) Ferrari 164; 4 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 159; 5 Max Verstappen (Neth) Red Bull 130; 6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 118; 7 Nico Hülkenberg (Ger) Renault 52; 8 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas 49; 9 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 44; 10 Fernando Alonso (Sp) McLaren 44; 11 Esteban Ocon (Fr) Force India 43; 12 Romain Grosjean (Fr) Haas 35; 13 Carlos Sainz (Sp) Renault 32; 14 Pierre Gasly (Fr) Toro Rosso 28; 15 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber 13; 16 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 8; 17 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber 6; 18 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 5; 19 Brendon Hartley (NZ) Toro Rosso 2; 20 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams 0.

Yet his argument feels thin. Hamilton pointedly noted that he and Räikkönen had engaged in an identical exchange successfully. “It was a racing move, the same manoeuvre that Kimi did to me,” he said. “We are supposed to be racing and I left him space.”

His racecraft is in possibly the best form of his career but Mercedes also managed his race with precision. They have been guilty of poor calls this season but in the intensity of Monza there were cool heads. They thought well on their feet regarding the stops as the race evolved and their use of Bottas was as successful as it was clinical. Ferrari, in contrast, may consider they might have been better served giving Vettel the best shot at pole on Saturday, which may have seen him away from Hamilton’s clutches on the opening lap.

For the British driver, however, his remarkable run at Monza continues, with his fifth win here, equalling Michael Schumacher. The German scored all his for Ferrari, whose fans continue to wait for a driver to return such heady days to the temple of speed. But for Hamilton it is a win that bodes only well. The last three occasions he has won in Italy, he has gone on to take the championship.

Max Verstappen in the Red Bull was in fifth. The Haas of Romain Grosjean was in sixth, in front of the two Force India’s of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez. Carlos Sainz in the Renault was in ninth with the Williams of Lance Stroll scoring his team’s second top ten finish of the season in tenth. Daniel Ricciardo was forced to retire with what appeared to be another engine failure on lap 25.

After a protest by Renault the floor of Romain Grosjean’s Haas was found to not be in compliance with regulations and he was disqualified. Which means Haas return to fifth behind Renault in the constructors’ championship and Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin is awarded tenth place.