Formula 1: Hamilton snatches victory from Raikkonen at Italian Grand Prix 2018

It was all good for Ferrari until the race began at Monza on Sunday (September 2). In the home race of Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel secured P1 and P2 leaving Mercedes-AMG Petronas racers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, to the second row. However, it was the day of Hamilton as the British driver passed the chequered flag first to spoil Ferrari's party.

After securing the pole position on Saturday, Raikkonen had a smooth start on Sunday. While Vettel and Hamilton battled for P2 at the first corner, Raikkonen pulled away. It went downhill for Vettel when the German defended too hard from Hamilton into the second chicane of the opening lap. Both Vettel and Hamilton made contact and Vettel's Ferrari spun around dropping back many drivers. Meanwhile, Hamilton was left unscathed as he saved his second spot.

Meanwhile, the safety car was called into action after Brendon Hartley found his Toro Rosso sandwiched between Stoffel Vandoorne's McLaren and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson at the start. The collision forced the New Zealander to forfeit.

From restart on lap 4, Hamilton kept Raikkonen on toes until the leader decided to pit at the end of lap 20. Hamilton stayed another eight laps before pitting and rejoined 5.2 seconds behind Raikkonen.

Bottas who took the lead kept Raikkonen in the bay and that helped his teammate Hamilton to catch up. Bottas eventually pitted at the end of lap 36 while Hamilton reduced Raikkonen's lead.

While Raikkonen felt confident defending Hamilton for the rest of the race, a blister appeared on Raikkonen's rears and that played the spoilsport. Finn, who was struggling with his tyres, finally allowed Hamilton to go past on lap 45, leaving Ferrari fan-packed grandstands disappointed.

Further behind, Max Verstappen and Bottas made contact at turn 1. The stewards gave Verstappen a five-second time penalty for the incident. Verstappen's penalty gave Bottas P3 finish. Vettel completed a strong recovery drive to take fourth after Verstappen.