Hamilton wins Italian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix with a controlled race during which his position at the front was never under threat.

He led his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas in a one-two for the team, their third of the season.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel could manage only third place enabling Hamilton to take the lead of the Formula One world championship for the first time this season, with seven races still to come.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo put in a superb, aggressive recovery drive to move from 16th on the grid to fourth.

It is the three-times world champion’s sixth win of the season and his 59th career victory. He now leads Vettel by three points, with 238 to 235.

Hamilton had tied for the lead with Vettel at the second round in China but the German has been at the top of the table since then.

After victory at the last round in Spa Hamilton is the first driver to score back-to-back wins this season and it is the fourth time he has triumphed at Monza, a circuit he counts as one of his favourites.