Alonso wins for Ferrari at Monza

With Red Bull Racing fourth and sixth, erstwhile championship leader Lewis Hamilton retired after a first-lap collision with Massa.

Conditions remained ideal for Grand Prix racing on Sunday as a capacity crowd packed into the parkland circuit which has hosted a Formula 1 race every season since 1950 bar one; for that reason, the 2010 event marked the 60th time F1 has raced at Monza.

With Alonso having already delighted the local fans by clinching his first pole for Ferrari on Saturday, the Spaniard lined up alongside Button whose high-downforce strategy – including use of the rear wing-stalling f-duct - was a radical one.

At the start, a strong getaway from Button allowed the McLaren to pull alongside Alonso although a squeeze by the Spaniard forced the 2009 Champion to the inside, where he duly took the lead at the first corner before receiving a minor tap from the Ferrari at Turn 2. Moments later, the two Ferraris came close to touching as Hamilton – from fifth on the grid and making the most of Mark Webber's poor start – attacked Massa on the run to the Roggia Chicane.

However, choosing not to back out of the throttle, the Stevanage man's right-front wheel clouted the sidepod of Massa's car; with a broken trackrod, the McLaren failed to turn into the first Lesmo, meaning Hamilton's afternoon and championship lead ended in the tyre barriers as the moment also signalled his second crash at the corner in two consecutive Italian Grands Prix. After returning to the paddock with his helmet on, the Englishman admitted the error.

At the front, despite Alonso's very best efforts the Oviedo driver was not able to overtake Button as Massa continued to shadow the first pair until making mistakes at the Rettifilo and Ascari Chicanes and consequently falling 2.7 seconds behind.

With Button and McLaren pitting on Lap 36 of 53, Alonso was able to post two rapid laps and therefore lead as he rejoined the track two laps later. In the meantime, three rapid circulations reduced the margin although brief leader Massa was not able to make up position after his stop.

On a weekend which had always promised to be a damage limitation exercise for Red Bull, Webber was forced to battle through traffic after falling to from fourth to ninth at the start. First passing Michael Schumacher's Mercedes for eighth after an entetaining fight into the Rettifilo and Roggia Chicanes, the Australian then proceeded to drive past team-mate Sebastian Vettel for seventh as the German appeared to be struggling with engine problems.

By Lap 26, Mark was engaged in a duel with the Williams of impressive Nico Hülkenberg but was annoyed to see the German remain ahead despite cutting the first chicane.

After the latter did not yield the position, he rejoined from the pits ahead of Robert Kubica and Webber on Lap 37; however, his baulking of the Pole allowed Webber to take advantage and position into the Roggia Chicane. Webber's climb ended when finally passing Hülkenberg on the inside of the Roggia with just five laps remaining.

However, it was a clever drive by Vettel which saw him stay out on one set of Soft compound tyres until pitting on the penultimate lap; helped by a combination of his own pace plus the fighting of those behind, the German rejoined fourth and easily held the place on the final lap, with Nico Rosberg making the top five for the Mercedes works team ahead of Webber.

Hülkenberg led the way for ever-improving Williams in seventh as Kubica, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello rounded out the points finishers. Any chance of scoring was lost for Adrian Sutil on the first lap, though, as he finished the race a disappointed 16th after having to pit early due to early contact.

Including Hamilton, a total of five cars failed to make the finish. Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber pitted on the opening lap, possibly after first-corner contact, and Bruno Senna's Hispania ground to a half at the second Lesmo in the opening stages.

However, there were further problems for the Spanish team when one of Sakon Yamamoto's mechanics was knocked over and therefore required an ambulance which forced a short closure of the pit lane; thankfully, the team has confirmed that the employee in question has remain concious throughout and been treated at the circuit medical centre.

With Lucas di Grassi having stopped in his garage on the final lap, the Lotus of Jarno Trulli was the final retirement on the road as his smoking Lotus stopped on the start/finish straight just six laps from home. Virgin's Timo Glock was therefore the highest-placed driver of Formula 1's three new teams as he placed 16th, ahead of Heikki Kovalainen and final finisher Yamamoto.

Source: f1racing.net