Hamilton was looking to match Argentine great Juan Manuel Fangio with three triumphs in a row having matched Fangio and Ayrton Senna with a record five Monza poles with a dominant performance in Saturday qualifying.
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“I did everything normal”, said Hamilton.
Hamilton added: “Yes, the start was the decider for this race and then I had to climb back and score points”.
Our auto has been incredible this weekend and I extend a massive thank you to the whole team.
He continued: “I don’t know what happened”.
Vettel filled the last spot on the podium while his team-mate Raikkonen secured fourth, just ahead of Ricciardo in fifth.
Hamilton recovered to second, 15.070 seconds behind, but could not chase the victory while third went to Vettel in Ferrari’s home grand prix.
The poor start has cost Hamilton dearly with his world championship lead shrinking down to just two points over Rosberg.
There were four retirements, with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Renault’s Jolyon Palmer going out early on after contact on the opening lap.
The Brit dropped from pole position down to sixth place off the line, but was able to use the superior speed of the Mercedes to claw his way back up to second.
“It is a very special day for me, I am very happy to have finally won here in Italy”, said Rosberg on the podium.
“If you start to blame, this is where you start going downhill because people try to protect themselves and (then we) have a conservative system in place, rather than putting the best development on the auto”. “The race went perfectly for me and after a good start I was able manage the gap between myself and the auto behind”.
Second place came about when Ferrari elected to keep to a two-stop strategy, enabling Hamilton to pass while both Vettel and Raikkonen were in the pits.
Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne has been highly critical of the team at their home race, ramping up the pressure as many others have been allowed to look ahead to 2017. They are doing a very good job, so you have to say “well done” and show them the respect for what the achieved in the last couple of years, but we’re fighting.
Daniel Ricciardo was back in fifth for Red Bull, while the Australian’s team-mate Max Verstappen was two places lower down in seventh with Valtteri Bottas sandwiched between them in sixth. But most importantly for him, the win reduces Hamilton’s cushion to a mere two points.
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Away from the top ten, Jenson Button – another driver announcing he will not be driving in F1 in 2017 – had a poor start, but did manage to turn that in to 12th after a strong comeback, putting team mate Alonso to bed in 14th on the way. “It’s a great day for Mercedes and I’m glad to be a part of it”, he shared.
