But a woeful getaway saw the British driver fall to sixth by turn one, and while a one-stop strategy enabled him to leapfrog the Ferrari duo of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen to finish second, it was Rosberg who cruised to the chequered flag with Vettel completing the podium.
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“I knew my engineers would be anxious and nervous of how the start went so that is why I tried to put their mind at ease [by accepting the blame]”, he said. “I had an awesome start and it was all from there”, beamed Rosberg. “I did everything as normal”.
“Nobody is to blame, and in this particular case it’s a combination of many things”.
“We never stop improving and learning, but this year has been a hard year for us with our clutch”, said the 31-year-old Briton in the wake of Sunday’s race.
We all give McLaren a lot of (deserved) stick because of the unreliability of their vehicle in recent years, but credit where it’s due – Fernando Alonso logged the quickest lap time of the race.
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.
And that was pretty much how it stayed, with Rosberg in front and in charge, and Hamilton without enough to challenge Rosberg’s lead – or even get properly close.
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.
“All he had to do was match some of my times and he was sorted”.
With seven races of the 2016 season to go, Hamilton is now on 250 points, while his Mercedes team-mate Rosberg on 248. Hamilton had a disappointing start despite the pole position, only to see Rosberg lead past, followed by a fast Vettel into Turn 1.
The last two points places went to Massa – a man now in his last F1 season – in the Williams, and Nico Hulkenberg took tenth for Force India.
“I confirmed that in the race, of course, and I was feeling good out there on race pace”. It is never easy, but it wasn’t the toughest race.
Rosberg jumps for joy on the podium after winning the Italian Grand Prix yesterday.
But he could yet return to the grid in 2018 after revealing McLaren has an option to put him back in the auto. McLaren made the announcement after Saturday’s qualifying session.
“Next year I will be an ambassador for this team”.
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The 2009 world champion has signed a two-year contract extension, but Stoffel Vandoorne will partner Fernando Alonso at the team in 2017, with Button given an “option” to drive again in 2018.
