Hamilton takes lead of world championship with Italian GP victory; Mercedes driver finished 36 seconds clear of title rival Vettel.
Saturday 30 September 2017 08:49, UK
Lewis Hamilton thrived in the role of 'pantomime villain' at the Italian GP and has taken command of his title battle with Sebastian Vettel, according to Monday's national newspapers.
The Mercedes driver's victory at Monza ensured he turned a seven-point deficit to Vettel into a three-point advantage as he moved top of the Drivers' Championship for the first time since September 2016.
Having set a new record with his 69th pole on Saturday, Hamilton then finished a mammoth 36 seconds ahead of his Ferrari rival in third and became the first driver to claim back-to-back wins in 2017.
"For Lewis Hamilton, this felt like the moment that everything changed," Oliver Brown wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
"Here at Monza, the temple of speed that represents consecrated ground for the teeming swarms of Ferrari tifosi, he achieved a victory so crushing that it turned this season's world championship fight on its head.
"In arrears to Sebastian Vettel all year, he vanquished his arch-rival by over 36 seconds to surge three points clear. As plumes of lurid red smoke engulfed the back straight, he offered the broad smile of a man quite happy, for once, to play the pantomime villain.
"From a rain-lashed qualifying to a race staged in the seductive glow of late summer in Lombardy, Hamilton stood supreme all weekend, irrespective of conditions. Having enjoyed three weeks of down-time in Cuba and Barbados, he has returned to the Formula 1 grindstone revitalised, determined to give no quarter.
"His stated mission to turn Vettel's smile upside down has worked. The German, for all the love that washes over Ferrari's No 1 driver at the Italian Grand Prix, appeared chastened by the scale of his eclipse in third."
The Guardian's Giles Richards also noted Hamilton's enjoyment at spoiling Ferrari's party at their home race.
"The Mercedes driver was booed by a fiercely partisan crowd, desperate to see a Ferrari win at the Scuderia's 70th anniversary race, as he revelled in a dominant victory," he said.
"Hamilton's evident pleasure was understandable. His win, a run from pole to flag during which he barely put a wheel out of place, leaves him in front of his title rival, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, with seven races remaining.
"The season has ebbed and flowed between the two drivers and this is the first time one of them has taken back-to-back wins, after Hamilton's victory at the previous round in Spa. The Briton, though, was taking nothing for granted."
Hamilton suffered one of the most disappointing title defeats of his career last season as then-Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg claimed the championship by five points.
But the Press Association's Phil Duncan opined that the Briton is favourite to become a four-time world champion when in this form.
"Hamilton has won three of the last four grands prix - a run which started at July's British Grand Prix - to move to the summit of the championship for the first time since this stage one year ago," he wrote.
"Hamilton lost his battle to Nico Rosberg last term, but on current form and with seven rounds remaining, it would now take a brave person to bet against the British driver marching to a fourth title."
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