That was some race. Hope you all enjoyed that as much as we did with Lewis Hamilton the victor to move 30 points clear at the top of the drivers' championship.

A week off now before the Formula 1 circus moves on to Singapore. Thank you as always for your company and for all your comments.

Until next time, bye for now.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza

Image source, Reuters

Lewis Hamilton took a thrilling and controversial victory in the Italian Grand Prix following a first-lap clash with title rival Sebastian Vettel.

The Mercedes driver fought a cat-and-mouse battle with Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen throughout the race and eventually passed him around the outside of the first corner with nine laps to go.

Hamilton and Mercedes not only dashed Ferrari's hopes of a home win after their first front-row lock-out at Monza for 18 years but also extended the Briton's championship lead over Vettel, who finished fourth, to 30 points.

That is more than a clear win, with seven races and a total of 175 points remaining in the season.

It could not have come at a better time for Hamilton, who is facing a fight against an apparently faster car - at least in qualifying - and with Mercedes' bogey track, Singapore, next on the schedule.

Here's some more quotes from Valtteri Bottas, who finished third. He told Sky Sports: "It is good to be back on the podium. It has been a tough period, it was not an easy race, we opted to go on a very long strategy, it was good for me but also good for Lewis.

"We are here with two drivers we did good teamwork today. First time I tried (to overtake Verstappen) he cut the chicane, second time I went round the outside and there is a very clear trule you have to leave a car width, he didn't we touched and he got a pen which for me is fair enough.

"We are good team mates and it works, we are both pushing for the improvements for the car."

Lance Stroll, who came 10th, is widely expected to drive for Force India next year, and on that subject, tells Sky Sports: "We'll see what the future holds. I'm taking it weekend by weekend. Whatever car I'm in I try to get the most out of it.

"It's been a challenging year as a team and we're not where we want to be. But we have to take days like this when they come. I have a great relationship upstairs with everyone in the office [at Williams]. I like to think we're still very close."

By the way, Kevin Magnussen, who was involved in an incredible argument with Fernando Alonso last night, finished 17th, last of those that finished, although the Spaniard was one of three to not complete the race.

Force India's Sergio Perez is another man in a fine run of form with this being his fifth finish in the points in six races.

He came eighth today and tells Sky Sports: "Kevin Magnussen, I don't know what he was doing? He was cutting corners, he cut the chicane twice I don't know why Charlie (Whiting) didn't ask him to get back into position, then he didn't give me enough space and there was damage to my car.

"Still, the pace was strong, we could have been best of the rest. that was achievable today."

Speaking of Force India...

Esteban Ocon, who was seventh for Force India, tells Sky Sports: "We had a fantastic race.

"I had a fantastic start, then got squeezed on to the grass a bit and backed out, but I had great pace and got past Carlos Sainz.

"I had one chance to get past Romain Grosjean but couldn't do it and so I'm happy with seventh. I thought we could have done it; I felt we had a faster car than the Haas."

Esteban Ocon's future in F1 is unsure, with Lance Stroll set to go to Force India after his dad Lawrence was heavily involved in the takeover of the team to get them out of administration.

Ocon's results in the past nine races include sixth (three times), seventh (twice, including today), eighth (once) and ninth (once). So seven points finishes in nine races, and still he may have nowhere to go in 2019.

Let's hear from the Frenchman...

Lance Stroll, 10th in the Williams, speaking to Sky Sports: "It's very satisfying. I almost forgot what it felt like to score a point there. It's going to sink in later and we'll celebrate it in style tonight.

"I had my eyes on this race for a while. I knew we would have a tough run with the car's performance but I thought if we could nail it in Monza, we could get a good result.

"We nailed it in qualifying and then had a steady race with no mistakes. I think it was one of those weekends where we had a really good weekend. There's so much more to it than doing a lap and getting pace out of the car. There's a lot to do with slipstream. We did a great job operationally. I had a good start and gained a couple of places.

"This weekend we went above and beyond where we were supposed to finish because of the job the guys did this weekend. We were on it from the first practice and pieced the puzzle together. You have to take these opportunities when they come."

Kimi Raikkonen, who came second, tells Sky Sports: "It is a very normal game that is being played by the top three teams, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We wanted a better result but this is what we got."

The newly formed Force India team have already overtaken Williams and Sauber after two races since losing the 59 points they had accumulated before going into administration.

They would be fourth if they had been able to keep those early season points. Meanwhile Mercedes now have a 25-point lead in the constructors title, with Williams at the other end picking up a point for only the second time in 2018.

Image source, .

Romain Grosjean, who was sixth for Haas, tells Sky Sports: "It was great. There was a lot of pressure from behind from cars that were generally faster but I used all my experience. I'm very happy with this result.

"This result is mainly for me and my kids because I wasn't very happy at the start of the season, but I found the keys to get back to form. My kids are going to be happy. I'm looking forward to seeing them tonight."

Image source, Getty Images

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who retired for the fourth time in six races after an engine failure, says: "It's not always fun, looking at the whole year it has been pretty frustrating. I still don't know what it was.

"I passed Stroll and then I could see smoke coming out of the back. If I got a penalty in Singapore I probably won't even show up."

Image source, Rex Features

Red Bull's Max Verstappen, speaking to Sky Sports about his five-second penalty for nudging Valtteri Bottas, which left him in fifth: "We were in a position we didn't expect to be. I think I gave him the car width and he clipped my wheel and he had to go straight.

"Maybe they accepted the penalty because early on I went a bit wide against Valtteri. But it's not fair.

"The car is working really well. The car was good on the tyres despite the lack of top speed. It was still under control. We are optimistic going to Singapore; hopefully the engine deficit is not too big."

Image source, Getty Images

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff tells Sky Sports he believes there is nothing between Mercedes and Ferrari in the title race, saying: "I think where I am is that the gap between us is zero. There are seven races left and 25 points available at each.

"Singapore was good for us last year because of the incident of the first corner and because it rained. It was not a place we can expect to win.

"I think we pulled it out today against all expectations. We didn't see Sebastian Vettel in an undamaged car today, but he still races in a way that is spectacular."

Image source, Getty Images

Babatunde Sakiru: Sebastian and Verstappen have to learn how to keep calm when the situation boils. That's why Lewis Hamilton is regarded as one of the best drivers.

Tom Dee: Somebody needs to sit Seb and Max down and go through their errors slowly so they can understand - Vettel had loads of room and Verstappen gave no room.

More from Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who has spoken to Sky Sports: "The win feels amazing because it reminds you why we are doing this. It's not always a rational sport where the quickest car wins. The racing happens on Sunday, and we came out with a one and three.

"In Spa, we were blistering tyres in the same way as happened to Ferrari today. Maybe you wear the tyres more if you are chasing, but Lewis was pretty flat out behind Kimi today and nothing happened, so we will have to investigate it."

Asked if the collision between Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton was a racing incident: "Absolutely. I was surprised they got even close the gap like this. He just spins out. It's somehow against all physics that the inside car spins around."

Another big incident - one of several - in the race was Max Verstappen's five-second penalty for nudging Valtteri Bottas off the track on Lap 44.

It cost Verstappen a podium place, as he dropped from third to fifth, with Bottas taking his spot.

And when he learned of his penalty, the Red Bull driver was pretty miffed. Have a listen:

This is how it stands in the bottom 10 in the drivers' title. Lance Stroll and Williams finished in the points for only the second time this season with his 10th-place finish.

Sergey Sirotkin, Stroll's team-mate, recorded his best result in his F1 career by coming 11th but just missed out on his first championship point.

Image source, .