Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the 2017 Italian Grand Prix.

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13:59 We are just moments away from the start of the race with the formation lap underway. Who will triumph in Italy? Stay with ESPN to find out!

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13:57 Grosjean, who crashed out in Q1 before the two-hour delay, failed to qualify within 107 percent of Hamilton's pole-time, and therefore will start dead last in 20th.

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13:55 Ricciardo in the second Red Bull starts from 16th -- expect to see him and teammate Verstappen making significant progress in this race. Palmer is next up in 17th, ahead of the McLaren's of Vandoorne and Alonso, both of whom took big engine hits. Vandoorne put in a fantastic lap to qualify eighth, but he will start 18th after being forced to change engine components following qualifying.

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13:52 Verstappen lines up from 13th despite his hefty 20-place grid penalty for engine component changes, with Renault's Hulkenberg (also hit by a 15-place grid drop) alongside in 14th. Sainz was also forced to take a 10-place grid drop having made an engine change following his failure on Friday, but starts 15th -- where he qualified -- after other penalties were applied.

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13:50 Both Sauber's are well-placed to take advantage of any drama as the team looks to add to its points tally in 2017, with Ericsson starting ahead of Wehrlein in 11th. Expect both to drop back down the order during the race, however, as the faster cars behind make up ground.

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13:47 Massa is seventh, ahead of Kvyat's Toro Rosso. Magnussen lines up from ninth, while Perez rounds out the top 10. Despite receiving a 5-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change, the Force India driver only drops one place from where he qualified due to other grid penalties.

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13:45 Next up comes the second Mercedes of Bottas, who will be looking for a quick start to make some early progress in the race following a below-par qualifying performance. Behind Bottas are the Ferrari pair -- who suffered a very poor qualifying on home turf. Raikkonen managed to outqualify teammate Vettel, who will be looking to recover in the race in his attempts to protect his championship lead.

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13:43 Another standout performer in qualifying was the Force India of Ocon, who is another driver who has benefited from the large grid penalties for both Red Bull drivers. The Frenchman is targeting a podium finish from third place on the grid.

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13:39 It's a mixed grid with over 1/3 of the field taking grid drops for varying technical infringements, which has put some big names out of place. Stroll put in a stunning qualifying performance to line up alongside Hamilton on the front row -- making him the youngest-ever driver to start on the front row.

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13:35 A frantic and dramatic qualifying session saw Hamilton claim the F1 pole position record with the 69th pole of his career having mastered the wet conditions, moving him ahead of Schumacher in the record books. Hamilton has a fantastic opportunity to take the championship lead for the first time this season today if he can win the race, with his nearest title rivals -- most notably Vettel in sixth -- further back on the grid.

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13:32 Yesterday's rain is a distant memory as the dark clouds have been replaced by blue skies and sunny conditions. And what a race we have in store today at Monza.

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13:30 The pitlane is open! All 20 drivers fire up their cars and head for their reconnaissance laps to the grid.

Lap 1

Lights out!

Hamilton leads into Turn 1, while Ocon moves into second ahead of Stroll.

Raikkonen passed Bottas to move into fourth, with Vettel down in sixth.

Lap 2

Bottas retakes Raikkonen into the Parabolica and is back up to fourth! The pair went wheel-to-wheel along the pit straight but Bottas' Mercedes car managed to stay ahead.

Verstappen has made up significant ground already, as he moves up to eighth.

Lap 3

DRS is available on this lap, as Bottas dives down the inside of Stroll into the first chicane. Massa and Verstappen rub bodywork.

Vettel manages to pass Raikkonen into the first Lesmo, while Verstappen has a puncture!

Lap 4

Verstappen has dropped to 19th and will pit if he can make it back -- looked like he suffered the puncture in the contact with Massa.

Bottas is now up to second place, having completed a routine pass on Ocon, who falls to third but remains in the podium spots.

Verstappen has indeed made it back to the pits, but will return to the track plum last.

Lap 5

Vettel has moved into fourth after overtaking Stroll. The Ferrari driver is making some important progress in the early stages of this race.

Lap 6

Hamilton is already 3.5s clear of Bottas, who in turn is in a comfortable second.

Verstappen sets a new fastest lap on fresh rubber.

Lap 7

Raikkonen messes up his braking point into Turn 1 and runs wide. He takes to the escape road and loses time to Stroll ahead.

Lap 8

Vettel uses DRS to his advantage as he sweeps past Ocon under braking into Turn 1. The championship leader is up to third! The Mercedes duo are trading fastest laps out front, they are the only drivers -- other than Verstappen -- running in the 1:25s.

Lap 9

Raikkonen is struggling to catch Stroll and Ocon following his mistake at Turn 1. He has reported potential damage to his car.

Lap 10

It's Hamilton who sets the fastest lap on this lap, as he sits 2.6s clear of Bottas.

Hulkenberg becomes the first man to pit on schedule, as he swaps super-softs for the yellow-marked soft tyre. Looks like his next stint will be a long one.

Lap 11

Hamilton has led every lap so far and has now passed 3,000 laps led in F1. He is someway short of Schumacher's record, though, with the German having led over 5,000 laps.

Lap 12

Both Mercedes continue to pull clear of Vettel in third. Vettel has finally started lapping in the 1:25's but both Merc's have been quicker than the German over the last few laps. He sits 8.3s off the lead.

Lap 13

Stroll is catching Ocon in fourth and is now well within DRS range. This could get tasty -- both drivers have a point to prove.

"I don't know how to fix the rear end," Raikkonen reports, as his stuggles continue.

Lap 14

Despite appearing to struggle with balance, Raikkonen has now caught up to the back of Stroll and Ocon. This is now a three-car fight over fourth.

Lap 15

Alonso and Palmer almost come together at the second chicane, with Palmer forced to skip the corner. He stayed ahead of the Spaniard, who claims Palmer needs to relinquish the place.

Alonso is now reporting de-rates, could this be another engine problem for Honda?

Lap 16

Hamilton has picked up the pace out front as he dips into the 1:24s. The race leader is 3.4s clear of teammate Bottas.

Raikkonen pits for fresh tyres, but suffered a slow stop. The Finn was stationary for 3.7s in his pitbox.

Lap 17

Verstappen is no longer dead last. The Red Bull driver moves past Grosjean under braking into Turn 1 and is up to 19th.

Ricciardo dives down the inside of Perez at the Variante della Roggia and moves into sixth place. Bold and brave stuff there from the Australian!

Lap 18

Ferrari looked to be trying the undercut on Ocon, but Ocon has stayed ahead of Raikkonen following his stop. Stroll also pits but suffers a slow stop.

A problem on the left rear proved costly -- Stroll was stationary for over 4s -- and returns to the circuit behind Raikkonen.

Lap 19

Following Stroll's stop, Ricciardo is now up to fifth place.

Lap 20

Hamilton has stretched his advantage over Bottas to over 4s, despite running wide onto the gravel on the exit of the second chicane.

Palmer has been handed a five-second time penalty for that misdemeanor with Alonso.

Lap 21

Alonso, needless to say, is not amused by that decision.

"Five seconds is a joke!", he replies when told of Palmer's penalty.

Hamilton posts another new fastest lap on a 1:24.770s as he moves a further 0.2s clear of Bottas.

Lap 22

Ocon sweeps around the outside of Vandoorne at Curva Grande as he moves up to seventh, before Raikkonen follows the Force India driver through with his own pass on Vandoorne at the second chicane.

Lap 23

Stroll also clears Vandoorne with ease, surging past on the main straight with DRS. The Canadian is up to eighth.

Lap 24

"Now's the time to push in the clean air," Red Bull informs Ricciardo. On that last lap, Ricciardo was 0.5s quicker than Vettel. He is currently 15 seconds behind the German.

Lap 25

Alonso is still furious about that Palmer penalty: "It's a joke. The five-seconds is a joke."

Meanwhile out front, Hamilton is now over 5s clear.

Raikkonen continues to close in on Ocon but cannot quite get close enough to make a move stick.

Lap 26

Verstappen has now been lapped by Hamilton and says he is not confident of making up ground with the current amount of traffic he faces.

This time Raikkonen does manage to get by Ocon, with a clean move around the outside at Turn 1.

Lap 27

"OK I'm big time struggling with the rears now," reports Vettel. He is lapping around 1s slower than Ricciardo behind.

Lap 28

Vettel is over 20s off the lead -- this is hardly the race Ferrari would have been hoping for on home turf.

Lap 29

Verstappen pits again and comes out on the red marked super-softs. He returns out in 17th but should be able to run to the end of the race now.

Lap 30

Stroll is now right on the gearbox of Ocon, surely it's only a matter of time before he finds a way past.

Lap 31

Palmer has been told to retire his car. Verstappen, on fresh super-softs, posts a new fastest lap on a 1:24.743s.

Lap 32

Alonso is the latest man to pit, as he takes on a set of the super-softs. Vettel also stops and switches onto the soft tyre, which should take him until the end of the race. Vettel returns to the track in fourth but only just ahead of Perez.

Lap 33

Hamilton pits for softs. It looked a quick stop for the Briton at 2.5s. He feeds back out in second place.

Lap 34

Bottas is also in for his stop this time around. Hamilton retakes the lead of the race, as Bottas returns to track in a comfortable second. Verstappen and Alonso are squabbling away between the Mercedes drivers.

Lap 35

Verstappen dives down the inside of Alonso at the second chicane and moves himself into 15th. 15th quickly becomes 14th, as Vandoorne coasted back to the pits and into retirement.

The stewards have noted a slight collision at Turn 1 between Verstappen as Grosjean, as the Dutchman passed the Haas driver a bit earlier on.

Lap 36

Hamilton and Bottas resume their battle out front, with both drivers trading fastest laps once more in the mid-to-low 1:24's. The gap currently stands at 3.4s.

Lap 37

Kvyat makes a relatively easy pass on Hulkenberg into Turn 1, as he moves up to 11th. The Russian is just 1.6s outside of the points.

Lap 38

Hamilton blitzes the best lap of the race so far, as he posts a 1:23.975s. Ricciardo makes a very quick stop and returns to the track ahead of Ocon but behind Raikkonen in fifth.

Lap 39

"Where is Palmer," asks Alonso.

"He has retired," he is told by McLaren.

"Karma!" is Alonso's response.

Lap 40

Ricciardo is flying! He has closed to just 1.5s behind Raikkonen in fourth.

Lap 41

A big lock up for Stroll under braking into Turn 1, but it looks like he's got away with that one. He is being hounded by Williams teammate Massa.

Lap 42

Ricciardo pulls off a stunning late-braking move on Raikkonen as he charges into fourth place.

Ricciardo's next target? Vettel, who is 11s up the road. With the pace Ricciardo is currently managing, this could become a close scrap towards the end.

Lap 43

Ricciardo is currently lapping around 1s quicker than Vettel. This is shaping up to be a very interesting battle in the final few laps, providing Ricciardo can keep this up.

Hamilton reports a possible loss of power, as he drops 0.4s to Bottas on the last lap.

Lap 44

Hamilton is currently 3.5s clear of Bottas, with Vettel nearly 30s behind.

Lap 45

A new fastest lap from Ricciardo on a 1:23.915s, who is now just 9s behind Vettel.

Lap 46

Hamilton appears to have overcome whatever power issue he could have had, as he continues to lap slightly quicker than his teammate. The gap remains around 3.5s.

Lap 47

Verstappen is now into the points! He passes Magnussen around the outside of Turn 1 to move into 10th. The pair touch heading into the second chicane, as Magnussen is forced to run wide.

Lap 48

"That was crazy guys. He just pushed me off," says Magnussen.

It's another new fastest lap from Ricciardo, who closes to within 6s of Vettel.

Lap 49

Five laps to go. Hamilton continues to eek clear ahead, as he holds a 4s advantage over Bottas.

The stewards are investigating the incident between Verstappen and Magnussen.

Lap 50

Hamilton now takes the fastest lap away from Ricciardo on a 1:23.542s. He is now nearly 5s clear of Bottas.

Lap 51

Ricciardo, however, sets another new fastest lap, going 0.2s quicker than Hamilton managed.

The stewards have decided no further action is required for the Magnussen/Verstappen incident.

Ricciardo is 4.5s behind Vettel on this lap -- it looks like this battle could be settled with only two laps to go.

Lap 52

Ericsson, who had been running plum last, is told to retire from the race. He becomes the third retirement today.

"Back off, back off Fernando, we need to retire," Alonso is told.

Lap 53

Hamilton takes the win and with it leads the championship for the first time this season!

Hamilton also becomes the first back-to-back winner of 2017.

Bottas makes it a Mercedes one-two, ahead of Vettel who completes the podium.

Ricciardo completes a remarkable recovery drive to finish fourth, ahead of Raikkonen and Ocon. Stroll just about held off Massa, while Perez and Verstappen round out the top 10.

Just three points separates Hamilton and Vettel heading to the next race at Singapore. The title fight remains finely poised! We will see you in two weeks' time for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton begins his final lap with a comfortable lead over Bottas.