Lewis Hamilton cruised to his first ever Italian Grand Prix win, but fellow McLaren driver Jenson Button along with world champion Sebastian Vettel failed to finish in an action-filled race at Monza.
Some excellent strategy from Sauber helped Sergio Perez to an impressive second, while Fernando Alonso fought his way from tenth to third in Ferrari's home Grand Prix.
Hamilton now lies second in the driver's standings with 142 points, 37 points behind leader Alonso, who is on 179. Kimi Raikkonen, who finished the race in fifth behind Felipe Massa, is third in the overall table with 141 points while Sebastien Vettel lies fourth on 140.
"It's been fantastic to win here, you've got the best crowd," Hamilton said after the race. "I'm just so happy for my team. It was really a fantastic day.
"It was pretty trouble-free (race). I don't think I had any problems throughout the race and the guys did a great job through the pitstop. And I got a good start for once, so very, very happy with that."
Perez was ecstatic with the podium finish. "It was really enjoyable," the Mexican said. "One of those races where you have the pace and you are the one attacking.
"It was very crucial moments during the race, especially during my first stint, to go that long and to be able to keep the pace was not easy at all. I did quite a lot of laps on those tyres.
"Then in the second stint we managed to go maximum attack and I was able to have good fighting with some drivers. It was just a great race."
Alonso was also happy with his third-place finish, after trouble in the qualifying on Saturday meant he could only start from tenth on the grid. "Absolutely perfect Sunday for us. Obviously the win was out of reach after the problem yesterday," the Spaniard said. "Starting tenth is not easy to think about victory, so if you cannot win, podium is next target.
"In all the simulations and all the predictions we had, it was never a podium finish, so basically it's much better than expected. Jenson was out of the race and the two Red Bulls... so perfect Sunday maybe."
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