[8] Hamilton said his objective at Monza was to regain some of the lost ground in the Drivers' Championship and would not give up until the season-closing round in Abu Dhabi: "It's as big as it's been all season so I've got a lot of work ahead of me but anything can happen in this sport.

A large portion of its gravel trap was replaced with asphalt, reportedly for a possible return of the Superbike World Championship in 2015 after series officials raised concerns about a lack of run-off areas on the circuit.

[11][12] The change was heavily criticised by the sport's fan base on social media and certain drivers who felt it removed part of the challenge from Parabolica.

[12] Others joined in Whiting's defence, including Romain Grosjean, who believed the gravel trap's removal would allow drivers to find their limit quicker because of a lack of fear of a major accident.

[14] Lotterer planned to race at Monza but did not do so after Caterham team principal Colin Kolles ran Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver Roberto Merhi in the first practice session.

[17] Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters driver Daniel Juncadella used Pérez's Force India vehicle for the session's first half-hour,[18] and Giedo van der Garde drove Adrian Sutil's Sauber car.

Alonso, Kevin Magnussen, Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, Sergio Pérez, Daniil Kvyat and Nico Hülkenberg occupied position four to ten.

[19] During the session several drivers noted the hard compound tyres took longer than anticipated to reach their optimum working temperature,[19] and some went off the track while acquainting themselves with a low-downforce set-up.

Ricciardo had DRS trouble and his session ended early when he entered the pit lane with a suspected energy recovery system problem, and Magnussen had rear-braking issues.

[26] Hamilton was fastest in all three sessions to claim his fifth pole position of the season, the 36th of his career, and his first since the Spanish Grand Prix with a lap of 1 minute, 24.109 seconds.

[26] He was joined on the grid's front row by Rosberg (using a repaired gearbox)[26] who had improved on his first timed lap,[27] but an oversteer through the Ascari chicane prevented him from achieving pole position.

[27] Kvyat was the fastest driver not to qualify for the final session;[31] he took a ten-place grid penalty for an overnight engine change, his sixth of the season.

[34] His teammate Max Chilton qualified 20th and Ericsson took 22nd;[29] the latter was hindered by a lack of running on the medium tyres following an engine problem in the third practice session.

[35] A right-front wheel cooler fitted to Hamilton's car detached and crunched on the front wing, causing Mercedes to push him to his grid slot following a reconnaissance lap.

[28] Ericsson was ordered to begin from the pit lane after being penalised for driving too fast under double waved yellow flag conditions in the third practice session.

[37] When the race began from its standing start at 14:00 Central European Summer Time (UTC+02:00), an incorrect mode dropped Hamilton to fourth and moving Rosberg to the lead into the Rettifilo chicane.

[28] Vettel moved to fifth by the end of the first lap but his teammate Ricciardo was put wide onto the chicane's run-off area, dropping four positions over the same distance.

[28][39] Magnussen entered the turn off the racing line, spun his tyres on its exit, allowing Hamilton past for third into the first Lesmo corner with better acceleration.

Chilton entered the Variante della Roggia chicane too fast on lap six, and hit the second set of kerbs at the corner, launching his airborne car into the barrier, ending his race.

On the following lap, Rosberg locked his tyres into the Rettifilo chicane at 206 mph (332 km/h), drove onto an escape road and slalomed through obstacles to retain the lead.

[39] Bottas made his stop on the same lap and rejoined alongside Vettel on the main straight but was forced wide, allowing Magnussen to pass him.

[28][39] Alonso's energy recovery system failed, triggering a complete electrical shutdown half a minute later, and stopped at the side of Rettifilo's run-off area to retire for the first time in 2014.

[36][39][42] Both drivers were alongside through the Curva Grande corner and Ricciardo turned left to pass Vettel for fifth at the Variante della Roggia chicane.

[42][43] Kvyat's brakes failed on lap 52, causing him to turn left onto the grass at the Rettifilo chicane to avoid hitting Räikkönen, and clipping a polystyrene marker as he rejoined the track.

"[48] In the hours following the race, conspiracy theories emerged on social media concerning the circumstances of Rosberg losing the lead to Hamilton on lap 29.

[49] Three-time world champion Jackie Stewart said he felt the move was "a bit too easy" and appeared to indicate the error was done purposely: "I thought [Rosberg] could have least made an effort to get round the corner.

"[50] Rosberg said Hamilton's fast pace prompted him to push hard and that there was a large probability of flat-spotting a tyre and driving onto the run-off area was the safer option.

Wolff said the broadcast was not live and that the transmission of pit-to-car radio before Rosberg's mistake about him asking Hamilton to slow to preserve his tyres for a late race attack was inaccurate.

[43] Williams performance chief Rob Smedley said the team were investigating Bottas' slow start that lost him positions, which it believed it to be clutch-related problem.

"[55] Alonso was convinced he could have finished fifth had he not retired, saying he felt quicker than Ricciardo and revealed his team changed their approach, prompting him to slow after his problem emerged.