Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes was the defending race winner, and entered with a 28-point lead over teammate Nico Rosberg in the Drivers' Championship, with Sebastian Vettel a further 39 points behind.

This race marked the 41st and final podium finish for 2008 World Championship runner-up Felipe Massa and, as of 2024, the last for a Brazilian driver in Formula One.

[4] Sauber's Head of Track Engineering, Giampaolo Dallara, praised the updated choice, summing up that it will challenge teams to make time in the corners in addition to going for pure top speed, putting on a better show for the fans.

[5] However, Pirelli had received criticism from several drivers and commentators following tyre failures on Nico Rosberg's and Sebastian Vettel's cars at the Belgian Grand Prix.

[6][7][8] Prior to the Italian Grand Prix, Formula One commercial rights holder Bernie Ecclestone called for the drivers to keep their concerns to themselves, saying: "We’re not going to let them [Pirelli] go.

[12] Meanwhile, contract negotiations were high in the agenda prior to the weekend, with Williams announcing that the team would retain Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas for 2016,[13][14] while Nico Hülkenberg signed a new two-year deal with Force India.

[19][20][21] McLaren went back to using their snub nose design, which they had replaced earlier in the season ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, in order to achieve better aerodynamics and lower drag for the high-speed Monza circuit.

[25] In what The Guardian described as an "as dominant as ever" performance, Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton lead the times in both practice sessions on Friday, with Nico Rosberg in second on both occasions.

Jolyon Palmer again replaced Romain Grosjean in the Lotus during the first practice and ended the session half a second off his teammate's pace in fifteenth.

The two Force India cars of Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg split the two Ferrari drivers, with Kimi Räikkönen finishing in sixth.

Max Verstappen was the second Toro Rosso driver of the day to spin out into the gravel, but he was able to continue after losing control of his car at the Ascari chicane.

While the Australian had to cut his first run short due to a hydraulical issue, Button was summoned back into the pit lane after only three laps with an unspecified problem.

While Ricciardo was able to get out and set a lap sufficient to see him proceed to the second part of qualifying (Q2), Verstappen went out only to see his engine cover blown off at Curva Grande, scattering the track with debris, though at the very end of the session, so no other cars were affected.

[36] Toro Rosso's Max Verstappen was handed a drive-through penalty to be served within the first three laps of the race due to an unsafe pit release during qualifying.

Meanwhile, Hamilton got through the first chicane in front of Vettel, but his teammate Rosberg had to avoid Räikkönen's car and lost two places to the two Williams of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

Both Lotus drivers were forced to retire before the end of the second lap, Grosjean due to contact with another car, while Maldonado damaged his chassis when he went over a kerb.

While Räikkönen charged through the field to get back up to twelfth place by lap three, Lewis Hamilton quickly increased his advantage over Vettel and moved out of the one-second DRS window.

[39] Further back, the Red Bull sponsored cars moved up the order as well, with Carlos Sainz Jr., Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat fighting for tenth position.

Sainz yielded his place on lap 11, when he needed to go into the pit lane for a five-second penalty handed to him for cutting the chicane at the start.

[40] By lap 14, Hamilton led Vettel by over eight seconds, with Rosberg still behind both Williams in fifth place, pushing Bottas by enabling DRS on the long straights.

It later proved to be caused by the fact that Hamilton's left rear tyre had too little pressure at the start, leading the team to fear for a time penalty after the race.

"[46] At the podium interview, conducted by film director George Lucas, Lewis Hamilton expressed gratitude to his team and the fans at the venue.