Nico Rosberg wins the Italian Grand Prix in Monza to close the gap to Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg has won the Italian Grand Prix to cut Lewis Hamilton's lead in the driver standings to just two points. The 31-year-old German produced an assured drive to come from second on the grid to win the first Monza Grand Prix of his career.

Hamilton, 31, had been the heavy pre-race favourite in Italy, having easily qualified in pole position. However, after a terrible start, the defending world champion quickly found himself languishing in sixth place and was forced to deliver another eye-catching drive to achieve a second-placed finish, behind his Mercedes teammate.

Rosberg, on the other hand, produced a serene performance to take the chequered flag ahead of Hamilton, with Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas in third, fourth, fifth and sixth places respectively.

Rosberg was predictably delighted to record his seventh Grand Prix victory of the season as he seeks to snatch the world title from Hamilton.

"It is a very special day for me, I'm very happy to finally win here," he said, according to the BBC. "It was all down to the start, I had an awesome start and it was all from there."

Hamilton, meanwhile, wished he had more of an opportunity to push his Mercedes teammate for first place.

"This is the best crowd we get all year. It's a great day for Mercedes and I'm glad to be a part of it," he shared. "I don't know if it's great for the fans that there wasn't more of us racing."