by Our Sports Desk

Nico Rosberg won the Italian Grand Prix virtually unchallenged yesterday after Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton wasted pole position with a poor start.

Hamilton got off the line at the same time as the other cars but immediately fell behind, dropping to sixth before the first corner.

Rosberg, who started second, took the early lead and cruised to his seventh win of the season, second straight this year and first of his career at the storied Monza circuit, which has hosted more Formula One racing than any other track.

“It was all down to the start,” Rosberg said. “I had an awesome start and that made the win. So it was all there.”

Rosberg also cut Hamilton’s championship lead to two points with seven races remaining.

“The race is on with Lewis,” Rosberg said. “It’s always going to be a great battle and I look forward to what’s to come.”

Hamilton climbed his way back to finish second.

“It’s hard to overtake here,” Hamilton said. “That’s the best I could do with such a loss at the start.

“I don’t really know what happened at the start but I’ll try to understand it later,” Hamilton added, casting some of the blame on an inconsistent clutch. “I did everything normal.”

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen crossed third and fourth, respectively.

Rosberg celebrated with a series of fist pumps when he got out of his car, playfully jabbing at a TV camera. Then he jumped into a group of his team members who hoisted him into the air.

Atop the podium, Rosberg launched into the chorus of the White Stripes song Seven Nation Army, the theme from Italy’s victory at the 2006 World Cup and encouraged the crowd to sing along.

“It’s special because I really feel close to the Italian culture,” Rosberg said. “All of my best friends are Italian and I speak Italian.”