Sebastian Vettel, even with several minor technical issues, cake-walked the Italian Grand Prix to lift his 32nd career triumph, stretching his lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship to a mammoth 53 points, ahead of Fernando Alonso.
Alonso drove to 2nd in Ferrari's home Grand Prix, with Webber celebrating his first ever podium at the event, in what was his last European GP before retirement. Fellow Ferrari driver Felipe Massa finished 4th, with Sauber's Nico Hulkenburg grabbing a stunning 5th.
The unsung German was, for many, the hero of the weekend, after his fantastic qualifying performance was equalled in the main race, as he drove to Sauber's best result of the 2013 season.
It was a typically frenetic Monza start, with Force India's Paul Di Resta not even making it past the second chicane, after locking up his tyre and slamming into the back of Romain Grosjean, ending his race at the earliest opportunity.
The British driver admitted fault via the team radio at the time, with the incident under investigation following the race.
Massa impressively moved up to 2nd from 4th in the early stages, with Vettel appearing to have an issue with his front right tyre, forcing him to lock up on the opening turn.
But it didn't harm the German driver, stretching his lead further away from the chasing pack, as Alonso overtook his Ferrari team-mate Massa in the 8th lap, after pulling off a brave maneuver to get past Webber on an inside corner.
After starting on the hard tyres in an attempt to prolong performance in the latter stages of the race, both Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton saw their plans foiled in the early stages.
Both the former World Drivers' champions had been disappointing in qualifying for the famous race and Raikkonen for his part was forced to pit after lap one, damaging his front wing after contact with Sergio Perez on the first turn.
But it was Hamilton who was the victim of a double bout of bad luck, first suffering a slow puncture, which he then had no knowledge of due to communication issues with the team radio. So the Brit was forced into the pits after just 14 laps, coming out behing Raikkonen in 20th.
Jean-Eric Vergne retired on lap 15, after an engine failure allowed rival Jenson Button to storm ahead into clean air and a bungled pit stop from Lotus after 20 laps allowed him to gain a huge advantage over Grosjean, the two battling hard for the lower reaches of a top ten place.
At the halfway stage of the race it was an Alonso-Nico Rosberg one-two, with the pair still yet to pit by the 26th lap, and Vettel still clocking times superior to his rivals at the head of the pack. A lap later Alonso did indeed box, coming out 2nd behind the German.
2007 World champion Raikkonen took his second stop after 31 laps, coming out behind team-mate Grosjean in 14th, with fellow elite struggler Hamilton up to 5th by lap 33.
A lock-up on lap 37 from Mercedes' Rosberg meant he lost any interest in a top 5 place, leaving Hulkenburg in control, with Hamilton's radio still not working as he stopped after 38 to come back out 15th and with slim hopes of a points finish.
Vettel appeared to have his 6th race win in the bag with eight laps to go, and the intriguing battle remained between the two-stoppers Raikkonen and Hamilton to challenge 10th placed Sergio Perez and hoist themselves into an unlikely points finish.
The Finn suffered a Kers problem and was forced into attempting to hold off Hamilton for the last five laps, whilst still attempting to catch the McLarens ahead of him, in a breathtaking display of defensive driving.
Inevitably, despite Raikkonen's defiance, the Brit got past on lap 49, and proceeded to move into 10th in the 50th, before getting into 9th at the expense of former team-mate Button as the two crossed the line in the 51st.
Vettel collected the third Monza victory of his career, as the gap widens between himself and the rest of the F1 field, going into Singapore on September 22nd.
Pos. (Grid) | Driver | Nationality | Team |
1 (1) | S. Vettel | GER | Red Bull |
2 (5) | F. Alonso | SPA | Ferrari |
3 (2) | M. Webber | AUS | Red Bull |
4 (4) | F. Massa | BRA | Ferrari |
5 (3) | N. Hulkenburg | GER | Sauber |
6 (6) | N. Rosberg | GER | Mercedes |
7 (7) | D. Ricciardo | AUS | Toro Rosso |
8 (13) | R. Grosjean | FRA | Lotus |
9 (12) | L. Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes |
10 (9) | J. Button | GBR | McLaren |
11 (11) | K. Raikkonen | FIN | Lotus |
12 (8) | S. Perez | MEX | McLaren |
13 (17) | E. Gutierrez | MEX | Sauber |
14 (15) | P. Maldonado | VEN | Williams |
15 (18) | V. Bottas | FIN | Williams |
16 (14) | A. Sutil | GER | Force India |
17 (20) | C. Pic | FRA | Caterham |
18 (19) | G. van der Garde | NED | Caterham |
19 (21) | J. Bianchi | FRA | Marussia |
20 (22) | M. Chilton | GBR | Marussia |
21 (10) | J.E Vergne | FRA | Toro Rosso |
22 (16) | P. Di Resta | GBR | Force India |