Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver Fernando Alonso scored his third win of the season after using a soft-hard Bridgestone Potenza tyre strategy in a fast-paced, close and exciting Italian Grand Prix.

Pole-man Alonso lost out to second qualifying Jenson Button (Vodafone McLaren Mercedes) at the start of the race, but retook the lead in the pit stops to lead the reigning champion across the finish line by 2.9 seconds. Felipe Massa (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) finished third, just 1.2 seconds behind Button.

Hiroshi Yasukawa - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says
"Congratulations to Ferrari and Fernando Alonso for a great win. This is a great result for the championship in the final Grand Prix in Europe for Bridgestone. So many Bridgestone guests and personnel were here to enjoy a superb Grand Prix and we were happy to see the Bridgestone branding on the track basking in glorious sunshine and beamed around the world today. I would like to thank all the Italian fans and the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza for so many great times for us over the years at this fantastic motorsport venue."

Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says
"We saw a good range of strategy options today in a very exciting race and I am happy that our tyres performed so strongly to allow good racing throughout the field. Watching the battle between the different set-ups of Jenson and Fernando was fascinating and both drivers drove impeccably. Seeing Sebastian run until the last lap on the same soft option tyres with which he qualified illustrates the strength and performance of our tyres at this high-speed racing venue. We are proud of the safety of our tyres even when faced with a tough test such as this. We did see some minor blistering on some tyres today, but nothing to cause concern or affect performance. Thank you Monza for a great race."

Stats of the Day 
Race: 14:00 - 15:17
Driver            Team      	    	Time            Strategy
Fernando Alonso   Scuderia Ferrari 	1h 16m 24.572s  S-H
Jenson Button     Vodafone McLaren 	1h 16m 27.510s  S-H
Felipe Massa 	  Scuderia Ferrari 	1h 16m 28.795s  S-H

Tyres used: Hard (prime) / Soft (option) 

Temperatures Ambient     Track        Weather 
PM - Race    25C 	 35C-36C-34C  Sunny