As the Italian GP got underway there was an incident between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Pole man Kimi Raikkonen got away well and kept the lead while Vettel had to defend from Hamilton. Then, it happened, Hamilton dived down the outside of Vettel but the two collided into Turn 4.

Vettel was worse off as he was sent into a spin with front-wing damage. The incident was under investigation but no action was taken. Now, the German is stuck battling is way from dead last. The question is, what does this mean for the 2018 championship? The German driver has it all to do after he dived in the pit lane to change his front wing and tyres.

He initially started on the supersoft tyres but changed to soft tyres. The four-time world champion is now expected to run until the end of the race. However, his was not the only incident to occur on the opening lap.

Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley was sandwiched between the McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne and the Alfa Romeo-Sauber of Marcus Ericsson. Unfortunately for the Kiwi, Ericsson got a little too close and collided with Hartley’s right front tyre. The incidents brought out the safety car, which allowed Vettel to pit for repairs and catch up without losing a lap.

Now, the onus will be on Raikkonen to fly the flag for the Scuderia and bid for his first win of the season. Can the Finnish veteran hold on and win at the Temple of Speed? And will his performance be enough to convince Ferrari to give him a contract? Interestingly, Raikkonen has never won in Italy, can he change that dynamic today?

Another question that needs to be asked is, can Sebastian Vettel salvage something from this race? Vettel needs to buck up if he wants to close the points gap to Hamilton.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the incident.

https://twitter.com/mojojojoborras/status/1036242217382363138