Sebastian Vettel has put his emotional reaction to his Italian GP victory down to the venue and Red Bull's previous poor form there.
Taking the lead off Fernando Alonso in a ballsy move that saw him put two wheels on the grass at the Curva Grande moments before powering by, Vettel never looked back.
The German put in several fastest laps as he extended his lead over the Ferrari driver and later over McLaren's Jenson Button.
After 53 laps he crossed the line almost 10 seconds ahead of Button, claiming his eighth win of the season and undoubtedly taking a massive step towards his second World title.
However, it was his emotional reaction that caught everyone's attention as the 24-year-old was almost in tears on the podium.
Asked about it in the post-race press conference, he admitted it was "very emotional.
"This circuit means a lot to me and has been very special - my first win was here so when I crossed the line I remembered every single bit.
"It's unbelievable. A circuit that has been tough for us to be competitive and we came back this year and the car was amazing."
As for reports that Red Bull had opted for a short top gear for Vettel's RB7, a decision that some felt could hamper the German in the race, Vettel said: "I don't think we took any gamble today, we took the gamble yesterday in qualifying.
"People saw our top speed was not very high so gears were slightly shorter, so I couldn't use the speed on the straight, but for the race we were comfortable.
"I was able to pass Fernando without DRS but even with DRS it may have been a bit comfortable. All in all we did the right thing, had a great race car and great speed all the way through."
Vettel's win at Monza, his eighth of the season, saw him extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship to 112 points over Alonso while Mark Webber and Button are both a further eight adrift.
His lead means he could wrap up the title at the next race in Singapore, however, he says he won't be thinking about that when he races under the lights.
"It has been an incredible year so far to be honest, we have progressed so much as a team, got so much stronger," said Vettel.
"We'll just do Singapore as we used to do all the other races - go there and go step by step. I am looking forward and we'll see what happens there."
Related Links
Italian GP: Vettel storms to his eighth win of 2011
