Lewis Hamilton has claimed the hostile atmosphere created by Ferrari's passionate Tifosi only drove him on to success at the Italian Grand Prix.For the second straight year, Monza played host to a straight fight between Mercedes and the Scuderia and, like 2017, it was the German manufacturer that put one over their main rivals on their home turf.This year's triumph was different though as Ferrari had been the team to beat all weekend, particularly after Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel locked out the front row in qualifying, and that made their capitulation on Sunday even more dramatic.The Tifosi tried their best, however, booing Hamilton all the way and on the iconic podium sat high over the track their disdain for the Briton continued rather than offering respect to the better man and the better team on the day.For the reigning world champion, it was all just part of the game.“There was a lot of negativity, as there is when you’re against an opposing team,” he commented.“But I could see so many British flags out there, they know who they are, and they inspired me so much for this race. That is what I was driving for."In future, the negative thing is only a positive thing for me because I harness it and turn it from a negative to a positive."The Ferrari fans anger was only further driven by the coming together between Hamilton and Vettel on the opening lap, which was deemed a racing incident but took the German out of race contention.Opinions were mixed, unsurprisingly, but the Mercedes driver was sure he did everything right."Getting past Seb at the beginning was clearly a massive turning point," Hamilton acknowledged.

“I think we all got to similar starts, I got wheelspin and went to Turn 1 and I was surprised that Seb went to the left.

"We got to Turn 1 and there was a small touch between us all," he continued. "Powering down to Turn 4, I was again a bit surprised Seb chose the inside and not going to the outside of Kimi.

"That was my opportunity. I stuck it down the outside and made sure I was far enough alongside. I had the experience a few years ago of being on the inside, and it didn’t come off too well!

“I think there was enough space between us," he insisted. "I am guessing he locked up. We touched, it was a brief moment."

From that point on it became a straight fight between himself and Kimi Raikkonen with the outcome helped by a little assistance from across the garage.

“I have to say a big thank you to the team, and to Valtteri [Bottas] for helping us as well,” Hamilton said after the Finn had held up the Ferrari driver following his pit-stop.

Even so, the 33-year-old praised the 2007 world champion for the clean battle.

"I was just telling Kimi that he did a fantastic race. He drove incredibly fairly and I respect him so much. I really enjoyed racing with him," he said.

On his latest success, which matches Michael Schumacher for five wins at Monza and sees him hold a 30-point lead in the championship, Hamilton concluded...

“I definitely didn’t expect it,” he admitted. "I never expected to win but I prayed. I went in with a clear goal, but you never know, sometimes they pull away like the last race.

“We never give up."