Three-time consecutive world champion Sebastian Vettel claimed victory at Monza last Sunday to move 53 points clear in the drivers championship, while retiring Red Bull team-mate Australian driver, Mark Webber, in his very last European F1 race, placed third and realised his first ever podium finish in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Vettel celebrated his third victory at Monza, leading from pole position to easily beat Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso second, with Webber third and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, fourth. Germany’s Nico Hulkenberg was fifth for Sauber, with Nico Rosberg sixth for Mercedes and Australian Daniel Ricciardo seventh for Toro Rosso. France’s Romain Grosjean was eighth for Lotus, with Great Britain’s Jenson Button 10th to take a point for McLaren

It was another good top ten qualifying run from Daniel Ricciardo the young Australian and a great seventh spot finish extending his overall championship points to 18 so far this season. Ricciardo, the driver nominated for next year’s vacant seat at Red Bull, has done a superb job in finishing consistently in the top ten over the last 4 races with a ‘B’ rated car.

Vettel now has 222 points to Alonso’s 169, with Lewis Hamilton on 141 with seven races remaining. Webber sits in fifth position on the standings with 130 points.

Provisional Grand Prix 2014 calendar released

Plans for a Grand Prix in New York have been dropped from the provisional calendar for the 2014 Formula One season, but Mexico returns after a break of 21 years.

New Jersey had hoped to stage a race around a 3.2-mile street circuit with views of the New York City skyline but instead, Mexico can look forward to hosting a first Grand Prix since 1992 at the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.

A first draft of the 2014 provisional calendar has been distributed to teams but must be approved at a meeting of the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council due to take place in Croatia on September 26-28. If it is approved and all the races take place, the teams will face their longest season in the history of the sport.

In addition to the return of Mexico, where big and enthusiastic crowds have always greeted F1, the calendar includes an event in Russia at the winter Olympic venue Sochi and a possible race in South Korea.

The season has been pencilled in to start in Australia on March 16 with Malaysia a week later. The Korean Grand Prix has been moved from the end of season run of flyaway events to become the fourth race of the campaign, taking place a week after the Chinese GP.

The Austrian Grand Prix will also make a come back and has been allocated a provisional date of June 22. The new Russian Grand Prix at Sochi will become a back-to-back with Abu Dhabi, while the Mexican Grand Prix is being organised back-to-back with the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.