It’s now official that Mercedes alone are under investigation over starting tyre pressures – the powers that be have confirmed that both cars’ left rear tyres were found to be below the required pressure – Hamilton by 0.3psi, Rosberg by 1.1. You can read the full story here.
Both Hamilton and Rosberg have been summoned to speak to the stewards in ten minutes’ time. This doesn’t look likely to be resolved imminently, so we’ll wrap up here with Paul Weaver’s race report. Keep it Guardian Sport for the latest developments. Ciao!
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Apparently a Ferrari is also under investigation for the same issue – so this could also affect Vettel, who is hoping to benefit from any penalty for Hamilton. For now, we play the waiting game...
One man who has definitely had a bad day is Rosberg. Standing outside a slightly subdued Mercedes paddock, he admits that his title hopes have been severely dented today.
Toto Wolff is keeping his cards close to his chest, describing the issue as “paddock gossip” but admitting they are waiting for news from the stewards. Hamilton could conceivably get a 25-second penalty, although nothing’s certain yet. His winning margin? 25.042 seconds.
To summarise, it seems that Mercedes are being investigated for potentially starting the race with tyre pressure below the minimum allowed. This could lead to a penalty for Hamilton, whose rear left tyre was thought to be 0.3PSI below what’s acceptable. Hamilton has been asked about the issue in the press conference, and looks nonplussed. More on that when we have it...
The drama’s not quite over here – it seems that the issue that led to those late team orders related to potentially low pressures in Hamilton’s rear tyres. Mercedes’ Paddy Lowe is adamant that the team have done nothing wrong, but suggests that the increase in speed was potentially to accommodate a penalty, rather than to increase tyre pressures.
Lewis Hamilton is chatting with George Lucas (yes, that George Lucas). He keeps it convivial, thanking the crowd and his team. Lucas doesn’t dig any deeper into those curious team orders; he comes back to Hamilton for one more question but simply asks “do blondes have more fun?”. He’s a better director than he is an interviewer.
The drivers make their way onto the podium, and Hamilton is able to put his concerns to one side to celebrate in front of a bumper crowd – showing off a new bleached blond ‘do while he’s at it. Nobody’s perfect.
There’s still a fair amount of mystery around that late instruction to Hamilton – Niki Lauda is claiming to be none the wiser – but what we do know is that Hamilton now leads the drivers’ championship by more than fifty points, having won seven of the year’s 12 races.
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Italian Grand Prix result
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- Felipe Massa (Williams)
- Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- Sergio Pérez (Force India)
- Nico Hülkenberg (Force India)
- Danny Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
- Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull)
Hmm. Well, Hamilton should be delighted with his lot, but he’s clearly unhappy with Mercedes’ mysterious orders to accelerate. They tell him they’ll explain everything, as the race winner describes the situation as “not cool”. Toto Wolff remains enigmatic, telling assembled hacks in the paddock that the issue will stay “a secret”. How bizarre.
Lewis Hamilton wins the Italian Grand Prix!
Hamilton gets his third victory at Monza, for a third different team – and Nico Rosberg’s late retirement has made this a very, very good day indeed for the British driver. Vettel comes in second, with Felipe Massa stealing a podium place after Rosberg’s engine gave out.
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Rosberg is out! That gap is going to be bigger than we thought – Rosberg, getting ever closer to Vettel, sees his engine give out one lap from the line. That’s a disaster for Rosberg’s title chances, and is celebrated by the pro-Ferrari crowd. Much like qualifying behind Hamilton, it seems an odd thing to celebrate.
Lap 51: “What do I need to do? I don’t have much more pace” says a stressed-sounding Hamilton. Mercedes reassure him that he’s still on track – perhaps it’s a largely precautionary measure. Hamilton has stretched his lead to 25 seconds, as Raikkonen saves some face by scooting past Pérez to rejoin the top six.
Lap 50: Alonso will have enjoyed those few laps of competitive racing – his car has now given up on him, billowing smoke in the pit lane as Alonso stomps back to the paddock. That’s the first retirement since effectively the opening chicane, which did for both Lotuses.
Lap 49: There could be some late drama after all – Hamilton is being told to up his pace, but they won’t tell him why. He leads by 23 seconds, so the obvious conclusion is that Mercedes want enough time for an emergency pit stop. A slow puncture is my best guess, but if they won’t tell Hamilton, what chance for a simple LBLer?
Lap 47: Hamilton’s expected victory will see him extend his championship lead over Rosberg, one way or another – he’ll move up to 252 points, with Rosberg set to add either 18 or 15 to his 199 total. It’s a healthy-looking lead, that’s for sure.
Lap 46: The two McLarens of Button and Alonso are racing for 15th, with Alonso closing in on his team-mate. It must remind them of those halcyon days when they were able to race other people.
Lap 45: Vettel and Rosberg head into traffic, which works in the Mercedes driver’s favour – he’s cut the gap down to 2.9 seconds. Raikkonen has closed on Pérez and is chasing sixth – impressive given that he was dead last after one lap, less so when you remember he was on the front row.
Lap 43: Ten laps to go, and here’s how we stand: 1. Hamilton 2. Vettel 3. Rosberg 4. Massa 5. Bottas 6. Pérez 7. Raikkonen 8. Hülkenberg 9. Ericsson 10. Ricciardo.
Hülkenberg and Ericsson aside, there’s clear track between the drivers, with Rosberg still trying to reel Vettel in. He’s running out of laps.
Lap 41: Hamilton now leads by 22 seconds, and is chatting to the team radio about ways to save the engine through the final 12 laps. He’s comfortable, is what I’m trying to say. Vettel is less so, with Rosberg trimming the gap to 3.7 seconds.
Lap 40: Hülkenberg and Ericsson are battling for eighth place, with Force India holding off on a second stop, and perhaps missing their window. Elsewhere, all is relatively calm.
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Lap 38: Reaching the business end of the race, and two likely scenarios present themselves: both involve Hamilton winning easily, but either Vettel or Rosberg can still take second. If Vettel comes second, this is primarily a bad day for Rosberg; if Rosberg carves out another Mercedes one-two, it’ll be a hit to the solar plexus for Ferrari, and the rest of the chasing pack.
Lap 37: Hülkenberg may now switch to a two-stop strategy, and pit ahead of those around him. Bit of a change of heart from Force India, but his tyres have suffered more than those around him. Verstappen delivers his usual bit of bravado, hopping past Nasr going into a chicane to jump up to 13th.
Lap 36: Hamilton sets another fastest lap, and this race now looks to be all about the fight for the podium and points. Rosberg is being encouraged to keep gunning for Vettel, who is four seconds ahead. Nico Hülkenberg, who has slipped to eighth behind Raikkonen, is worried his tyres won’t last the pace – but Force India are sticking with the one-stop strategy for now.
Lap 35: Romain Grosjean is talking about cash-strapped Lotus’ shocking day, saying that he was hit from behind which damaged his car irrepairably. He’s optimistic about the team’s chances in Singapore, though, after his breakthrough podium in Spa.
Lap 33: Hamilton responds to the pace of his team-mate, clocking a new fastest lap of 1:27.544. He’s not easing up, with Mercedes wanting a pit-stop sized gap between he and Sebastian Vettel. That’s four-time world champion, Sebastian Vettel. Hard to recall a specific race that Hamilton has dominated quite like this.
Lap 32: Raikkonen overtakes Ericsson – I’m sure he’s done so about five times already, but the late pit stop saw him drop back down to tenth. He’s now eighth, as Rosberg keeps a steady pace to creep towards the second-placed Vettel.
Lap 30: It was only Merhi’s quick thinking that kept him out of Raikkonen’s way there, as the Ferrari sailed into the pits. Pérez recovers to regain sixth place, giving Ricciardo a taste of his own medicine by forcing his way past into the first chicane.
Here’s the top ten after 30 lightning fast laps: 1. Hamilton 2. Vettel 3. Rosberg 4. Massa 5. Bottas 6. Pérez 7. Ricciardo 8. Hülkenberg 9. Ericsson 10. Raikkonen
Lap 29: Surprising scenes further down the field, as Ricciardo, who also hasn’t stopped, is able to leapfrog the recently pitted Pérez and into sixth. Raikkonen basically demands to pit, and very nearly collides with Marussia’s Merhi on his way in! That would have been embarrassing.
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Lap 28: Rosberg is breathing down Raikkonen’s neck, with the Ferrari driver still on his original tyres, racing a one-stop strategy to accommodate that awful start. He can’t live with Rosberg on fresh tyre, and the Mercedes vaults into third place.
Lap 26: Vettel stops, so Hamilton stops, as Mercedes take no chances. The race leader pits in 2.7 seconds, and emerges comfortably ahead of Vettel. We’re halfway, and this is Hamilton’s race to lose.
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Lap 25: Hamilton has been told that he’s still matching Rosberg’s time on his old tyres, which will have brought a smile to his face. Vettel is set to come in, as Ferrari try and do something – anything – to disrupt the Mercedes driver’s dominance.
Lap 24: Pérez makes the quickest pit stop of the day so far, to re-emerge in eighth place, just ahead of Kvyat. Bottas isn’t quite so successful, returning to the track behind Rosberg and Massa. Hamilton, Vettel and Raikkonen, now third after that flurry of pit stops, are yet to go in.
Lap 22: Hamilton has some issues with understeer, and may pit ahead of schedule. Bottas is coming in, hoping to keep ahead of Rosberg, as his team-mate failed to do.
Lap 21: ...but any excitement in the Ferrari paddock is short lived as the clock shows a 12 (TWELVE) second gap between Hamilton and Vettel. Raikkonen’s rick nonwithstanding, Ferrari still can’t keep up with Mercedes in a straight race.
Lap 20: Raikkonen has raced up to sixth as drivers around him pit, and has finally moved past the persistent Marcus Ericsson...
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Lap 19: The early stop works a treat for Rosberg, who is able to put his foot down and undercut Felipe Massa as the Brazilian makes a stop.
Lap 18: One-stoppers will be heading in shortly – and Rosberg will be the first to do so as he chases a podium spot.
“Whatever happened to the San Marino GP? They might not be able to beat England at football, but they sure could hold a car race back in the day” asks Andrew Benton. Sadly, it doesn’t seem the race was ever held in San Marino, but at nearby Imola. It was last run in 2006; who knows if it’ll make a plucky return one day.
Lap 17: All eyes on the battle for third at present, with Rosberg in shot behind the two Williams, and Massa almost ten seconds behind Vettel. It could be significant for the title race – Hamilton finishing first and Rosberg fifth wouldn’t be great news for the latter. There’s rumblings in the paddock as the pit window prepares to open.
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Lap 16: Hamilton is in the groove here, clocking virtually the same lap time again and again as he incrementally builds his lead over Vettel. It’s been a bad day for big hitters and mid-table teams so far, but Force India are enjoying themselves: Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg are sixth and seventh.
Lap 14: Hamilton leads Vettel by just over eight seconds, with Raikkonen battling back to tenth – Ferrari’s hopes clearly took a hefty nosedive the moment Raikkonen stalled, though.
Here’s the top ten as it stands: 1. Hamilton 2. Vettel 3. Massa 4. Bottas 5. Rosberg 6. Pérez 7. Hülkenberg 8. Ericsson 9. Raikkonen 10. Ricciardo
Lap 13: Rosberg can take comfort from his chase for a podium spot, but he’s already 14 seconds down on Lewis Hamilton, who is romping away with clean air all around him. Further down the field, Max Verstappen, for my money the most exciting driver on the grid, has surged from last to 13th.
Lap 12: The Bottas-Rosberg battle is heating up, with Rosberg deploying DRS to push the Finn down each of Monza’s fearsome straights. The Williams is holding his own, with team-mate Massa a further second ahead of him.
Lap 11: Nico Rosberg is still struggling with his brakes, but stays 0.5secs behind Bottas in fifth. Sainz takes his penalty, and gets back out on track in a sluggish 8.8 seconds.
Lap 10: Button’s McLaren has struggled to keep pace with the big hitters around him, but has complained that Sainz unfairly jostled him out of position through the second chicane. He’s vindicated by a five-second penalty that the stewards have just handed to Sainz. Lotus, meanwhile, are sanguine about their two-lap effort today:
Lap 8: Rosberg is being warned to go easy on the brakes as they’re overheating a touch, while Danny Ricciardo, the winner here last season, has charged up eight places to sit 11th, between Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat in a big Red Bull-themed battle for tenth.
Lap 7: Hamilton has racked up a four-second lead over Vettel now, as his Italian Grand Prix has started much more smoothly than he might have expected. The grid penalties, and Raikkonen’s shocking start, have added plenty of interest further down the field, though.
Lap 6: Things have settled down in the opening stages, but we can report that Pastor Maldonado was shunted over a kerb early in the race, and split his chassis pretty much clean in two. Not ideal. Sauber’s Felipe Nasr also picked up a puncture, and had to pit, but is still in the race.
Lap 4: Looking at replays of the start, you have to credit Nico Rosberg for managing to dart around the stricken Ferrari – but the German was then swamped by the two Williams waiting behind him. Rosberg currently sits fifth, chasing down both Massa and Bottas.
Lap 3: Hamilton has enough of a gap over Vettel to avoid any DRS threat, and will be a pretty happy man after a start that could have gone much, much worse. Raikkonen has charged back up to 12th, but is still a long, long way from being able to support Vettel in his pursuit of Hamilton.
Lap 2 of 53: Romain Grosjean, on the podium in Spa and one of the form drivers in the field, is already out of the race – and team-mate Pastor Maldonado has joined him! Lotus’s race is run after less than two laps. Hamilton and Vettel are the leading pair, separated by just a couple of seconds.
Lap 1 of 53: When Raikkonen does finally get going, he finds himself at the back of the field, 11 seconds behind Hamilton. What a disaster for a driver many were tipping to win today.
Go! Go! Go!
For the 85th time, the Italian Grand Prix is underway – but Raikkonen has stalled, and sits motionless as the pack swarm ahead of him! Hamilton leads into the first chicane...
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The drivers take their formation lap, before the serious business gets underway. Mercedes have had their problems off the starting grid, and this is just the second Grand Prix being held under new starting regulations. They didn’t cause too much confusion at Spa, but this is another day.
Five minutes to go before F1’s fastest race gets underway. Lewis Hamilton will be looking forward to getting through the tricky opening stages without seeing a flash of red – or two – go past him. He starts on pole, with Raikkonen second and fellow Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel third.
The track
Lewis Hamilton will be looking for his third Italian Grand Prix victory today – that would put him in pretty good company, alongside Sebastian Vettel, Rubens Barrichello, Alain Prost, Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, among others. Michael Schumacher is still out in front with five wins at a circuit that’s been an F1 fixture for over half a century.
Not bad, considering it only has a handful of ‘proper’ corners – Lesmos, the Ascari complex and the beautifully named Parabolica. Elsewhere, speedy straights and testing chicanes are the order of the day on a track that’s low on conventional overtaking opportunities – eight of the last 10 Italian GPs have been won from pole.
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The grid
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
- Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
- Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
- Felipe Massa (Williams)
- Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
- Sergio Pérez (Force India)
- Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
- Nico Hülkenberg (Force India)
- Pastor Maldonado (Lotus)
- Felipe Nasr (Sauber)
- Marcus Ericsson (Sauber)
- Will Stevens (Marussia)
- Roberto Merhi (Marussia)
- Jenson Button (McLaren)
- Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
- Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)
- Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull)
- Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
- Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso)
Today’s starting positions are affected by a vast array of grid penalties. Without wanting to be unkind, the Marussias didn’t drive their way to 13th and 14th. Marcus Ericsson has a three-place grid penalty for impeding Hülkenberg in qualifying, while both McClarens, both Red Bulls and both Toro Rossos are penalised to different degrees for a slew of engine changes. Max Verstappen starts at the back, as he didn’t fully take part in qualifying – but did enough to get an additional drive-through penalty. It’s not like these penalties are getting farcical, or anything.
Preamble
Formula One is making a final stop before heading out of Europe, bound for Singapore and a home straight lined with exotic locations, only skirting briefly back into the continent for a visit to Sochi. What a stop though – just ask Damon Hill, or our own Paul Weaver, who are both fearful that Monza could become just another casualty of the ever-changing calendar.
European tracks have revitalised a season that had threatened to flag, with drama at Silverstone and particularly in Budapest. More high-octane thrills wouldn’t hurt today, and they could be found at the very front of the grid. Lewis Hamilton starts on pole, but will surely be attacked from the get-go by Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, who start second and third.
Hamilton will be confronted by, well, Monza red wherever he turns at Ferrari’s Grand Prix, but the wild celebrations that followed Ferrari pipping Nico Rosberg to best runner-up, with a host of challengers bumped down the grid by a succession of penalties, tell us this is hardly a golden era.
A historic team, track and F1 event will be fighting for their reputation – maybe for their future – and it’s Hamilton’s job to spoil everyone’s party. Come cheer him on from 1pm sharp.
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