Hamilton wins Monza after tyre scareposted in F113 | 09 | 2015
LEWIS HAMILTON WON the Italian Grand Prix to rack up the 40th Formula One win of his career. But the double world champ endured a late drama when his Mercedes team was called before the stewards to explain low air pressure in their Pirelli tyres.
Hamiliton, starting from pole position, made a clean getaway while his team-mate, and closest rival for this year's title, Nico Rosberg, bogged down at the start and slipped to sixth from third.
It was an even worse start for Kimi Raikkonen. Staring alongside Hamilton on the front of the grid, the Ferrari driver slid back to last.
From there, Hamilton dominated the race, but with only a few laps remaining, and without being told any reason why, he was told by his team that he needed to push. At the time, Hamilton led the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel by 20-seconds: he eventually won by 25s.
After the race it transpired Mercedes had been referred to the F1 stewards after their tyre pressures were found to be below Pirelli's specifications.
FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer's report said the top four cars on the Monza grid — the Mercedes and Ferraris — had their left-hand tyres checked on the grid after the five-minute signal.
While the Ferraris were within Pirelli's 19.5psi tyre pressure specification and 110-degree tyre blanket temperature, both Mercedes were outside the marks.
Hamilton's tyre was measured at 0.3psi below, Rosberg's at 1.1psi under.
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After the hearing, the stewards decided the result should remain unchanged, with the stewards determining the tyres were initially inflated correctly, and had reduced in pressure by the time the measurement was taken because they had cooled down due to their warming blankets being unplugged.
"Having heard from the technical delegate, the team representatives and the Pirelli team tyre engineer, the stewards have determined that the pressures in the tyres concerned were at the minimum start pressure recommended by Pirelli when they were fitted to the car," said an FIA statement.
"In making this determination regarding pressures, the stewards noted that the tyre warming blankets had been disconnected from their power source as a normal procedure and the tyres were significantly below the maximum permitted tyre blanket temperature at the time of the FIA's measurement on the grid and at significantly different temperatures from other cars measured on the grid.
"Further the stewards are satisfied that the team followed the currently specified procedure, supervised by the tyre manufacturer, for the safe operation of the tyres.
"Therefore the stewards decide to take no further action."
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Hamilton's path towards a third world crown was also further helped by the retirement of Rosberg three laps from the end of the rand prix when his Mercedes engine blew.
It was the first mechanical retirement for Mercedes this season and comes after Rosberg had to revert to an old engine, which had done six races, after an issue with his upgraded unit.
As a result, Hamilton now heads to Singapore leading the championship by 53 points, with seven races remaining.
Williams' Felipe Massa inherited third, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas fourth and Raikkonen fifth after a strong recovery drive.
Sergio Perez, driving Force India's B-spec car, followed up his fifth place finish at Spa with sixth at Monza, as the Mexican continued to impress. Perez finished one place clear of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.
It was a miserable race for Lotus, which saw Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado both suffer contact at Turn 1. While the Frenchman pulled off track, Maldonado recovered to the pits and parking the car in the garage.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo delivered a an impressive drive, recovered from having started 19th after a 25-place grid penalty for changing engine elements to finish eighth. His team-mate Daniil Kvyat finished 10th.
F1 Italian Grand Prix, Monza — Result:
1. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 53 laps 1hr 18m 00.688s
2. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari +25.0s
3. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes +47.6s
4. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes +47.9s
5. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari +1m 08.8s
6. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes +1m 12.7s
7. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
8. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-Renault +1 lap
9. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
10. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull-Renault +1 lap
11. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
12. Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
13. Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari +1 lap
14. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda +1 lap
15. Will Stevens GBR Manor-Ferrari +2 laps
16. Roberto Merhi ESP Manor-Ferrari +2 laps
Retired:
Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 51 laps completed engine
Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 48 laps completed engine
Romain Grosjean FRA Lotus-Mercedes 1 lap completed contact
Pastor Maldonado VEN Lotus-Mercedes 1 lap completed contact
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Jim McGill