Lewis Hamilton claimed his 3rd Italian Grand Prix victory by dominating the race on Sunday finishing over 20 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Williams F1 and former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.
Following the Tom Brady deflate-gate, Mercedes decided to run their tires lower than Pirelli allowed for during the race. Immediately after the race, NBC speculated that the team knew he could face a 25-second penalty and ordered him to push giving him a win of just slightly over 25 seconds.
Win
A win for Lewis Hamilton for taking his third win in Italy. His win was his 12th of the season and he did it in comprehensive style. Lewis was in command all weekend long in a car that was equal to the task.
A win for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari for getting a red car on the podium at Monza as well as a recovery drive from Kimi Raikkonen to 5th and in the points.
A big win for Monza favorite Felipe Massa and Williams for taking the final podium spot capitalizing on Nico Rosberg’s DNF. Massa always a favorite of the Italian crowds said he was too old for that kind of battle in which the team responded “rubbish, we’re just getting started”.
The FOM camera inside the rumble strip showing the cars roll over the camera…great shot!
While Kimi Raikkonen garners a fail for his start, his recovery drive was a win coming from the back of the pack up into the points and making some really nice passes through the field.
A big win for Monza and the Italian Tifosi who put on an epic podium ceremony once again and actually booed Lewis Hamilton in favor of the driver they booed a couple years ago, Sebastian Vettel…it does matter which car you are in in Monza.
Fail
Unfortunately a fail goes to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen for balking at the start and missing an opportunity for a possible Ferrari double podium.
A fail for Mercedes and Nico Rosberg for not being able to use the new engine over the weekend and running the Spa power unit to its demise on lap 51 with a blown engine rendering Nico’s title hunt even more desperate. Mercedes has been bulletproof this season but it was Nico’s misfortune to be the driver who would ultimately suffer the teams one DNF so far in 2015.
A big fail for Lotus F1 who were borrowing tire blankets from other teams to even compete this weekend. Two DNF’s at the first lap is a tragic exclamation mark on a team that is on life support and barely breathing.
Perhaps George Lucas was not the best choice for interview session post-race. Not to worry, Lewis shot first. I’d imagine we could have George go back and edit the footage and put in some CG effects to make it a decent interview.
WTH
In a bizarre moment with a handful of laps remaining, Mercedes radioed Lewis Hamilton telling him to got to strat 3 and push and not to ask questions, just do it. They told him again that he was to comply and not ask questions and after the race, LEwis was frustrated but the team cut him off on the radio and said they would talk later.
Apparently the team had less tire pressure in Lewis’s right rear tire and was called to the stewards. Apparently fearing a time penalty from the stewards, the team asked Lewis to push in order to offset any time penalty they may garner.
Roberto Mehri get a WTH for nearly taking out Kimi Raikkonen during a pit stop on lap 26. Mehri locked up his Marussia under braking into the the pit lane and narrowly missed running into the back of Raikkonen.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 53 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 53 |
| 3 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 53 |
| 4 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 53 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 53 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 53 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 52 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 52 |
| 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 52 |
| 10 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 52 |
| 11 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Renault | 52 |
| 12 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 52 |
| 13 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 52 |
| 14 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 52 |
| 15 | Will Stevens | Marussia/Ferrari | 51 |
| 16 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia/Ferrari | 51 |
| 17 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 50 |
| 18 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 47 |
| – | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 1 |
| – | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 1 |
DRIVERS’ STANDINGS
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 252 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | 199 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | 178 |
| 4 | Felipe Massa | 97 |
| 5 | Kimi Raikkonen | 92 |
| 6 | Valtteri Bottas | 91 |
| 7 | Daniil Kvyat | 58 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | 55 |
| 9 | Romain Grosjean | 38 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | 33 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | 30 |
| 12 | Max Verstappen | 26 |
| 13 | Felipe Nasr | 16 |
| 14 | Pastor Maldonado | 12 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | 11 |
| 16 | Carlos Sainz | 9 |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | 9 |
| 18 | Jenson Button | 6 |
| 19 | Roberto Merhi | 0 |
| 20 | Will Stevens | 0 |
CONSTRUCTORS’ STANDINGS
| Pos | Constructor | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 451 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 270 |
| 3 | Williams/Mercedes | 188 |
| 4 | Red Bull/Renault | 113 |
| 5 | Force India/Mercedes | 63 |
| 6 | Lotus/Mercedes | 50 |
| 7 | Toro Rosso/Renault | 35 |
| 8 | Sauber/Ferrari | 25 |
| 9 | McLaren/Honda | 17 |
| 10 | Marussia/Ferrari | 0 |
I cannot believe that Mercedes was not penalized for the tire pressure issue. It doesn’t matter if they followed procedures or not, it was under inflated. Two drivers were excluded from the GP2 event for having under inflated tires, where is the consistency? On another note, for those who saw SkyF1 pre-race show, they showed the moment of silence that was done for Justin Wilson and all the drivers showing their respect, except for Lewis. The man could not take his hat off like the rest of the drivers because he did not want to show his new blonde hair,… Read more »
The tyre pressure is the pressure required at the stat of the race. The pressure was measure five minutes before the start of the event (after the blankets had been removed so the temperature and pressure would have dropped). The warm up lap should have restored the pressure.
Mercedes stated that the pressure was checked by Pirelli, using one of the tyre companies certified gauges. The procedure detailing how and when the pressures are to be measured needs some clarification, so we don’t get this issue happening again.
During an interview with Sky, Rob Smedley said that once the blankets are off, it takes several minutes and he hinted more than 10 minutes for the effects of not having the third blankets would start to take effect. F1 is know for not being consistent with the rules.
“Mercedes stated that the pressure was checked by Pirelli, using one of the tyre companies certified gauges. ” but these were not ‘F1 certified gauges’ which were mentioned in the release before the Stewards meeting, which were used in the check on the grid, which happens to be the ‘starting grid’ and not when the tyres are fitted to the car. They found an infringement of the rules so they should both have been excluded from the results.