Hamilton wins despite threat of disqualification

Star of the race and winner

Lewis Hamilton climbed on to the top step of the podium, winner of the Italian Grand Prix. This podium stretches out above the crowd, often described as the best one of the year for the drivers with thousands of people immediately making their way on to the track to celebrate with the top three, waving their flags, chanting your name, or more likely the Ferrari driver they hope has made it there.

The tifosi may not have got the winner they hoped for but they still had Sebastian Vettel finishing second and former prancing horse hero Felipe Massa on the steps beside Hamilton. These two looked very happy, but what must Lewis have been thinking?

Pole position, fastest lap, leading every lap and winner yet his victory was in doubt. Mercedes were reported to the stewards for a tyre pressure infringement. There's a bit to this story, so pay attention. During the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, there were two tyre blow outs, one for Nico Rosberg's Mercedes during practice and the other for Sebastian Vettel while in third position two laps from the end.

Vettel was understandably annoyed and demanded answers. Pirelli have long been criticised for anything they do with the tyres as you can rarely please everyone, or even anyone in Formula 1. In reality, something that is difficult to comprehend by most teams, Pirelli do exactly as they are told. The tyres are like they are because that is what the FIA have asked them to do. 

Anyway, after the blow outs, a lot of muttered comments were suddenly a lot louder, that the tyres were unsafe and something must be done. Pirelli have given directions about how the tyres should be used, guidelines which haven't always been adhered too. However, despite doing a thorough analysis of the Belgian failures which determined that cuts to the tyre and not how they are constructed were to blame, Pirelli advised putting the tyre pressures up by 1psi after various discussions.

This was to be checked before the race and any team found to be in contravention of this would be reprimanded in some way. Well a few laps from the end of the race and with the win all but secured, Hamilton was radioed by his team and told not to ask questions, but to turn the engine up and go for it.

This was because they suspected they could be in for some sort of time penalty at best, disqualification at worst. As Hamilton stood on the podium, his win was under threat. It was the most serious challenge to his superiority all weekend and made for a tense ending that the race had failed to provide.

The stewards were deliberating why Hamilton's left rear tyre was 0.3psi below the pressure Pirelli had said. His team mate Rosberg's left rear was 1.1psi below. Firstly this rule amendment was brought in for safety but to run under is also a performance advantage here.

Finally, hours after the podium ceremony had finished, Hamilton was declared the winner after the circumstances were explained. When the tyres were fitted to the cars before they left the pit lane the pressures were correct. When they were checked on the grid after being allowed to cool because the tyre blankets were not connected, the pressures had dropped. There was no suggestion Mercedes had done this deliberately. 

It'll be interesting to see the fall out of this because any other engineer asked about it said it should probably be a disqualification. The procedure for checking tyre pressures is already being looked at for future events.

It would have made for a terrible end of the weekend for Mercedes, especially with Rosberg retiring from third place with an engine failure. As for Lewis though, he was invincible, leading from the start and never troubled. A champions performance.

The battles

Jenson Button had some memorable scraps as he vaulted from 15th on the grid up to ninth after the first corner. This power circuit was never going to suit McLaren Honda but he at least put up a fight as he slipped down the field to finish just 14th. He's beginning to look increasingly fed up with the progress the team are making, especially with Honda who claimed their engine was more powerful than also struggling Renault. 

As the French manufacturers cars streamed by the Japanese one's it was tempting to wonder if Honda might have become a bit delusional. I'll not be surprised to see Button leave rather than be pushed. His team mate Alonso had no hope for the race before it started, justifiably so as he retired six laps from the finish. 

There were some good scraps in the pack as after engine penalties had left the Red Bull's and the Toro Rosso's at the back of the grid, they made their way through. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat made in to the points, eighth and tenth respectively, Ricciardo grabbing his place with a last lap move on Marcus Ericsson's Sauber who it is fair to say was a bit annoyed about it. But it was Max Verstappen who made the move of the day on Ericsson's team mate Felipe Nasr into the first chicane with a fine move and exceptional precision on the brakes to come around the outside into turn one. Think about it, at nearly 220mph to 53mph in the blink of an eye, riding the edge of adhesion, but making sure to do later than the person you want to overtake. Great move.

A word on Ericsson though, who despite losing a place on the last lap still finished ninth for his third consecutive points finish. He's really beginning to show his talent now after looking like he might only be there because of the money he brought, but he's finally showing the form he had in the lower formulae.

Kimi Raikkonen provided some entertainment but perhaps not the sort he wanted to. After qualifying a best of the year second, Kimi claims a clutch problem caught him out and he dropped to the back of the field. He raced hard to finish fifth, but a podium is what he wanted. A shame for Kimi as he looked the match of his team mate Vettel who was second after a quiet run to second, apart from when Rosberg was catching him before the Mercedes drivers engine failure.

The Force India's of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth and seventh while Massa held off Valtteri Bottas in the other Williams to claim the final podium spot. Massa claimed he was getting too old for this but he looks to finally on the form he was in back in 2009 before his accident as he continues to outshine highly regarded Bottas.

Things of note

The grid for 2016 looks to be nearly set. All the seats at Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Williams, Toro  Rosso and Sauber are now confirmed as the same driver line up. Nico Hulkenberg has signed up for two more years at Force India as the top teams continue to ignore him.

I wrote earlier in the year that Perez's performances in the other Force India had begun to put Hulkenberg in the shade and this continues despite a mid season up turn after his win for Porsche in Le Mans. Perez had a go in a top team but he only lasted a year, if Hulkenberg really wants a go in a top team when a seat does become available then he has to start thrashing Perez, sadly I think he's missed the boat, but at least with another two years to try and impress he's not given up on the dream yet.

It'll also be interesting to see if McLaren keep Button as they seem to want to or if Button is just going to walk away. They also have Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne on their books, both looking for a drive next year. I think we could see both of them in lower grid teams to learn their trade.

After the podium high in Belgium, Romain Grosjean was bumped out of the race on the first lap while Pastor Maldonado broke the floor of his car as he was forced off the road during the opening corners. Lotus are meant to be being bought by Renault to turn them in to a works team, but original rumours had this being completed by now, so something is holding up the deal. Whatever it is they need it to happen soon for financial security as they are literally only just managing to turn up.

Finally, according to autosport Red Bull are understood to have exercised an option to get out of their Renault contract so they can have Mercedes engines for 2016. This might speed up the purchase of Lotus for Renault and it would also give us the mouth watering prospect of a proper title fight with Red Bull. However, would Mercedes want to give a top team the very real chance of beating them? For the good of Formula 1 and for competition, I hope so.

The title battle

Hamilton is now 53 points ahead of Rosberg and 74 ahead of Vettel. Is it game over? Some might say has there ever been a game to play this season? Well anything can happen, and there is still 175 points to race for. Rosberg has been outclassed all year, but this engine failure is likely to deprive him of much hope. Can he fight back, of course he can but the problem is he's had to fight back all year, but has rarely been able to. I think it's a nail in the coffin for his title hopes. Vettel just doesn't have the car to compete consistently.

In reality this is a demonstration run for Hamilton, it's that rare time in a drivers life, when they have the luxury of driving the best car while driving near the peak of their powers. When that happens it's hard for anyone else to get a look in, it seems to me newly blonde Hamilton is going to have a lot more fun in the coming races.

Result

1. Hamilton - Mercedes
2. Vettel - Ferrari
3. Massa - Williams
4. Bottas - Williams
5. Raikkonen - Ferrari
6. Perez - Force India
7. Hulkenberg - Force India
8. Ricciardo - Red Bull
9. Ericsson - Sauber
10. Kvyat - Red Bull
11. Sainz - Toro Rosso
12. Verstappen - Toro Rosso
13. Nasr - Sauber
14. Button - McLaren
15. Stevens - Marussia
16. Mehri - Marussia
R. Rosberg - Mercedes - engine
R. Alonso - McLaren - electrical
R. Grosjean - Lotus - collision
R. Maldonado - Lotus - collision

all photos taken from autosport.com