@rickie
@writingamigoLewis Hamilton had a fantastic weekend as he followed up breaking Michael Schumacher’s all-time record for pole position, with a brilliant win at the Italian Grand Prix.
After smashing the all-time record of finishing in pole position, Lewis took control of the race in Monza, Italy, by superbly leading the race from start to finish, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas immediately behind. Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel could only manage the third position.
The sixth win of the season sees Hamilton not just cut the slim lead of Ferrari’s Vettel at the top of the driver’s standings, but also sees Hamilton take the lead in the Championship with a three point margin at the summit, ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel who has won only four races this season.
Hamilton becomes the first driver after 13 races the season to achieve a back-to-back win, in what has been a neck-to-neck battle with Team Mercedes, Ferrari and more surprisingly Team Red Bull. The achievement may yet prove very pivotal towards the later stages of the season.
Hamilton highlighted his legendary status when he scored pole position on a wet Saturday, which gave him a tally of 69, as against the previous record of 68 held by the great Michael Schumacher.
He really didn’t have to do during the race, as he had a straightforward victory. Apart from a brief challenge from Lance Stroll who began from second on the grid, Hamilton had it smooth on the tracks.
The major fights all happened behind Hamilton, including a collision between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and William’s Felipe Massa, which left the Red Bull Driver with damaged front wing and a puncture. He, however, was able to recover on his return to finish tenth in the race.
Not to downplay the amazing potentials of Team Ferrari and the ever consistent and impressive Sebastien Vettel, who led the driver’s chart with about 14 points before Hamilton’s back-to-back win.
Vettel has shown over the years that his driving style is Championship-worthy, and this season he convincingly solidified that impression, especially during the difficult weekends Mercedes had earlier in the season.
With 7 races left, and with the unpredictability of some tracks and some of the car engines, one cannot say for certain who would win or where the next 3 races, beginning with the Singapore Grand Prix, would swing to.
The Italian based Ferrari and Sebastien Vettel would fancy their chances at the all familiar Singapore track, come next weekend. Team Mercedes would also be hoping that a repeat of the last weekend’s race would see them start in pole to enable them to secure the Singapore Grand Prix.
It would definitely be an interesting spectacle to behold, as the Formula One season gradually begins to edge towards a fitting finale in Abu-Dhabi.
The team, however, with a consistent result over the next 3 Grand Prix in Singapore, Malaysia and Japan would very well give themselves a big push in the chase for the driver’s title and the constructor's Championship.
As if often expected, there were evident boos for Team Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in particular, from the home crowd (Tifosi) because he stopped the home team Ferrari and crowd favorite, Sebastien Vettel from winning and extending his lead at the top.
The home support by the Tifosi was massive, but Vettel and Ferrari couldn’t deliver the first win since 2010 at Monza.
Lewis Hamilton, while reacting to the booing directed at him on the podium, described it as "inevitable."
"This energy is like nowhere else we ever really get to see, apart from maybe Silverstone, so I respect it, I appreciate it," he said. "I'm happy."
According to Lewis Hamilton during the post-match interviews when he was booed by the Tifosi…
"The team did an amazing job. Valtteri did a great job. Mercedes power is better than Ferrari power, so that's one thing."
Ahead of the Singapore race, where Mercedes engineers have been outspoken that they feel Ferrari would be very strong in Singapore, Lewis Hamilton reacted to that by saying…
"I think we will be able to give them a good race." But he added: "I think still Ferrari are going to be quick there. They are rapid through the medium and low-speed sections of circuits.
"I am going there with a positive approach expecting to fight for the win, but if we can't, we take it at face value and damage limitation."
Third placed Sebastien Vettel, after the race, said….
"My start was not so good - I had quite a lot of wheel spin, and we didn't quite have the pace of the leading two cars but seeing the people and having that support was amazing. We have a very strong car and will have a very strong end of the season."
"I am not worried too much about the gap," Vettel insisted. "Monza is a specific place. If you have that extra bit of confidence [in the car], then it makes a big difference. So, I'm not too stressed about that.
"We probably knew it would be a difficult race. Probably expected as well that we would be closer but, all in all, it's not nice to see them winning, but I think with the third position, at least we gave everything we had, and that's the most important.
"You can name the negatives, but I'm very, very positive right now, to be honest. I know that people are going to the office tomorrow more committed than before. The spirit is there, and we just need to keep it up.
"It's a journey; we see where it takes us. It's been a long way that the team has come from three years ago but we are nowhere near satisfied. Despite maybe having had a good season so far, it's not good enough. Ferrari needs to be at the front, and Ferrari needs to be on top of everything. So that's where we want to go.
"For sure, they are giving us a very, very hard time, especially at the moment, but it's a long journey still."
Daniel Ricciardo whose only win of the season was at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, also said in Monza
“I learned from 2015,” he says in Monza. “I had built up that that was going to be a championship year. I thought we had the tools to do it, but we didn’t. I held on to it for quite a while and became a more frustrated, unhappy person. I wasn’t my typical self often enough.
“I changed my perspective. I am frustrated that we are not in a championship fight, but if I hold on to the frustration, it is not going to make me perform better. I have years left ahead of me; I have to be smart in how I deal with it.”
Ricciardo admits that not competing with the two title contenders remains hard to take.
“There is some frustration,” he says. “I look at Seb or Lewis and think: ‘If only I had your car.’ I acknowledge they are at the top of their game, but I feel I could be there as well.”
“I have gone past the days of it being demotivating, I can see the bigger picture,” he says. “Everything you can learn from is an opportunity to become stronger. The day I do get a championship winning the car I will run with it. I will capitalize on every part of that beautiful thing.”
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff also had a say on how the weekend went at the Italian Grand Prix. He said:
"For me, it looks like this weekend Ferrari has made a step back somehow. I think we were very solid, but also they haven't performed in the way everybody expected. Red Bull starting from the back of the grid almost finishing third tells you something is out of sync here, something is not how it should be."
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner complained about the grid penalties, and while expressing his disapproval said…
"It needs a serious look-at to see whether there is a better way of penalizing a manufacturer or an entrant or a constructor as opposed to messing around with the grid," Horner said. "I think it will only get worse and it would be a shame to see this championship decided on grid penalties."
Christian Horner, Red Bull’s Boss, wasn’t alone in his observations as well. McLaren Honda was hit as well with grid penalties that saw them start at the back – unsurprisingly, due to several engine penalties. Both Honda’s eventually retired from the race.
Honda’s performance and reliability have been below par and completely unacceptable this season. And it is quite evident that McLaren is seeking a way out of their partnership with the Japanese car dealers. Renault seems to be future partners in waiting for McLaren, after Mercedes and Ferrari both turned them down months ago.
| Position | Driver | Team | Grid | Fastest Lap | Race Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 | 1:23.488 | 1:15:32.310 | 25 |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 4 | 1:23.722 | +0:04.471 | 18 |
| 3 | Sebastien Vettel | Ferrari | 6 | 1:23.897 | +0:36.317 | 15 |
| Rank | Team | Driver | Wins | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | Lewis Hamilton | 6 | 238 |
| 2 | Ferrari | Sebastien Vettel | 4 | 235 |
| 3 | Mercedes | Valtteri Bottas | 2 | 197 |
| 4 | Red Bull | Daniel Ricciardo | 1 | 144 |
| 5 | Ferrari | Kimi Raikkonen | 0 | 138 |
| 6 | Red Bull | Max Verstappen | 0 | 68 |
| 7 | Force India | Sergio Perez | 0 | 58 |
| 8 | Force India | Esteban Ocon | 0 | 55 |
| 9 | Toro Rosso | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 0 | 36 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 0 | 34 |
The races are always action packed, so are the interviews and the post-race evaluations.
Do you think Team Mercedes can continue their dominance at next weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix? Let’s get your opinions.
