Formula 1 - 2017


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Drivers risk looking like "idiots" with Monza slipstreaming - Sainz

Drivers risk looking like "idiots" with Monza slipstreaming - Sainz

Carlos Sainz thinks there is too much risk of drivers looking like an "idiot" for teams to try out slipstreaming tactics at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend.

The combination of long straights, plus the high drag from Formula 1's 2017 cars, means there could be competitive gains to be made if teammates can help each other with a tow in qualifying.

That was what McLaren tried to do in Belgium last weekend, when Stoffel Vandoorne assisted Fernando Alonso in the team's attempts to get through to Q3.

But despite the fact a few extra tenths of laptime could make a big difference in the tight midfield, Toro Rosso's Sainz is sceptical about making slipstreaming work.

"It is something that can be a bit of a curveball sometimes if you don't do it perfectly," he said during an event for Toro Rosso sponsor Acronis ahead of the Italian GP.

"I think McLaren was a very special situation, because one of the drivers was taking a massive penalty, and he was anyway going to start last. So they really went for it because it made sense.

"For others, you can either be a hero or an idiot if you don't do it properly. So it is something very, very tricky to put together."

Toro Rosso is well aware that Monza's power demands mean that it could struggle against its main rivals this weekend, but it has not totally given up on a good result.

Daniil Kvyat said: "It is not an easy track for us here. It is totally straightline here. I like the track but we are not the fastest in a straightline, so it is probably about finding the right compromise in downforce and how fast you can go in the corners/straightline.

"We can still fight for good positions here if you get everything right on strategy. But in theory it is not the best track for us. But we still can deliver something good if we get everything perfect."

Renault progress

Kvyat also made clear that he was not impressed by Renault's lack of development progress this year compared to Mercedes and Ferrari.

"This year's Renault has been quite okay in the beginning, but to be honest there is some lack of development compared to Mercedes and Ferrari," he said.

"If we are honest, there is still something missing. But I think they will always keep working and if they find something, they will find something quite big. But it hasn't happened so far."

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Lowe’s qualifying shock after Williams switch

Lowe’s qualifying shock after Williams switch

Paddy Lowe says not dominating qualifying has been the biggest culture shock since switching from the title-winning Mercedes squad back to Williams.

Lowe returned to Williams, the team that launched his Formula 1 career in the late 1980s, at the beginning of this season, after a three-year stretch of winning World Championships with Mercedes.

In an exclusive interview with GP Gazette, Lowe said it hasn't been a lack of race wins that has taken adjusting to, rather the sensation of not topping qualifying – something unusual after 56 Mercedes poles from 59 races between 2014 and 2016.

"The only point this year when I've thought, 'oh,' is when you're in qualifying and you see a purple come up on the timing screen, and realise that it isn't yours," Lowe told GP Gazette.

"I've realised that through this process, that's the thing you want, those purples.

"I enjoy that far more than the flag or the podium or any of that stuff. Qualifying is ultimately the performance of the car, and when you've got a quick driver wringing its neck, that's the point of delivery, when you see the timing screen.

"We'll get back there…"

Lowe also discusses how 'impossible' the Mercedes dominance between '14 and '16 was, and the process of closing the gap to the current front-runners with the Williams squad.

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Williams plans 'substantial changes' for 2018 Formula 1 season

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The Williams Formula 1 team will be making "quite substantial changes" to key areas of its car's philosophy for the 2018 season, according to its chief technical officer Paddy Lowe.

Williams is currently fifth in the constructors' championship with 45 points but is locked in a tight midfield battle with Toro Rosso, Haas and Renault, with just 11 points separating the four teams.

"We will be making some quite substantial changes," said Lowe, who joined the team from Mercedes ahead of this season.

"There are lots of different things that we'll be doing and we're well into that at the moment.

"There will be quite a few areas where we will be changing philosophy."

Felipe Massa said Williams is falling behind in the development race, after both its cars failed to progress from Q1 in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix

When asked by Autosport if he agreed with that standpoint, Lowe said: "That's always possible.

"It's difficult to conclude anything from single races, as there is a lot of variation from circuit to circuit.

"We have to look at the trends. We are fighting hard in that midfield group. We haven't created any distance ahead of it but if anything we've slipped well into it in the last couple of months.

"We need to understand if that's something where we're going wrong or if we have been out-developed."

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Lowe said Williams, which is believed to have the sixth biggest budget of the 10 teams, was working hard to get the most out of its resources but conceded the team could be more efficient.

"We need to improve in all sorts of areas, that's the nature of the competition," he said.

"We have a set of resources and it's our job to do the best we can with those resources. It's about efficiency.

"We can be a lot more efficient than we are being at the moment.

"As we achieve more success, that will attract more resources to improve ourselves still further. That's the formula of grand prix development."

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ITALIAN GRAND PRIX: DOMINANT HAMILTON LEADS CHAMPIONSHIP

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes dominated the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, with Lewis Hamilton scoring his sixth race of the season and with it taking the lead in championship drivers’ points by three over Sebastian Vettel who finished third on Ferrari home soil, albeit 30 seconds adrift of the winner.

After becoming Formula 1’s most prolific pole winner, Hamilton was untouchable at Monza controlling the race from the moment he powered off the start-line. Valtteri Bottas, after failing to to match his teammate in qualifying, turned fourth place on the grid to second place and claim the Silver Arrows’ third one-two of this season.

The weekend belonged to Hamilton whose feat on Saturday was widely praised by fans and media alike. He was quick to dedicate the pole to Michael Schumacher who he surpassed on the record books by claiming his 69th top spot start in Formula 1.

When the lights went out to start the race at Monza, Hamilton took advantage of the topsy-turvy grid and simply roared into the distance. Once ahead he was able to keep a five or six seconds lead over his pursuers, and when Bottas emerged in second place the pair were able to cruise to the end without stressing their cars. 

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It would be fair to say that it was one of Hamilton’s easiest victories, his fourth at ‘La Pista Magica’ and Mercedes’ fourth consecutive win at the home of Ferrari. He has not been the leader of the championship since he topped the standings after the Italian Grand Prix race last year.

He said afterwards to boos and cheers from fans below the podium, “I love it here in Italy and I love the passion of the fans. They’re fantastic. I’m happy, we did a great job, the team did an exceptional job. We owe it all to them.”

Then added provocatively, “Mercedes power is definitely better than Ferrari power. It worked well this weekend. The start was a bit difficult as the grip was quite low. It’s a great day and result for us.”

“The last two races have been incredibly strong. We’ve just gone from strength to strength. The car felt fantastic. It’s still close and a long way to go. Ferrari should be quick at the next circuit with the extra downforce they can put on their car so the fight continues,” concluded the new championship leader.

Although Bottas fluffed his lines on Saturday he bounced back in style to claim second place on race day. By lap four he was in second, perhaps realising that holding station was the best he could do and from a Mercedes perspective did everything that could have been asked of him for an unhindered one-two.

Bottas said, “Like Lewis, the start was tricky. I just needed to get my head down and get the places step by step. The car was so strong today, it was amazing how quick we were and it was a joy to drive.”

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For Vettel it was a case of damage limitation, turning sixth on the grid to third was probably the nest he could do with what he had at his disposal. In front of the tifosi it has to be said that Ferrari were comprehensively beaten, and the German could be forgiven for settling for third rather than risking it all in pursuit of the silver cars which were clearly superior on a high-speed track that suits their car.

Vettel summed up, “It was entertaining. My start was not so good and it took a while for me to trust the car. After that we were a bit isolated. We didn’t have the pace of the leading two drivers. Even if this race has been difficult, I know we have a strong car and will have a strong end to the season.”

Our ‘Man of the Match’ was Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo who was in scintillating form as he powered through the field from 16th on the grid, thanks to engine penalties, to finish fourth.

His ‘dribble” on Sergio Perez’s Force India early in the race was jaw dropping stuff, but he went even better midway through the race when he ambushed Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen – the move of the day – to claim fourth where he stayed until the chequered flag waved. The Aussie setting the fastest lap of the race in the process.

Ricciardo, Raikkonen

Ricciardo said afterwards, “We were closing down the podium. We were catching Seb by a second a lap but then he was able to turn it up a bit and I was using all of my tyres. It was fun. Definitely had some really good overtakes. Hopefully we created some highlights for the year.”

“I’ll give Kimi credit for racing clean and fair. But I’d have done the move on anyone to be honest. I was aware the deeper I got towards the front the harder overtakes would be. I had blinkers on for the move and happy to pull it off,” added Ricciardo.

His Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen was in the wars all day long, contact with Felipe Massa’s Williams resulted in a front tyre puncture early on and compromised his race. Typically he fought back hard, upsetting Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in the process, to claim the final point for tenth place.

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Verstappen reflected, “My race was basically finished after three laps so I was playing catch up. I still did quite a decent race so I was pretty happy with. Singapore? I was happy here even though I was fighting back and Daniel finished fourth. In Singapore hopefully we can fight for a real podium.”

Raikkonen was fifth on a day where he appeared out of sorts, complaining about an issue at rear of his car. He could not match the pace of his teammate, let alone the top two and had no answer for Ricciardo ahead.

After starting third Esteban Ocon gave a solid display as he quickly got by Williams’s teenage rookie Lance Stroll and held station despite a strong race long battle. packed with constant pressure, with the Williams duo as Felipe Massa joined the battle late on in the race.

The trio raced nose to tail for the final dozen laps, Ocon holding fast to finish sixth, with Stroll in under his wing as they crossed the line and Massa in his young teammate’s slipstream to claim eighth.

The Brazilian was fortunate to escape without damage despite contact with Sergio Perez and Verstappen as well as rubbing wheels with Stroll in the final laps.

Smiling from ear-to ear, Stroll said, “It was good. Could’ve been better. There were parts of the race that weren’t perfect. Lewis didn’t have such a great start which blocked me and meant I had to back off and give the position to Esteban

“It was a very special moment for me [starting on the front row]. Qualifying was probably the highlight of the weekend, being able to do what I did in those conditions,” added the 18 year old.

Perez made it two Force India’s in the points with ninth place after a relatively trouble free afternoon.

The Honda powered McLaren’s had another forgettable race with both drivers, Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso, retiring with technical issues. Another massive blow, perhaps even the mortal one, for the beleaguered partnership.

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Blow-By-Blow

Hamilton held his lead at the start, with  Stroll and  Ocon tucking in behind the pole-sitter. Their hold on the podium positions was short-lived, however, and after dropping back at the start, Bottas powered through and by lap three was up into second place behind his team-mate.

Further back Verstappen had made a superb start and by the end of lap one the Red Bull driver was up to eighth place from 13th on the grid. However, in attempting to get past Massa, there was contact and the Dutch driver sustained a front-right puncture and wing damage. He made his way to the pits for a new nosecone and fresh tyres and rejoined in last place.

Vettel too was pushing forward and after passing team-mate Räikkönen, the Ferrari driver managed to put himself into a podium spot by bypassing Ocon for P3 on lap eight.

Hamilton, though, was setting phenomenal pace and by lap 12 the Mercedes driver was 3.1s clear of team-mate Bottas and a full eight seconds ahead of championship leader Vettel.

By lap 28 Hamilton had more than doubled his advantage over his title rival, the gap now 18.0s. Behind the top three, however, it was Ricciardo who was on charge.

The Australian had qualified third but engine-related penalties had dropped him to 16th place on the grid. After the start he was quickly on the attack, however, and over the course of the first 10 laps he steadily picked off his rivals to sit in ninth place.

He executed a superb move on Perez at the second chicane to claim another spot and then as drivers ahead pitted for fresh tyres, he rose to fourth place behind Vettel.

The German was the first of the podium-placed drivers to pit, at the end of lap 31. He took on soft tyres and rejoined in fourth place. Hamilton made the same switch a lap later and he was followed by Bottas at the end of lap 33.

Ricciardo, though, continued to push on and on lap 35 he was 10.8s behind Bottas and 8.7s ahead of Vettel and 20 seconds clear of fifth-placed Räikkönen.

The Red Bull driver was the last of the frontrunners to pit and after a swift 2.2s stop for soft tyres he emerged 2.6s behind Räikkönen.

Armed with fresher tyres Ricciardo began to take chunks of time out of the Finn and on lap 41 he pounced, blasting past the Ferrari driver into the first chicane in a clinical overtaking move. He then set off after Vettel, lapping a second quicker than the German was who 11s ahead with 11 laps remaining.

Ricciardo’s pursuit of a podium place was the most diverting element of what, at the front, had become something of a procession. On lap 45, Hamilton was a comfortable 3.7s ahead of Bottas, while the Finn was a whopping 28.6s ahead of Vettel who was now struggling with unspecified mechanical difficulties following a Turn 1 off. 

On lap 45 Ricciardo set the quickest time of the race to that point, a lap of 1:23.748. That was again a second quicker than Vettel on the same tour and the gap between the former Red Bull team-mate shrank to 8.7s.

With Mercedes secure in the top two positions, it was all about Ricciardo and Vettel in the closing stages and the Australian set a sequence of purple laps to closed to within five seconds of the German with four laps remaining.

With two laps remaining, though, Vettel responded and a personal best widened the gap to a comfortable 4.8s as he made sure that the threat from the Red Bull driver was nullified.

Ricciardo, though, had done enough to enliven a race utterly dominated by Mercedes and as Hamilton secured his 59th career win, 4.4s ahead of Bottas and some 36s ahead of Vettel, the Red Bull driver took a brave, battling and superbly executed fourth place.

Behind him, Räikkönen finished in P5. Ocon took sixth place ahead of Stroll, with neither youngster undoing the good work they had completed in qualifying and only the limitations of their machinery forcing them backwards.

Massa was eighth in the second Williams, while Perez was ninth for Force India. After his initial woes, Verstappen recovered to the final point on offer with tenth place. 

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STROLL: I’M GETTING BETTER AND BETTER

Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll was the revelation of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, two days in which he deservedly won the respect of drivers, teams, media and fans alike with a performance that dispels doubts that he is ready for Formula 1.

The 18 year old Canadian, son of billionaire Lawrence Stroll, has faced some heavy criticism since he started his Formula 1 career at the season opener in Australia earlier this year.

Granted Stroll has had made mistakes, but he is a rookie after all. But at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix he showed glimpses of his abilities and maturity with a solid drive to third place in only his eighth grand prix.

But it was on Saturday, during qualifying at Monza, that the teenager came of age with an impressive performance in trying conditions he qualified his Williams fourth in the rain affected marathon session – ahead of his veteran teammate and better than the Ferrari duo – in what was his first experience of driving the current generation car in the kind of wet weather that prevailed on the day.

On race day, as expected, he had no answer to the factory teams but still managed to deliver another notable drive to finish seventh. Staying out of trouble and slugging it out without fuss when needed.

After the race he told reporters, “It was good. Could’ve been better. There were parts of the race that weren’t perfect. Lewis didn’t have such a great start which blocked me and meant I had to back off and give the position to Esteban.”

“The pace was strong and it was a shame about the pitstop. That was our opportunity to jump him. A good P7 which was awesome. I had a massive flat spot so couldn’t see much but racing is racing. I really enjoyed myself.”

“Every opportunity that I have to be in positions that I was today is strategy that I’ll learn. Days like today and Baku, I feel like I’m getting better and better.”

It was a very special moment for me [starting on the front row]. Qualifying was probably the highlight of the weekend, being able to do what I did in those conditions,” added Stroll who became the youngest Formula 1 driver to start a grand prix from the front row.

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HAMILTON: MERCEDES POWER IS BETTER THAN FERRARI POWER

Lewis hamilton, Monza podium

Lewis Hamilton has always shown admiration and respect for the tifosi, but after winning the 2017 Italian Grand Prix in dominant style he was greeted by resounding booing from the massive crowd as he stepped onto the podium to celebrate his third win at the iconic venue and Mercedes’ fourth consecutive win at Monza.

Speaking to podium MC Martin Brundle amid the deafening boos, Hamilton said,  “You know what, Iove it here in Italy and I love the passion of the fans, particularly the Ferrari fans, they’re fantastic.”

“This energy is like nowhere else we ever really get to see, apart from maybe Silverstone, so I respect it, I appreciate it. But I’m happy. We did a great job. The team did an exceptional job this weekend and me and Valtteri – Valtteri also did a great job – I think we owe it all to them.”

When the booing failed to subside he quipped cheekily, “Mercedes power is definitely better than Ferrari power.”

He added, “It’s all just to do with the team pulling together and trying to maximizing everything on the car and Valtteri and myself really trying to do the best job we can with the car.”

“But today the car was fantastic and really a dream to drive. But a big thank you to all the fans who came out today, grazie a tutti, and I look forward to coming back next year,” before taking out his smart phone and snapping photos of the red swathe of people crowded under the podium.

For the tifosi and their beloved Ferrari, Hamilton delivered a telling blow by winning comfortably – over 30 seconds to the nearest red car – and at the same time taking a three points lead in the drivers’ championship standing from Sebastian Vettel. The first time the Briton has led the championship this year.

Mercedes seem to build their cars to suit Monza, they have yet to be beaten at the venue since the dawn of the new turbo era. Hamilton having won the latest edition of the race, adding trophy to the ones he collected in Italy in 2014 and 2015. Nico Rosberg won the race last year.

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RICCIARDO: OUTFOXING OPPONENTS IS GOOD FUN

Ricciardo, Raikkonen

Daniel Ricciardo was one of the stars of the Italian Grand Prix, as the Red Bull driver displayed his gutsy and shrewd race craft on a number of occasions – but few will have thrilled fans more than his move on Sergio Perez early in the race and then his ambush on Kimi Raikkonen midway through the race.

His move on Perez was the equivalent of football’s ‘step-over’ as he stalked the Force India driver through the Curva Grande, went one way and then jinxed the other way to steal sixth place from the Mexican.

Then around the halfway mark the Australian came upon Raikkonen, granted he was on fresh Pirelli supersofts with the Ferrari driver on older softs, but Ricciardo pounced from a long way back as they approached the first chicane and squeezed past to claim fourth place where he stayed until the chequered flag.

With trademark big smile he told reporters afterwards, “We were closing down the podium. We were catching Seb by a second a lap but then he was able to turn it up a bit and I was using all of my tyres. It was fun. Definitely had some really good overtakes. Hopefully we created some highlights for the year.”

“I’ll give Kimi credit for racing clean and fair. But I’d have done the move on anyone to be honest. I was aware the deeper I got towards the front the harder overtakes would be. I had blinkers on for the move and happy to pull it off.”

Although Ricciardo qualified third on Saturday, Red Bull decided to take a myriad of engine penalties (as did several other drivers on the grid) which resulted in the Aussie starting from 16th.

But this failed to deter him, “Two of my most enjoyable races have been Silverstone and today. Maybe we should start at the back more often. When you have the pace obviously to come through the field makes it better, but when you have a fight and can try and outfox your opponents it is good fun.”

“My engineer was telling me that we were catching [Vettel] at the end. At one second a lap we were going to get really close, but then he was able to turn up the pace and I was using every bit of my Pirelli tire that I could. In the end there was nothing else I could do.”

“We always say Monza is a weak circuit, but we tend to have really good races here. If we are having a rebirth, Singapore will be a big action for us, hopefully we have a big baby there in terms of a trophy,” added Ricciardo who lies fourth in the drivers’ championship standings after 13 rounds.

 

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ALONSO: FIA MUST HAVE BEEN HAVING A HEINEKEN

Fernando Alonso

The stress of plodding about at the back end of the field clearly got to McLaren driver Fernando Alonso as he spewed fury when his overtake on Jolyon Palmer, during the Italian Grand Prix, was nullified after the Renault driver cut the chicane to regain the position.

Although the FIA race stewards hit Palmer with a five seconds penalty, Alonso remained livid in the cockpit when he was informed and shouted, “Five seconds is a joke, a joke.”

Later when told that Palmer was forced to retire from the race, he declared: “Karma!”

Speaking to reporters after the race the Spaniard was still pulling no punches, “When we arrived at the chicane we were side-by-side, we braked late and I managed to take the chicane, but he didn’t and he jumped it and stayed in front.”

“Usually that’s something that’s very clear in the rules: when two cars are side-by-side at the chicane and one gets to take it and one doesn’t, you give back the position, but this time the FIA must have been having a Heineken.”

Alonso himself retired with a gearbox issue late in the race and afterwards when asked if the five seconds penalty on Palmer was fair, he replied, “No, because then you lose 10 seconds, and the problems we had with the gearbox were because of the heat and having Jolyon in front another three or four laps…”

“If grabbing the football with your hands is a penalty, it should always be a penalty. It’s not my interpretation and seeing what the stewards think this time… But anyway, being fighting for 16th and 17th it doesn’t matter. But I think the spectators want to see something normal, not a party,” he added sarcastically.

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Alonso stay "very likely" if McLaren switches to Renault - Brown

Alonso stay "very likely" if McLaren switches to Renault - Brown

McLaren believes it is "very likely" Fernando Alonso will stay with the team in Formula 1 next year if it switches from Honda to Renault engines.

The team is expected to reach a final decision on its future with Honda this week, with speculation growing that it will switch to Renault power.

Alonso's three-year contract with McLaren expires at the end of this year, and with limited seats available elsewhere on the grid, his future is at the centre of discussion around the driver market.

When asked by Sky Sports what the chances were of McLaren keeping Alonso if it switches to Renault engines, its executive director Zak Brown said: "Very likely, very likely.

"Fernando loves the team, he's as passionate as ever to drive. There's been some reports about [going to] IndyCar and things of that nature – he wants to be in Formula 1."

Brown believes McLaren has a chance of retaining Alonso even if it sticks with Honda for next year.

"He just wants us to be in a competitive situation, and I wouldn't rule him out if things stay status quo," he added.

"With the stuff that we are seeing, that we're going to review further this week, I wouldn't say it's a forgone conclusion if we continue with Honda that he doesn't continue with us.

"We need to get more competitive. This weekend showed we're just really not making any significant progress. How long can you wait before you have upset drivers, upset partners, upset fans?

"Everyone is hanging in there with us but it can't go on forever."

Alonso said after the race that McLaren's engine decision was "not the most important thing" influencing what he will do for next year.

"Many news are coming in the next weeks and hopefully all of them will be useful to me to make a decision," he said.

"I'll keep looking at what options are there for next year, I need to study all of them and make a decision.

"We know what that [Renault] engine could do – Red Bull did five, six consecutive podiums, and we know what Mercedes could do as well with Force India this year, Williams on the first row of the grid [at Monza].

"So we know what are the options, we need to make a decision. We need to concentrate more on next year, not this year's results.

"It's an important week, for McLaren to make some decisions, and hopefully we'll all know something before Singapore so we can comment on it there."

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Palmer "doesn't care" about Alonso's complaints

Palmer "doesn't care" about Alonso's complaints

Jolyon Palmer says he doesn’t care about Fernando Alonso’s complaints following their clash in the Italian Grand Prix, because he believes the McLaren driver pushed him off the circuit.

Alonso was furious during the race when Palmer did not concede position to him after going off track at the second chicane as they battled under braking.

He was also unhappy that the Renault driver only received a five-second penalty from the stewards, who he accused of “having a Heineken” rather than watching the race.

But Palmer feels Alonso was at fault in the first place.

“I was ahead coming in the corner, he braked super late and forced me off the track,” Palmer told Sky Sports.

“I’m sure it will be another talking point at the next race because Fernando is not very happy about it but I don’t care.”

Palmer was displeased earlier in the weekend with an FIA verdict on Alonso running him out of road at Spa, and he said that clarification from F1 race director Charlie Whiting made incidents like the one at Monza inevitable.

“It’s what I thought might happen,” he said. “We had a big meeting [at Monza] and if someone is on the inside you know you can just release the brakes.

“You are ahead at the apex, sure, but the other guy has nowhere to go apart from crash or cut the corner.

“I cut the corner, came back on side-by-side, and made it in the next corner.”

Palmer eventually had to retire from the race, which Alonso described as “karma”, and the Briton said the penalty he had to serve at his pitstop was costly in his battle to get near the points positions at that time.

“We were looking pretty good in the race, then the five seconds in the stop put us quite a long way back,” he added, having run as high as 11th before his stop.

“The pace we had was good, quicker than all those in that group up to the edge of the points, it’s just a shame that on the super-soft [in the second stint] I didn’t get the chance to catch and overtake some people.”

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Magnussen “annoyed” by lack of penalty for Verstappen clash

Magnussen “annoyed” by lack of penalty for Verstappen clash

Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen says the inconsistency of penalties in Formula 1 annoys him more than the actual move by Max Verstappen that put him on the grass in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Verstappen had just passed Magnussen for the final points-paying position when they arrived at the Roggia chicane in close proximity.

Verstappen edged over to the right just as Magnussen was moving alongside, causing the Dane to run on to the grass and take to the escape road. While he didn’t complain much about the move itself being dangerous, Magnussen did believe that Verstappen should have been penalised.

“I was annoyed, but only because there was no penalty,” he said. “That was pushing someone off the track. It is racing, stuff happens, but at least the penalty should be the same for everyone, that is my point.

“This was on the braking, he didn’t leave me enough room so I went on the grass and missed the corner. I had run-off there, but if not it would have been the end – I’d be in the gravel or in the wall.

“I didn’t have a great chance to pass him back in that corner, so there was no reason for him not to give me the space, perhaps he just didn’t judge it right, but my point is the penalties should be the same for everyone.

“P11 is probably the best result we could’ve got, but it’s still annoying when you’ve run in the points the whole race and get done at the end. But we weren’t fast enough.”

When asked about it after the race, Verstappen shrugged off the incident: “To be honest, I don’t really feel it was an incident, also I don’t really care.”

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Kvyat says McLaren's pace at Monza "alarming"

Kvyat says McLaren's pace at Monza "alarming"

Daniil Kvyat reckons it is "alarming" that McLaren was able to fight so closely with his Toro Rosso team during the Italian Grand Prix.

Kvyat spent a significant part of the race locked in a fight with McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne before the Belgian was forced to retire on lap 33 with a problem.

Kvyat went on to finish in 12th position, over a lap down, after one of the most difficult races of the year yet for Toro Rosso.

The Russian reckons McLaren, which has struggled with the power of its Honda engine all year, had a quicker car at Monza, something he labelled as "alarming".

"Even McLaren was faster than us today, to be honest," said Kvyat, whose team is still 29 points ahead of McLaren in the standings. "I think they were looking very strong.

"I think they were focusing more on the corners with their set-up so I was able to stay closer and it was much harder for him [Vandoorne] to stay with the tow with me, but at the Parabolica they were so close he was able to stay close and I had to close the line every lap.

"It wasn't easy. It's a bit alarming if McLaren can stay with us in this kind of track. There's a lot to do and we need to start working on developing the strong point of the car."

Teammate Carlos Sainz endured a similarly difficult day and, having started from 15th place, he wound up 14th in the race.

"We were running a lot less downforce than our competitors to try and compensate the power loss," Sainz said. "We were also definitely faster than the Renault on the straights but a lot slower than them on the corners.

"If we would have started in the top 10, with our top speed, we might have just held on to it, but starting 15th, when you don't have the pace to recover, it's impossible."

The Spaniard reckons, however, that Red Bull's strong pace this weekend showed Toro Rosso can't put the blame exclusively on the Renault engine for its struggles.

"In general we cannot put all of our blames onto Renault this weekend. Red Bull shows that even without the most competitive power unit, you can still look good in circuits like Monza.

"For us, we just didn't have a good package for coming into Monza and we must learn from it and see what's our defects and solve them for Singapore because we need to start bringing some good results, just take a step forward."

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Ferrari president says the team screwed up at home F1 race

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Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne says his Formula 1 team "screwed up" at the Italian Grand Prix after seeing Mercedes cruise to a dominant 1-2 finish.

Just one week after Sebastian Vettel pushed Lewis Hamilton hard for victory in Belgium, Ferrari had no answer to the pace of its main championship rival.

Vettel finished 36 seconds behind Hamilton to leave Ferrari chasing answers about what had gone wrong.

But rather than accept that the result was damage limitation - with Vettel only losing 10 points to Hamilton on a weekend when the gap could have been much bigger - Marchionne said the team had to take full responsibility for not having built on its Spa performance.

"I think we just screwed up," Marchionne told German broadcaster RTL.

"The setup for the car was wrong. I think we underestimated the circuit.

"We screwed up from Belgium, from Spa, into here. Now, we need to go back to the factory and find out which way the car went sideways. But we will be back in Singapore."

Ferrari will return to its Maranello factory this week to try to understand why both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen struggled to get comfortable with the car over the Monza weekend - especially under braking.

Matters were also not helped by it being unable to try improvements on Saturday morning when, after a difficult opening day, the final free practice session was hit by rain.

Speaking about the weekend, Raikkonen said: "We lacked speed unfortunately and then the balance maybe wasn't correct.

"We changed [the setup] after Friday and obviously in the race was the first time we tried.

"But with the 

setup, it was not going to be awfully different.

"So it's something we have to fix in this kind of circuit with the low downforce."

Vettel's pace later in the race was also affected by him driving more cautiously in light of a power steering issue that had resulted in him running down the escape road on lap 40.

 

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HASEGAWA: I’M NOT SURE IT WILL BE ENOUGH

Yusuke Hasegawa

Honda F1 boss Yusuke Hasegawa admits he is doing all he can to convince McLaren that ditching their troubled project is not the right course of action, despite indications that ending the troubled partnership is exactly what the Woking team’s management are seeking to do this week.

If there was ever a glimmer of hope for McLaren-Honda it was on Friday afternoon, after FP2 at Monza when Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso ran problem free throughout the ninety minutes session, ending that first day of the Italian Grand Prix weekend seventh and eighth respectively.

But the glimmer turned out to be a mirage as the weekend turned sour from then on. Ahead of the race in Italy Alonso knew he had a 35-place grid penalty for a raft of changes to his power unit, while Vandoorne found out about his on Saturday night when a problem was found with the MGU-K shaft in his power unit.

In the race Vandoorne made it up to seventh at one point, but not long after mid-distance he reported a loss of power due to a suspected MGU-K issue within the new power unit. He retired from the race on lap 34.

Alonso was aggressive and feisty as he made his way from the back of the grid to 11th despite a faulty gearbox sensor, which eventually forced the team to retire his car on lap 51 as a precaution, at which point he had dropped down the order.

In the end it was arguably the most miserable weekend of McLaren’s woeful season, and perhaps the proverbial ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back’ amid strong indications that they will ditch Honda power, irrespective of what it costs them to dissolve the partnership.

Talks with Renault are at an advanced stage and Hasegawa knows it, “I’m still trying to make good performance to convince them but I’m not sure it will be enough. Honda never give up on keeping this collaboration.”

Despite the bad publicity and negativity, he claims that this is not detering his staff, “It accelerating our development. It becomes motivational inside the factory.”

Hasegawa also insists that there is progress, “Since Austria, the Spec-3 engine introduction, our development has accelerated and the rate of development is very good. We saw some performance gain with each upgrade so it’s very encouraging.”

An added that for the next race “we have some confidence about competitiveness, we have already decided the current engine will go to Singapore.”

McLaren have said that they intend making a decision regarding their Formula 1 future this week.

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VETTEL: I’M NOT TOO STRESSED ABOUT IT

Sebastian Vettel

Despite suffering a resounding defeat by Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton at the Italian Grand Prix, Ferrari drive Sebastian Vettel says he is not stressing over the fact that he trails in the championship standings for the first time since the start of the season.

Vettel told reporters after the race at Monza where he finished third, “I think we probably lacked something like half a second per lap, but there’s not all the parts of the race you can judge. I’m not worried too much about the gap. As I said before, Monza is a specific place. If you have that extra bit and confidence then it makes a big difference. So, I’m not too stressed about it.”

Vettel crossed the finish line over half a minute adrift of race winner Hamilton, in one of the team’s weakest performances of the season.

Vettel explained, “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 two winning but I think with the third position, at least we gave everything we had and that’s the most important.”

Monza was awash with red, the tifosi and the team’s senior management expectant. But they all went home disappointed that their team was no match for the Silver Arrows during the course of the weekend.

Vettel added, “We gave everything for the people out there. The support has been amazing and, despite the numbers, the gap, you can name the negatives but I’m very, very positive right now, to be honest.”

“I know that people are going into the office tomorrow more committed than before. The spirit is there, 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, Mercedes are giving us a very, very hard time, especially at the moment, but we’ll see. It’s a long journey still,” said Vettel who now lies second in the championship, three points adrift of top spot.

In the constructors’ championship Ferrari are second, trailing Mercedes by 62 points.

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WOLFF: FERRARI HAS MADE A STEP BACK

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In the aftermath of the Belgian Grand Prix where Ferrari took the fight to Mercedes and nearly upset them on a power circuit, much was expected for the Italian Grand Prix a week later but Toto Wolff was (like most) was surprised that Ferrari went AWOL on their home circuit.

It would not be an over-statement to say that Mercedes trounced Ferrari in front of the tifosi. Lewis Hamilton snatched the F1 world championship points lead from Sebastian Vettel (who had led since the start of the season) and did so by powering to an easy victory, ominously crossing the line 36 seconds before the best placed Ferrari.

Wolff told reporters after Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished one-two in Italy, “For me Ferrari has made a step back – somehow. Yes, we have been very solid, but they have not performed in the way everybody had expected. Red Bull starting from the back of the grid and almost finishing in P3 is something that is probably very difficult to swallow.”

“It was a faultless race for us. We had no problems whatsoever. We were gently excited about our pace today and collecting those valuable points, looking ahead to Singapore was really important.”

“It’s had those swings this season, tracks where we were really good and others we struggled. Ferrari lacked performance here from the get go and Singapore shouldn’t be what our lady [ the Mercedes W08] likes but we will do a good job to try and make the best car possible.”

“When you look back one week, everyone thought Ferrari would be further behind but they were giving us a really hard time. With these new cars it’s about learning the lessons and understanding Ferrari lacks answers today, we were lacking answers in some of the other races.”

“We see some deficits and strong points and now it’s about checking the boxes and having the best possible car. After the start it looked like it could be another difficult race for Valtteri. But he made his way back and scored a fantastic second place.”

Apart from keeping an eye on the two Silver Arrows, Wolff was also watching the action behind them “Esteban and Lance, with all the tough stuff they were getting, they did great racing. We were watching with curiosity if Daniel could catch Sebastian. Maybe Ferrari just didn’t find the sweet-spot of the car or tyre.”

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Red Bull's Christian Horner says engine penalty system needs serious rethink

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has hit out at Formula 1's engine penalty system which caused widespread confusion at the Italian Grand Prix this weekend, as nine drivers were handed grid penalties.

The bizarre situation, the result of various engine component and gearbox changes, saw Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo qualify second and third, before being demoted to 13th and 16th.

However Carlos Sainz and Jolyon Palmer, with ten and 15 place-penalties respectively, remained in the same grid positions they qualified, whilst Kevin Magnussen, who failed to escape Q1, started inside the top ten (ninth) a position ahead of Sauber's Marcus Ericsson who gained eight places on the grid.

Horner believes the system needs a rethink as it has become too confusing for fans and predicts it will only get worse as the season progresses.

"It needs a serious look at to see whether there is a better way to penalise a manufacturer or an entrant as opposed to messing around with the grid," said Horner. "It is only going to get worse towards the end [of the season] and it would be a shame to see this championship decided on grid penalties."

Horner is also keen to see the reduced number of power units allowed next season increased, as it is due to drop to three despite the calendar expanding to 21 races from 20.

"What concerns me is that we are going to three engines for next year with more races," he added. "To me, that should be number one on the agenda at the next Strategy Group meeting.

"I tried to get it changed at a meeting earlier in the year but there was no support for it. I would hope that would perhaps be different with teams staring down the barrel of further penalties between now and the end of the year.

"Obviously the penalty has to be a significant deterrent because the whole point of this was cost-saving. But we're not saving costs because the engines are going on a world tour anyway. Maybe five engines is the right number rather than four going to three."

FIA president Jean Todt was present at the race on Sunday and confirmed the penalty system needed to be looked at, saying he was open to suggestions and would raise the matter at the next Strategy Group meeting.

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Formula 1 announces record attendance for Italian Grand Prix

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Formula 1 has announced that a record number of spectators attended the four-day Italian Grand Prix weekend at the Monza circuit.

It is the second race in a row that an F1 race weekend has set a new attendance record, with 185,000 fans flocking to Monza over the Italian GP.

The passionate Ferrari fans were out in force for the team’s home race, boosted by its improved fortunes and competitiveness in 2017.

It was a difficult race for Ferrari, with Sebastian Vettel a distant third and Kimi Raikkonen in fifth, while rivals Mercedes secured a 1-2, with Lewis Hamilton leading Valtteri Bottas.

The attendance figure of 185,000 over the four days is an increase of 32.8% compared to last year and a 15.7% boost compared to the previous record, set in 2000, when 161,500 spectators passed through the gates.

“It’s the first time I’ve attended the Italian Grand Prix and I was amazed by the incredible passion of the crowd, which had come to Monza from all corners of the globe,” said F1’s commercial boss, Sean Bratches.

“The record numbers confirm just how much Formula 1 captures people’s imagination. An increase of a third over the 2016 crowds and a 15.7% improvement over the previous record are incredible numbers.

“I would like to say a special thank you to everyone who sat out in the grandstands in the pouring rain on Saturday, waiting for the track conditions to improve enough for Formula 1 qualifying and the Formula 2 race to be run.

“This passion is a great incentive to work harder still to put on an even better show for the fans who follow this sport all over the world.”

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Esteban Ocon admits sixth 'the maximum' at Italian Grand Prix

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Force India racer Esteban Ocon has admitted he is “a little disappointed” not to finish on the podium at Monza, but said the target was unrealistic on race day, with sixth being "the maximum".

Having starred in the wet qualifying session on Saturday, Ocon lined up third on the grid for Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix and stormed into second at the start.

However, as the faster Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull cars moved through the field and up the order, Ocon was unable to keep them behind him.

The Frenchman gradually slipped to sixth, having to hold off Lance Stroll, Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez in the closing laps to secure the position.

He was hoping for a possible podium chance on Sunday but admitted that, realistically, sixth is a very strong result.

“I really enjoyed the race and I’m happy with our performance,” Ocon said. “At the same time, I’m a little disappointed because I really wanted to finish on the podium.

“But you have to be realistic and we didn’t have the pace to match Mercedes and Ferrari, so I think sixth place was the maximum we could achieve.

“At one stage, we were racing against [Kimi] Raikkonen and I thought we could keep him behind, but he was just too quick.

“I also had a good battle with [Lance] Stroll for most of the race and I had to work hard to keep him behind me.

“With the strong qualifying yesterday and the sixth place, it’s been a great weekend. I have to say a big thanks to the whole team for all their hard work and for giving me such a competitive car.”

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Haas punished more than other teams - Steiner

Haas punished more than other teams - Steiner

Gunther Steiner has suggested his Haas team has been impacted more than many of his Formula 1 rivals with inconsistent stewards' decisions this season.

Kevin Magnussen was "annoyed" the stewards did not give Max Verstappen a penalty for forcing him off track during the Italian Grand Prix.

It comes after Magnussen asked FIA F1 race director Charlie Whiting to explain in the drivers' briefing why he had got a penalty for a clash with Nico Hulkenberg in Hungary but Fernando Alonso avoided one for his driving in a battle with Jolyon Palmer at Spa.

Steiner joined Magnussen when he went to speak to the stewards so he could discuss his concerns about how penalties were handed out.

"We talked mainly about that but we expand into the inconsistencies in general and what we said before, it seems Haas is a lot of times on the receiving end of the inconsistencies," he said.

"They assure me we are not [being unfairly treated], but I'm pretty sure we are.

"There the inconsistencies start, we're not agreeing on that one so we cannot even agree on that one, if it is true or not.

"It's always, when we do something, is it a race accident or not, you get a penalty. That's what we struggle a bit with. We just want it to be clarified.

"Will we ever get it clarified? I don't know. It's an inconsistency. I know it's not an easy job. I wouldn't like to do it, and therefore I wouldn't do it. If you do it, you need to be consistent in my opinion."

Steiner said the subject is set to be discussed at the next drivers' briefing in Singapore and added the FIA needs to reconsider the way it deals with penalties.

"I think they will bring it up at the next driver's meeting in Singapore to get a clearer understanding when you get penalised because what I most struggle with is the stewards' inconsistency," he said. "I just don't get it.

"[Consistency] is difficult to achieve but they achieve it in a lot more bigger places than motorsport. We should put a system or people in place that can be consistent.

"I don't know what is the best but for sure they can find out a way they can do it."

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Grid penalties keeping Formula 1 fair - Force India

Grid penalties keeping Formula 1 fair - Force India

Grid penalties for engine or gearbox infringements keep costs down and allows for a more level-playing field in Formula 1, says Force India chief operating officer Otmar Szafnauer.

F1's sporting boss Ross Brawn said ahead of the Italian Grand Prix weekend that F1 chiefs are pushing for an end to grid penalties because the system has got out of control.

In Italy, nine of the 20 drivers had penalties, following engine or gearbox changes, meaning the grid looked dramatically different to the final qualifying timesheet.

"If we had an unlimited amount of money, I'd agree with Ross," said Szafnauer. "Let everyone spend what they want. Then it's a whole different formula.

"But you can't say we have to control costs but not have this kind of stuff because they are incongruent those two statements. We have to remember why they are there and one of the reasons was cost saving.

"In the old days, before we had a set number of engines per driver you can use, you could use one engine per race and that cost a lot of money.

"Next year we go to three engines per driver. How do you remove the incentive to say well I don't care if it's three, I have the money to spend so I'll do six?

"One way to do it is grid penalties. They remove the incentive to spend money on engine development.

"If there is a better way to do it, I'm all for it. When the rules were written, that was the best way."

Despite the frustration from fans on social media, Force India technical director Andy Green believes the mixed grid created by the penalties ultimately provided an entertaining race.

He said: "What is wrong with having grid penalties and mixing the grid up? It's something we always talk about, trying to make a better show.

"You've just had it and now everyone is complaining the grid is mixed up. Make your mind up guys. What do you want? Who won driver of the day? [Daniel] Ricciardo [who started 16th and finished fourth at Monza].

"Where did he start? Towards the back with grid penalties. It was the best drive this afternoon. Tell me that is wrong. I don't think so."

 

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Ferrari signs new long-term Marlboro deal

Ferrari signs new long-term Marlboro deal

Ferrari will remain with tobacco sponsor Philip Morris and its Marlboro brand for the near future, after announcing it has renewed its long-term deal.

Although no Marlboro logos have appeared on the car since cigarette advertising was supposedly banned from F1 in 2007, Ferrari has maintained the use of the red and while colours in its livery and corporate branding.

Back in 2010, however, Ferrari had to remove a barcode design from its car after there were suggestions it was subliminal advertising for Marlboro.

The partnership between Philip Morris and Ferrari began more than 40 years ago, and since 1997 it has been title sponsor. A statement issued on Monday said the new deal was multi-year.

Philip Morris' previous contract had been due to run out at the end of this year, but the association between the two companies was always likely to continue thanks to the arrival of former Philip Morris marketing man Maurizio Arrivabene as Ferrari team principal.

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Analysis: How Mercedes embarrassed Ferrari at home

Analysis: How Mercedes embarrassed Ferrari at home

After pushing Mercedes so hard on the long straights of Spa-Francorchamps, Ferrari had no answer for Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas when the high-speed party continued at Monza.

It was hard to believe that the Belgian and Italian GPs took place just a week apart, so different was the dynamic between Mercedes and Ferrari.

At the first event Sebastian Vettel chased Lewis Hamilton home, and the Briton suggested that his rival had the quicker car – and admitted that he had in effect secured the win only by getting pole.

Seven days later at Monza, a track with which Spa is twinned both in the calendar and in terms of their shared high-speed nature, Mercedes was utterly dominant.

Pole was the key once again, but this time it ensured that Hamilton beat his only real rival, teammate Valtteri Bottas.

This was a race which had more in common with the past three seasons than what we've become accustomed to in 2017, with the two silver cars way out ahead of the rest, a result that put Hamilton into the lead of the world championship.

Instead of beating, or at least making life hard for Mercedes, Ferrari was left breathless on the biggest weekend of the Italian team's season.

The fact that on this power circuit Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull could charge from 16th to fourth – passing one red car and very nearly catching the other – added insult to Maranello injury.

If pole went a long way to securing victory for Hamilton, then it was certainly well deserved. His brilliant lap in Saturday's soaking wet and much-delayed session was an appropriate way to move ahead of Michael Schumacher in the all-time rankings.

Q3 also saw the Ferraris stranded in seventh and eighth, although they were fortunate to gain two spots apiece when grid penalties were applied to the Red Bulls.

Another to move up was Bottas, who was only sixth initially. He was fastest in Q1 and second behind Hamilton in Q2 on intermediates despite a mistake, but he struggled with tyre temperature on full wets in Q3, which would prove very costly.

Even with the two-place gift from Red Bull, Bottas knew that he had to pass interlopers Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon before he could get on terms with Hamilton, and that by the time he did, it might he too late.

"I think for me the main thing is to try and get past the Williams and Force India as quickly as possible. In a dry race there's reasonable pace difference between the cars, so it's going to be the main goal in the beginning of the race."

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-Benz F1 W08  leads at the start of the race Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF70H Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08, Esteban Ocon, Sahara Force India F1 VJM10, Lance Stroll, Williams FW40, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H, the rest of the field at the start

Slow start costs Bottas

In the end he didn't quite get there early enough. Wheelspin on the slippery grid contributed to him initially losing a place to Kimi Raikkonen, although he managed to slice back past his countryman at the end of the first lap, and in some style.

Bottas duly got Stroll, and then at the start of the fourth lap, he slipped by Ocon for second.

But by the time Bottas made it to second, Hamilton was 3.3s up the road, and that was always going to be a difficult margin to do anything about.

He had a go, and as they traded fastest laps in the early going he got it down to 2.7s on lap 8, before Hamilton began edging away again, a tenth here, a tenth there.

Their respective single pitstops – which took place relatively late, on laps 32 for Hamilton, and 33 for his teammate – were never going to make any difference.

Nevertheless, both men were still very much on the case around the stops, with Bottas banging in the fastest Sector 1, Hamilton responding with the fastest Sector 2 on the next lap, and the Finn replying in turn with the fastest Sector 3.

However, Hamilton was always very much in charge, and he stayed safely in front to the flag.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W08 Second place Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1, Race winner Third place Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, celebrate, Champagne on the podium Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, the Mercedes team celebrate victory

Hamilton in cruise control

For most of the last third of the race the gap stayed resolutely at around 3.5s, and Hamilton saw no reason to slacken his pace. He also felt he had the measure of his teammate, come what may.

"There's a comfortable region that you operate in," Hamilton explained. "If you back off, it gets to an uncomfortable space, that's generally when mistakes step in. I was comfortable generally from lap 1, I had could pace, and I was able to answer to whatever the people behind, the pace they put in. I think Valtteri did a solid job, he was very, very consistent every lap.

"I generally felt like I had a few tenths on him the majority of the time, but I don't know how much he was pushing all the time. What I did know is that if he had given me a time, I felt certain that I had the pace in the car to at least answer to it, if not improve on that.

"I just controlled the pace, I kept a gap around three seconds, it got to 3.9, and then I picked up the pace."

Hamilton did a few quick laps right at the end, seemingly just for fun. In fact he had an agenda. When he did it earlier this year he explained that he was conducting some extra R&D, and that was also the case this time.

Engineers can never have to much data of course, and no doubt they will be grateful for Hamilton's extra homework. Just as he was happy that his guys went off and worked out just why Ferrari was so close in Belgium, learning lessons that paid dividends in Belgium.

The man who really needed to learn from Spa was Bottas, who struggled badly. He was right on it at Monza, but was at a loss to explain why things had turned around so dramatically for him.

"Nothing changed," said the Finn. "I still don't know completely why Spa was so difficult, but I didn't change anything in terms of my operation or driving style or anything. I think most of the races this year have been competitive, and this was one of them. I think Spa, was for some reason, I don't know completely why, was a one-off, and that's history.

"So it was a good Sunday here, the pace was good all through the race, there was some good racing there. Obviously yesterday Q3 was a bit tricky, otherwise Friday and Saturday was good. It's good to have a strong result as a team, and it was just an amazing race for us today."

Monza was a tough weekend for Ferrari, and everyone in the Mercedes camp expects a strong response in Singapore.

However, Hamilton will be doing everything he can to extend his lead.

"To be leading, whilst it's only a couple of points, I'm grateful for it," he said. "By no means do I feel comfortable, and I will apply myself the same that I have these past three or four races and hope that I can reverse the picture, because earlier on in the year it was obviously 20 points gap or whatever between myself and him.

"So I'm going to see if we can have that feeling for a while..."

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Mika on McLaren | A trip down memory lane

Two-time World Champion, Mika Hakkinen, takes time out at the 2017 Italian Grand Prix to talk to Tom Clarkson on his world championship winning years and his favourite McLaren memories during his time with the team.

 

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