It was a perfect day for Lewis Hamilton at Monza. The Englishman dominated the Italian Grand Prix from start to finish and he took a giant step
ADVERTISEMENTIt was a perfect day for Lewis Hamilton at Monza. The Englishman dominated the Italian Grand Prix from start to finish and he took a giant step towards the world title after his main rival was forced to abandon the race.
Lewis Hamilton’s victory was the 40th of his career, the seventh of the season as well as his third at Monza.
It gives him a 53 point lead in his bid for a third Formula One championship after his Mercedes team mate and closest rival Nico Rosberg retired with his car in flames.
But he faced a post race investigation after stewards reported that the left rear tyre on Hamilton’s car was 0.3 PSI below the minimum starting pressure specified by Pirelli.
So he, the team, fans and other drivers faced an anxious wait with the possibility of a time penalty being imposed. In the end no action was taken. The victory stands with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel second and William’s Felipe Massa third.
It was one of the most bizarre conclusions to the end of a race in recent times.
The first Formula One race at Monza
Monza is a mandatory stop in the Formula 1 calendar. It was the last of seven races in the inaugural season, on September 3rd 1950, and it crowned the first World Champion in history.
It was a quiet birth for the Formula One World Championship and unrecognizable from the glitz, the glamour and cars of today.
Three drivers had a chance of being crowned the first world champion – Juan Manuel Fangio the Argentinian who became a legend, and two Italians – Luigi Fagioli and Nino Farina. All three were team mates and all driving Alfa Romeos – made in Italy.
Ferrari had built a new car hoping on their home circuit to break the Alfa’s monopoly. The supercharged four and a half litre engine couldn’t cope with the pace and had to retire.
Fangio too pulled up with Nino Farina going ton to take the chequered flag. Alberto Ascari was second in a Ferrari while Luigi Figioli drove his Alfa home in third.
The Italians had dominated at Monza. Farina was crowned World Champion – to date the only driver to win the title in his home country.
The European Le Mans Series
The endurance fans had heir eyes set on the Paul Ricard circuit, in France, for the fourth stop of the season in the European Le Mans Series. Let’s see what happened in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet.
Victory for Felipe Albuquerque in France, along with his British team mates Simon Dolan and Harry Ticknell means he will head to his home circuit in Estoril next month with an 18 point lead in the championship over the no41 Greaves Motorsport team of Jon Lancaster, Bjorn Wirdheim and Gary Hirsch.
The LMP3 titles have been decided with Olympic cycling legend Sir Chris Hoy adding the European Le Mans Series title to his already impressive sporting CV after team mate Charlie Robertson took the chequered flag in the Ginetta Nissan to secure their third victory of the year.
And Formula Racing took their second win in a row when Andrea Rizzoli crossed the finish line in the Ferrari 458 ahead of the BMW Team MarcVDS Z4 of Jesse Krohn. That sets up a four way battle for the LMGTE titles in Portugal.