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Mercedes driver
Lewis Hamilton won the Italian Grand Prix from third on the grid, using a
one-stop strategy and good tyre management. Hamilton started on the
supersoft tyre – which on Saturday had been used to set the fastest lap in
Formula 1 history, courtesy of Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen – before
switching to the soft on lap 28.
After a contact with Vettel’s Ferrari half a minute into the race, Hamilton
got up to second on the first lap behind Raikkonen and was able to extend
his first stint after his rival pitted for the soft tyres on lap 20. Even
though he rejoined still behind Raikkonen, he could use his fresher tyres to
close the gap and then managed them well before making a late overtake to
claim victory, after the Ferrari driver experienced blistering on one of his
well-used tyres. Vettel, in last position after lap 1 due to the collision
with Hamilton, was able to recover to fourth place by the flag thanks to a
supersoft-soft-supersoft two-stop strategy.
Following intermittent rain on Friday and Saturday, today’s race was dry and
warm – adding another unknown element to the strategy, in the absence of
prolonged dry running up to this point.
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF CAR RACING
“Today’s conditions presented a marked contrast to what had come before,
which gave the teams another challenge as they had not run in similar
conditions so far this weekend. Consequently they had to keep a flexible
approach towards strategy, in the absence of solid data, but as it turned
out the tyres were capable of a one-stop strategy when correctly managed –
despite the intense demands of Monza, which resulted in the fastest lap in
Formula 1 history yesterday. Lewis Hamilton managed his tyres perfectly and
made the most of his later pit stop to make a great overtake near the end of
the race.”
TRUTHOMETER
Lewis Hamilton won the race using one stop as we expected, going from
supersoft to soft on lap 28. |
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