lewis Hamilton cruised to his seventh win of the season at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, and doubled his Formula One lead over Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, whose engine caught fire with two laps remaining.
However, Hamilton’s victory was under question after stewards summoned Mercedes concerning tire pressures on both of their cars.
Mercedes were summoned to explain the issue by racetrack stewards leaving the result in suspense.
After sometime the Briton’s victory was confirmed. Hamilton’s left rear tire pressure was found to be 0.3 psi below the minimum of 19.5 when measured before Sunday’s race.
But stewards decided to take no action because they determined that the pressure was at correct level when the tires were fitted to the car.
Pirelli had increased its specified tyre pressures ahead of the race after much criticism of their performance at the Belgian Grand Prix where Rosberg and Vettel both suffered high-speed tyre failures.
At Monza, Hamilton finished 25 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel, while Felipe Massa crossed third, 47 seconds back. Massa finished just three tenth ahead of Williams teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton now leads Rosberg by 53 points with seven races remaining this season.
With the 40th win of his career, Hamilton moved within one victory of Ayrton Senna and Vettel on the all-time list.
Raikkonen started on the front row for the first time since China in 2013 but wasted the opportunity by stalling in his grid position. The Finn eventually got going but dropped immediately to the back of the pack, before working his way back through the field to finish a respectable fifth.
Rosberg of Mercedes also lost ground at start but pushed his way up to challenge Vettel for second place when his car failed.
Force India Impresses
Sahara Force India regained fifth place in the team standings with their biggest points haul this season as Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth and seventh.
Force India now have 63 points, 13 more than lotus.