Lewis Hamilton tyre investigation - what was all that about?
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Updated 06/09/2015 at 19:50 GMT
Lewis Hamilton's dominant victory in the Italian Grand Prix was confirmed after a stewards' investigation into tyre pressure at Monza. Here are the key questions so far.
Lewis Hamilton on the podium at Monza
Image credit: Reuters
WHAT HAPPENED?
Late in the Italian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton winning comfortably, the Briton was instructed to increase his pace.
His race engineer told him:
We need to pull a gap. Don't ask questions, just execute.
WHY DID THEY TELL HIM TO GO FASTER?
At the time it was a mystery – why would Mercedes demand more speed if Hamilton’s car had a problem?
However, it seems the team wanted to increase his margin of victory to offset a potential penalty coming Hamilton’s way.
A confused Hamilton produced some searing pace to win by 25.042 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
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Lewis Hamilton celebrates on the podium at Monza
Image credit: Reuters
SO, WHAT WAS GOING ON?
As the race ended, a report from FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer confirmed that both Mercedes cars had been measured with insufficient tyre pressure.
The report read:
The measured minimum tyre starting pressure of the left hand side rear tyre of car number 44 (Hamilton) was 0.3 PSI below the specified minimum tyre starting pressure and the measured minimum tyre starting pressure of the left hand side rear tyre of car number 06 (Rosberg) was 1.1 PSI below the specified minimum tyre starting pressure.
WHAT DID MERCEDES SAY?
Paddy Lowe, Mercedes technical director, confirmed the team had been summoned to see the stewards, but insisted they had done nothing wrong and the pressures had been approved by tyre manufacturer Pirelli.
He said:
We don't understand it. We've been summoned to the stewards. We'll gather and explain it...All I know is we set our pressures fully supervised by the Pirelli engineer. He was perfectly happy with them as they were set. With an abundance of caution, because we haven't done anything wrong, we thought let's make a gap.
Hamilton added:
0.3 (PSI) doesn’t have any effect, it doesn’t do anything. I’m sure people can prove it. Pirelli can prove it. It wasn’t the reason we won today. We won because we were the quickest.
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Lewis Hamilton in action at the Italian Grand Prix
Image credit: Reuters
IS THERE A PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGE FROM LOWER TYRE PRESSURE?
Lower pressures are favourable in terms of speed and race performance. Pirelli warned about it earlier in the week, and they tested both Mercedes and both Ferraris on the grid.
WHY WAS NO FURTHER ACTION TAKEN?
The low pressure was put down to Mercedes disconnecting their tyre warming blankets which meant the tyres were cooler - meaning lower air pressure - than those of other teams. Stewards were happy that Mercedes and tyre manufacturer Pirelli followed the correct procedure.
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Lewis Hamilton leads the Italian GP
Image credit: Reuters
DOESN'T SAY MUCH FOR THE TESTING PROCEDURE, DOES IT?
It certainly doesn't - if the tests aren't carried out in controlled conditions (i.e. constant temperature) then are they really worth doing at all?
What's more, many fans wondered why would you test tyre pressure before the race, then let the Mercedes cars continue after showing illegal levels - especially if it is considered unsafe?
Unsurprisingly, the Stewards' letter says: "The Stewards recommend that the Tyre Manufacturer and the FIA hold further meetings to provide clear guidance to the teams on measurement controls."
AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE TITLE?
It is clearly brilliant news for Hamilton, who stretches his points lead to 53 over Rosberg, who retired on the penultimate lap with an unrelated engine failure.
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