Monza reaction: Rigid radio orders, old master Massa and a shooting star

Effectively, it was actually won in the stewards’ office after the race when they confirmed that they would not be taking any further action over the reports of Mercedes’ low tyre pressure at the start of the race. Lewis Hamilton must have felt a little nervous waiting to find out whether the result would stand.

4/5 stars. He led from start to finish – I feel like I type that a lot – and opened up a sizeable lead over Sebastian Vettel, which he maintained till the end. He did what he was told when the team informed him that he needed to extend that cushion even further, showing an extra lick of speed when required, finishing with a 25-second advantage. The tyre pressure problems weren’t his fault, and he tried to shrug it all off immediately afterwards saying, “I don’t feel concerned – it’s not my job.” Surely, though, sitting around for two hours waiting for the stewards’ decision to confirm the race result must have marred his victory just a bit.

“Don’t ask questions. Just execute.” Mercedes’s radio communications game has really stepped up for this second half of the season. Rather than bickering with Hamilton and Rosberg, they now just tell them things, expect them to be done, and immediately end the conversation. Rosberg got short shrift too when he complained that his overtake mechanism wasn’t working and demanded explanations; in return, there was no sympathy, no indulgence, just a simple “Looks like it IS working, Nico.”

There was so little overtaking during the race that it barely warranted the name. The key move was probably a lack of movement – Kimi Raikkonen stalling on the second place of the grid, absolutely stock-still on the front row, allowing Sebastian Vettel to fly past him right at the start and essentially wrap up his podium finish right then.

Whatever they’re doing at Marussia is working. They started firmly in the middle of the pack and fell down a few places, but they stayed out of trouble and Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi both finished the race – the team certainly deserve some consistency as they look to develop their car for next season. What’s more, they’re doing better than McLaren, which will induce a quick bout of schadenfreude as well as prideful glee.

Felipe Massa of Williams finished third so perhaps someone on the podium isn’t that unsung, but he’ll be overlooked in all the kerfuffle over the Mercedes tyre pressure drama and the general excitement about the Ferrari second place. “I’m too old for that!” he declared as he crossed the line just ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, in one of the brief spells of racing seen during what was, effectively, a bit of a procession. Plus it’s always nice to see him hug his adorable little son after the race.

What a dreadful day for Lotus. Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado had no sooner started the race than they finished it, the two earliest retirements within the first three laps. At least Grosjean kept his car intact; reports were suggesting that Maldonado returned to the garage with the base of his car split in two after running over the kerb.

George Lucas. No, really. The famously reclusive Star Wars supremo did the podium interviews, and it was as cringe-inducing as you might expect.