Instead he was marvelling at perhaps the finest weekend of his career. There is no other word for it than perfect. He topped every practice session, every qualifying session, led every lap of the race, and ended with the fastest lap. Absolutely untouchable. If he finishes all of the seven remaining races second, he will be world champion.
• Italian Grand Prix as it happened
“Perfect weekend for me,” Hamilton said. “Special. I’m not sure I’ve ever had such a weekend like it. I feel seriously strong now, with the way I’m driving. I know that no matter what is thrown at me now we will fight through.”
The whole farrago might have left Hamilton thoroughly unperturbed – he was only told the specific details of the possible infringement in the post-race press conference – but the wider sport was in a frenzy for a few hours in Monza last night.
Only in Formula One can the determination of the race result be more interesting than the race itself. The specifics of the investigation were as follows. For the first time anyone can remember, the FIA decided to measure tyre pressures on the grid. Teams must not run below a minimum, both for safety reasons – the blowouts from Spa-Francorchamps were fresh in the mind – and so as not to gain a competitive advantage.
Pirelli’s suspicion had been that teams were trying to subvert the rules to gain such an advantage. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss, strenuously denied the accusation.
Raikkonen endured a torrid start
“I can be absolutely rule that out,” Wolff said. “We have worked with Pirelli to make the regulations on tyre pressures and camber. I can rule out that we tried to get an advantage – it would be unscientific in any case.”
But in the stewards’ readings both Hamilton and Rosberg’s cars were found to be below the limit. Fifteen minutes from the end of an otherwise soporific Italian Grand Prix, dominated by Hamilton from start to finish, Mercedes were informed that they might be in breach. Fearing a time penalty, they told a bewildered Hamilton to extend his massive lead further still. He obliged, but it still gave him a fright.
• Five things: Rosberg has it all to do
With the result in doubt, many in the paddock believed it was a cut and dry case: Hamilton should be disqualified. Then at 17:48, the stewards delivered their verdict. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss, strolled over to the media scrum and gave the thumbs up. The FIA found the tyre pressures were legal when the cars left the garage, but due to the tyre blankets being off while they sat on the grid, the temperatures fell, and the pressures did with it. It makes you wonder why they bothered measuring them five minutes before the start in the first place.
Hamilton successfully defended pole position from the start
So in one sense, Hamilton was almost disqualified for a rule which had until now not existed. He could have been guilty of a crime only invented just before the race. But good fortune and sense went his way.
Sadly not for Rosberg. After a problem on Saturday morning, he was running an older specification of engine, both less powerful than Hamilton’s and with more miles under its belt. Starting fourth, he had to take avoiding action to miss Kimi Raikkonen, who barely moved off the line.
Finally, after some clever strategy, Rosberg was chasing Vettel for second in the closing stages. Mercedes turned the power up, pushing the engine to its limits. It spectacularly blew up two laps from the end. Both luck and form have deserted him at the worst possible moment.
“It is massive step in the wrong direction,” Rosberg conceded. “It’s the biggest loss I’ve had in one day throughout the whole season, so that’s very bad, and I now need to catch up a few points. I keep going. Giving up doesn’t exist for me.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton’s race engineer, Pete Bonnington, triggered confusion in the cockpit when he told his driver to dramatically speed up. “We need some good lap times now Lewis, no need to ask questions,” Bonnington said. After an anxious reply, he continued: “Just execute. We’ll explain at the end.”
Execute he did. Vettel followed him home 25 seconds later, Felipe Massa 20 seconds later than that. The investigation which ensued did not take the shine of the perfect day for Hamilton. Even with seven races to go, he has one hand on the trophy now.