(Mercedes AMG F1 Team)
The Mercedes AMG F1 Team have tighten their grip on the 2014 Constructors championship after taking a dominant 1-2 finish at today's Italian Grand Prix the final round of the European leg of the season. With six race's to go this season the Silver Arrows have now recorded seven 1-2 finishes this season such has been the dominance of the W05 package.
Lewis Hamilton put the disappointment of his Belgian Grand Prix retirement last time out firmly behind him by taking pole position yesterday before winning this afternoon's race by 3.1s from Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton's win also means that he has closed the gap to Rosberg in the race for the championship to 22 points (in other words a race win) with just the six flyaway race's to go in Singapore, Japan, Russia, USA, Brazil and the double points season ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Speaking following his victory Hamilton who has now won more Grand Prix this season then he did during his championship season in 2008 with McLaren commented:
'Firstly it was amazing to see the straight completely filled with fans from the podium today. You make this race and thank you so much for your support! Big congratulations to the team for our performance this weekend. We said we wanted a one-two and we got it today; this result is important for everyone. It was a difficult race for me though. The launch sequence didn´t engage properly for the formation lap and then again for the start.
I tried to pull away as fast as possible, basically I just floored it and hoped for the best! Fortunately I didn´t lose too many places and was able to get past Kevin, then have a good battle with Felipe. When I closed up to Nico, I didn´t want to hold back as the car felt good and I knew from experience that the only chance would be at the start of the stint when the tyres were fresh so I went for it. I´m really pleased with the win, it´s feels like I have some momentum back as we go into the final races.'
Nico Rosberg who took his first Italian Grand Prix podium today was happy with performance and still has a healthy lead in the championship battle over Hamilton. The German commented:
'Lewis was quicker this weekend, so he deserved the win. That for sure is very disappointing for me. I had a lock up in Turn One and I decided to go straight to avoid a flat spotted tyre. That cost me the lead. But he was very quick behind me, so I had to push all the time.
But I need to see the positive things from today. Second place is still good and I lost only seven points to Lewis, so this could have been much worse. It’s also a great result for the team, the first 1-2 since Austria. So I’m happy for everybody in our team and I have to thank everyone again for this great Silver Arrow. We were the strongest team at this unique circuit. The Tifosi created a great atmosphere for us on the podium; it was all red all the way down the straight. That was great to see. Now I look forward to Singapore, I like the track and I have great memories from last year.'
Mercedes Executive Director Toto Wolff was delighted with the overall pace shown by Lewis Hamilton throughout the entire weekend. The Austrian commented:
'Lewis had fantastic pace this weekend and his qualifying lap laid the basis for his win. He was in a league of his own this afternoon in terms of speed but it wasn’t an easy race for him after the problems at the start.
But he stayed calm, took his opportunities and delivered the goods. Nico also drove a strong race and took a good second place. It’s fantastic to take our seventh one-two of the season, we have been waiting a while for this one. Well done to everybody at Brackley for a job well done – and I’d like to give a special mention to the boys and girls at Brixworth; it’s pretty special when you see your Power Unit take a one-two-three-four finish at Monza!'
Mercedes Executive Director (Technical) Paddy Lowe was delighted with the entire team performance this weekend and said:
'It was fantastic to score another one-two finish again. There was a lot of expectation because of the long gap since we last did it in Austria, even though the car has had the potential to do so. It wasn’t an easy race, though. The first stress point came when we had to change Lewis’ front wing after it sustained slight damage on the grid.
Then at the race start, Lewis’ systems for the start would not engage the correct mode, which meant he had the wrong engine settings and lost three positions off the line. He did a great job to recover, and pulled off a very classy pass on Massa into the first chicane. He had the better pace overall today and closed in on Nico, until Nico’s mistake in Turn One.
We had briefed both drivers to take the long route if they made a mistake under braking, rather than locking up and trying to make the corner. This was because a flat spot could have severely compromised the one-stop strategy, so Nico did absolutely the right thing – but it also cost him the lead. Overall, a great team result; congratulations to everybody back at base who worked so hard to make it happen and to both drivers for two very strong performances after our difficult race in Spa.'
The Brackley based outfit head to the first of the flyaway Grand Prix in Singapore in two weeks time 182 points clear of Infiniti Red Bull Racing with a total of 301 Constructors points available from the final six Grand Prix of the season.
© Ben Johnston
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