Lewis takes his maiden win in Monza
Monza, September 9, 2012 – Lewis Hamilton continued his dominant weekend at the Italian Grand Prix to record McLaren’s third consecutive win this year. Hamilton adopted a one-stop strategy to claim victory from Sauber’s Sergio Perez, who started from 12th on the grid and chose a different one-stop strategy to Hamilton.
Hamilton won after running 30 laps on the hard tyre at the end of the race, while the speed of the medium tyre – which Perez used for his 24-lap final stint – enabled him to be lapping more than two seconds faster than his closest rivals at one point as the grand prix came to its conclusion.
The race started in dry and warm conditions, with 39 degrees of track temperature and 27 degrees ambient: slightly hotter than it had been on Friday and Saturday. The top 10 on the grid all qualified on the medium tyre, with the highest-placed driver to start on the hard tyre being Perez from 12th. Jerome d’Ambrosio (Lotus), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), and Nico Hulkenberg (Force India) – who had to start from last on the grid – were the only other drivers to start the 53-lap race on the hard tyre.
By lap 18 Perez was up to sixth and by lap 25 he took the lead, before stopping to change to the medium tyre on lap 29. He passed Alonso for second place on lap 46 to repeat his best-ever career result from Malaysia.
Hamilton, who won by four seconds, stopped once on lap 23, moving from the medium to the hard tyre and handing the lead to Perez – re-taking it once the Sauber driver had made his pit stop. Ferrari also made a one-stop strategy work effectively, with Fernando Alonso completing a long 33-lap final stint on the hard tyre and eventually taking third place, having started from 10th on the grid.
The highest-placed driver to use a two-stop strategy was Michael Schumacher, who finished sixth ahead of his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg on the same strategy: an opening stint on the medium compound followed by two stints on the hard compound. Rosberg also set the fastest lap of the race on the hard tyre.
Lewis sprays his fans from the Monza podium
Lewis Hamilton, 1st:- “Winning at Monza is one of the greatest experiences of my Formula 1 career. I absolutely love this place: I’ve been coming to Italy to race since I was 13 years old and I just love the culture, the food and the people. Since I started in Formula 1, Monza has been one of the races I always wanted to win at – it’s such an incredible, historic circuit and all the great racing drivers have won here. To finally put my name on that list makes me feel extremely proud, but also very humble. Our car has been fantastic all weekend, and it was nice to have a relaxed grand prix with no troubles. I was out on my own for most of the race and just tried to manage the gap behind me. I was cruising at the end, but, once I heard that Sergio [Perez] had got past Fernando [Alonso], I had to push a little to keep the cushion over second place. The race was very unfortunate for Jenson – we were running first and second at the time and it would have been great for the team if we could have finished like that. This championship is proving to be so unpredictable – and I’m so grateful that we’ve got a good car and that we’re in the fight. We’ve got seven more races on the calendar. We should enjoy today, but this victory is just one step. Tomorrow, we’ll start all over again, for Singapore.”
Sergio Pérez, 2nd:- “This was a very enjoyable race for me. It was one of those where you have the pace and are the one to attack. I am very happy for the team which is working very hard. It is a really good team, I am proud of it. I didn’t have an easy first stint with the hard tyres but it was certainly the right strategy. I was frequently in contact with the team on the radio because I was worried the tyres would suddenly drop and we would have to change our strategy. Also we were not quite sure how quickly they would warm up. However, it worked out fine, I could stay out as long as I needed to for our strategy. The second stint was then really maximum attack and I must say all of the drivers I overtook have been fair. They didn’t leave me more room than they had to, but it was always enough. This is the way it should be. I am very pleased at having achieved my first European podium in Monza.”
Fernando Alonso, 3rd: “This Sunday was perfect for the championship, almost like a film with a happy ending: another podium finish, three of my closest rivals with no points and an increased lead over my closest pursuer. I remain convinced that, but for the problem in qualifying yesterday, we could definitely have had every chance of starting from pole and if we can be equally competitive on Saturdays at the tracks that are coming up, it will be very important for the end of the season. We must try to win some more races and to manage the lead we have in the classification. Here we had to mark Vettel, but in Singapore it will be important to keep an eye on Hamilton, who is now second. When I found myself fighting with Vettel I went off the track and, from then on, the car was not right. It wasn’t nice bouncing through the gravel but, afterwards, I was able to overtake him anyway a few laps later. I don’t want to comment on the penalty he received, but what he did was definitely on the limit. The opening laps were the key to my race. I passed a few cars – Kimi, Di Resta and Michael – and finding myself sixth almost immediately put my race on a more even course. Racing for Ferrari at Monza and standing on the podium is something special: driving a red car is different because the fans are exceptional. If they were told not to eat for days to have the chance to drive a car from Maranello, they would do it and this is what makes the passion for Ferrari unique around the world.”
