After his Italian Grand Prix win was for a time thrown into jeopardy by the fact that one of his tyres was found to be below the minimum pressure, Lewis Hamilton insisted that it would have made nearly no difference to his pace.
It was revealed almost as soon as the race ended that Hamilton’s tyre pressures were measured on the starting grid and his left rear was found to be 0.3 PSI below the specified minimum starting pressure. Later the stewards took no further action on the grounds that the pressure was legal when fitted to the car.
When asked after the race what sort of benefit he would get from the lower pressure, Hamilton said: “0.3 lower? Not really a huge amount on one rear tyre.”
Sebastian Vettel, who stood to inherit the win had Hamilton been thrown out, broadly concurred. “In principle the tyres last a bit longer, but yeah I don’t think [it would make a big difference],” he said.
Vettel also hinted that he wouldn’t have been happy to win this race by default. “It’s a lot about respect and fairness, he [Hamilton] did a very good job today and you have to accept that.
“It would not change anything [in] the emotions [to win as a result of Hamilton’s disqualification], second on the podium and that’s emotions I got which I’m very grateful for. I had a great car today but not good enough to win today but good enough to finish second.”
