’Relief’ as Hamilton keeps Monza win

Toto Wolff admitted to relief on Sunday evening after a long and crucial meeting with the stewards.

Lewis Hamilton’s Monza victory was in doubt because Pirelli, supported by the FIA, found on the grid that his tyre was 0.3 PSI under the new mandatory limit.

Apparently a clear technical breach, with both performance and safety implications, many in the paddock had expected the British driver to be disqualified.

But after a long wait, the FIA finally announced that Hamilton can keep his win.

"The stewards have determined that the pressure in the tyres concerned were at the minimum start pressure recommended by Pirelli when they were fitted to the car," a statement read.

"Tyre warming blankets had been disconnected from their power source as is normal procedures and the tyres were significantly below the maximum permitted tyre blanket temperature at the time of the FIA measurement on the grid and significantly different temperatures from other cars measured on the grid.

It added that Mercedes had set the pressures "supervised by the tyre manufacturer", and therefore recommended that the protocols for ensuring actual race-start pressure are improved for the future.

"The stewards recommend that the tyre manufacturer and the FIA hold further meetings to provide clear guidance to the teams on measurement protocols," said the stewards.