Crossing the white line: Italy

Lewis Hamilton left clutching at a slim title lead after yet more reliability issues for Mercedes.

Mercedes let Hamilton down (again) It was a 1-2 result on the day, one that suited Mercedes as they grabbed the maximum 43 points, but one that was arguably the wrong way around.

Lewis Hamilton was the pace-setter in qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, and not just by a slight margin as he beat Nico Rosberg to pole position by almost half a second.

Rosberg did nothing wrong, there wasn’t an issue with his car, Hamilton just had sublime pace – pace that should have seen him storm to his fourth Italian GP victory.

Instead, it was Rosberg who claimed his first win at Monza as a clutch problem cost Hamilton at the start, dropping him to P6 off the line.

This is not the first time that the W07’s clutch has hampered one of the drivers, and, according to Hamilton, it is unlikely to be the last.

While it has made the championship more exciting for the fans, as Hamilton’s lead has been reduced to two points, the Brit must be worried about his end of season being littered with a repeat of the reliability issues that cost him so dearly at the start.

Hero to zero in 24 hours Esteban Gutierrez was a hero on Saturday afternoon as he qualified his Haas in tenth place, the …

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