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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 SEPTEMBER 2018 22 SPORTS FORMULA 1 Is Hamilton at the peak of his powers? In the aftermath of his bril- liant Monza victory, Hamil- ton admitted that his record- equalling fifth triumph at the "Temple of Speed" was up there with his very best. It was hard to disagree with him. Who else, other than perhaps Fernando Alonso, would have gone into Fer- rari's heartland with inferior machinery, and beaten both of the red cars. As Vettel fal- tered once more, Hamilton didn't put a foot wrong. The Briton's greatest strength has always been his speed over one lap, but his race craft and mental strength in the inten- sity of battle is better than it has ever been. Are we now witnessing Hamilton at the peak of his powers? Should he go on to beat Vettel to the championship, in a Mercedes which hasn't been the class of the field this year, it should be regarded as his very best yet. Pressure mounting on Vettel as Ferrari throw it away As Hamilton goes from strength to strength, Vet- tel and Ferrari fluffed their lines on the biggest stage of the year. Just how did the Italian team manage to lock out the front row of the grid, and finish second and fourth? Vettel demanded answers on Saturday night (and probably rightly so) after Raikkonen, benefiting from a slipstream off Vettel's car, took pole po- sition. Then, Vettel's failure to play the long game in the race by conceding second to Hamilton on the open- ing lap cost him dearly. Vet- tel blamed Hamilton for the collision, but the feeling in the paddock was one of an- other mistake by the Ger- man. Vettel is 30 points adrift of Hamilton with 175 on the table. All is not lost for Fer- rari ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix in a fortnight's time, a track which has suited them in recent seasons. But to stand any chance of stop- ping Hamilton, Vettel cannot make any further errors over the remaining seven races. Recent history, however, sug- gests that will not happen. Bottas proves his worth as Hamilton's number two To emphasise just how big Ferrari's advantage over Mer- cedes was this weekend, was to look at the pace of Valtteri Bottas. The Finnish driver was nowhere in practice, half- a-second back in qualifying, and behind Red Bull driver Max Verstappen for much of Sunday's race. The reliable Finn, however, proved an able deputy to Hamilton after he was instructed to compro- mise his own race by backing Raikkonen into Hamilton's path, and thus, enabling the British driver to reel the Fer- rari car in. Mercedes say that Bottas is there on merit, and he will be driving for the Sil- ver Arrows next year, too. But Bottas' willingness to help Hamilton and play the team game is a motivating factor for Mercedes. Would Nico Rosberg have messed up his own race to help Hamilton? Don't be silly. Haas to protest Grosjean disqualification In the final hours of Sunday night, Haas driver Romain Grosjean was excluded from sixth place following an ir- regularity on the floor of his car. Renault, who had just been usurped by Haas for fourth in the constructors' championship, lodged the protest, and Grosjean was booted out. Haas announced they will appeal the decision. The late-night change to the results shuffled everyone up the order, and allowed Wil- liams driver Sergey Sirotkin to be classified in 10th to claim the first point of his ca- reer. Stroll shouldn't be written off just yet Lance Stroll's career has been bankrolled by his fash- ion billionaire father, Law- rence. The Canadian teen- ager, in his second season, is likely to follow his father to Force India following his recent takeover of the Brit- ish-based team. This has left a sour taste in the mouth of some, with Esteban Ocon's future now in danger. While Stroll isn't the next Ayrton Senna/Alonso/Hamilton, he isn't the absolute disgrace that some have painted him out to be either. Yes, he is in F1 because of substantial financial backing, but name one driver who isn't? Even Hamilton has been assisted by Mercedes money since the age of 12. On Saturday, Stroll, 19, managed to get a Williams car in the top 10 on the grid for the first time this year be- fore he took the chequered flag in a credible ninth. Hamilton's win at Monza intensifies rivalry with Ferrari and Vettel Following Lewis Hamilton's victory in Monza on Sunday we look at five things we learned from the 14th round of the season Lewis Hamilton celebrating following his victory at Monza