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By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted September 5, 2015 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
Lewis Hamilton has won the 2015 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The British driver led every single lap and won by over 20 seconds, but after the race the result was called into question after a potential penalty for illegal tyre pressures. Team-mate Nico Rosberg retired from 3rd place within the last 5 laps after his engine expired.
The atmosphere was electric at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza as the start of the Grand Prix approached. The fans were hoping that the Ferrari drivers in 2nd and 3rd could vault pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton on the run down into turn 1.
The lights went out and the hearts of the Tifosi sank. 2nd placed Kimi Raikkonen didn’t move at all from the grid and fell all the way to the back of the order. Nico Rosberg also fell back to 6th after starting 4th after having to avoid Raikkonen. Hamilton held the lead from Vettel into the first turn, with a few drivers taking to the run-off. Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean looked to hit strife in the turn 1 melee. Maldonado’s floor was broken after running over the turn 1 kerbs, with Grosjean appearing to suffer mechanical issues; a sad way for the team’s race to end after scoring their first podium at Spa.
Despite falling all the way back, Kimi was quick to move back up to the points paying positions, after moving his way up to 10th by lap 5. He had capitalized on a number of drivers having problems whilst also making great moves on drivers such as Jenson Button at the Ascari chicane.
At the front, Hamilton had checked out and was 5 seconds in the lead over Vettel on lap 10; with the hopes of a Ferrari challenge looking to not materialize. By lap 15 he had stopped pulling away from Vettel as much, but he was holding the gap steadily at 8 seconds.
By contrast, Rosberg was making no progress. He was still stuck in 5th behind the Williams of Valtteri Bottas. He had an attempt up the inside at the first chicane, but Bottas was able to keep him at bay. Rosberg was then informed that his brakes were too hot and he then backed off from the rear of the Williams. Rosberg pitted on lap 20 to attempt to undercut Bottas. It was expected that Williams would pit Bottas to cover off Rosberg, but it was Massa that pitted first. Even though Massa was further up the road than Bottas was, Rosberg still ended up overtaking him when Massa exited the pits. Bottas pitted a few laps later and emerged well off of the back of Rosberg and now his team-mate Felipe.
The top 2 stayed out for a while longer, with Sebastian Vettel pitting on lap 26 after starting to lose tyre grip. Hamilton pitted a lap later and was back out on track before Vettel had even entered the Parabolica. He now had a 20 second lead; an insane level of dominance for the #44 Mercedes.
Nico Rosberg was starting to get quicker and was soon on the back of Kimi Raikkonen, who had yet to stop after his first lap dramas. Rosberg passed him with ease on the start/finish straight with DRS, with Kimi unable to fight back as his option tyres had reached the end of their life. He pitted at the end of the lap and was almost rear-ended by the Manor of Roberto Merhi as he struggled to slow down to the pit-lane speed limit. Thankfully, the Manor managed not to plant itself in the rear of it’s engine supplier.
20 laps remained of the Monza circuit and despite having a 20 second lead, Lewis Hamilton was starting to flex his muscles to new levels. He put in 4 fastest laps of the race within 5 laps, with his effort on lap 36 giving him an amazing 1’26.890. The 2nd fastest lap of the race at that point was going to Max Verstappen, who had driven an exciting race full of impressive overtakes after starting at the back. He had really shown his exciting driving style and flair during the race but wasn’t looking too likely to score points as he ran outside the top 10 in 13th with 9 laps to go.
With just over 5 laps to go, Mercedes looked massively apprehensive in the garage. They soon got on the radio asking Hamilton to put in ‘Hammer-time’ laps and to not ask questions and just execute. He responded immediately by putting in another fastest lap of the race, a 1’26.6. He had a lead of over 20 seconds and yet some unknown problem was necessitating him to push hard and fast.
Suddenly though, one Mercedes was out of the race. It wasn’t Lewis Hamilton however, it was Nico Rosberg! The German had been closing in on Sebastian Vettel for 2nd place when his Mercedes engine expired. Flame emitted from the exhaust as he pulled his car into the run-off area at the Della Roggia chicane. If Lewis Hamilton was able to finish, Rosberg would lose a whopping 25 points to his team-mate.
wLewis Hamilton would indeed be able to finish and he would win the Italian Grand Prix for the 2nd year in a row. His team would go on to thank him for his efforts in the final few laps where anxiety levels hit the roof. Hamilton would tell the team that those last few laps ‘were not cool’. He was then promised an explanation later on.
Sebastian Vettel would cross the line over 20 seconds later to take a much celebrated 2nd place. The crowd erupted, unsurprisingly, as the Ferrari driver took a podium position. After Nico Rosberg’s sudden retirement, 3rd place would go to Felipe Massa, an ex-Ferrari driver who was chuffed to take a podium in front of the fans who used to adore him so much. He crossed the line just ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas; who was so close to snatching a podium on the last lap.
5th place would go to Kimi Raikkonen, who drove an impressive race after falling to last on the run to turn 1. He fought his way through with some great moves to limit the damage that could’ve been to his Italian Grand Prix. He passed Sergio Perez in the closing stages, with the Mexican finishing 6th for Force India as the final driver on the lead lap. Nico Hulkenberg would finish 7th in the second Force India, with Daniel Ricciardo taking 8th after starting near the back of the grid after engine penalties. 9th and 10th would go to Marcus Ericsson and Daniil Kvyat.
The drama of the race wasn’t over however. The last few laps of apprehension over the radio to Lewis Hamilton was starting to become clearer. It would emerge during the podium celebrations that the tyre pressures of Hamilton’s Mercedes were 0.3 PSI below the required regulation. A representative from Mercedes would be summoned to the stewards shortly after the race. The results from the stewards meeting could mean anything from a reprimand to the potential disqualification of Lewis Hamilton from the Italian Grand Prix. The results of this inquiry will follow in a later post.
2015 Italian Grand Prix provisional results:
POS |
Driver |
Team |
Points |
Grid |
1 |
Lewis Hamilton |
Mercedes |
25 |
1st |
2 |
Sebastian Vettel |
Ferrari |
18 |
3rd |
3 |
Felipe Massa |
Williams |
15 |
5th |
4 |
Valtteri Bottas |
Williams |
12 |
6th |
5 |
Kimi Raikkonen |
Ferrari |
10 |
2nd |
6 |
Sergio Perez |
Force India |
8 |
7th |
7 |
Nico Hulkenberg |
Force India |
6 |
9th |
8 |
Daniel Ricciardo |
Red Bull |
4 |
19th |
9 |
Marcus Ericsson |
Sauber |
2 |
12th |
10 |
Daniil Kvyat |
Red Bull |
1 |
18th |
11 |
Carlos Sainz |
Toro Rosso |
+1 Lap |
17th |
12 |
Max Verstappen |
Toro Rosso |
+1 Lap |
20th |
13 |
Felipe Nasr |
Sauber |
+1 Lap |
11th |
14 |
Jenson Button |
McLaren |
+1 Lap |
15th |
15 |
Will Stevens |
Manor |
+2 Laps |
13th |
16 |
Roberto Merhi |
Manor |
+2 Laps |
14th |
17 |
Nico Rosberg |
Mercedes |
DNF |
4th |
18 |
Fernando Alonso |
McLaren |
DNF |
16th |
19 |
Romain Grosjean |
Lotus |
DNF |
8th |
20 |
Pastor Maldonado |
Lotus |
DNF |
10th |
Are you ready to explore the transformative power of athlete sponsorship for your brand? Click here to learn more about how sponsorship can help brands grow and thrive in the exciting world of motorsports.
A graduate in Public, Social and Political Communication from the University of Bologna, he has always been passionate about marketing, design and sport.
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Read MoreIn an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
When first approaching a sponsorship or sports marketing project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Sports is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
Sports is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A sports marketing and sports sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which sport, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the real heart of sports sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a sports marketing project you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase on the Web, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
We have been involved in sports sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
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