Mercedes madness may continue in Monza Grand Prix

The last Grand Prix ended in disaster for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton in particular, who came off worse in a collision with teammate Nico Rosberg. The duo now lock horns again at the Italian Formula One racetrack in Monza.

German Rosberg, who has extended his lead at the top of the Drivers’ Championship to 29 points after his second place finish in Belgium (with the Brit pulling out), admitted he was in the wrong, though.

“I took a lot of time to reflect on the events of the weekend, and we met as a team to discuss it last Friday, too,” he said. “I analysed the whole situation in a lot of detail and reached the conclusion that I had to take responsibility for what happened because it was my error of judgement.

“It didn’t matter what part of right and wrong was involved, the fact is that it happened and I did not do a good enough job to avoid a collision between our two cars.

“In hindsight, the collision was my responsibility because I was the car trying to overtake, so I have to accept that I made a mistake and to apologise.”

It is reported that Rosberg, 15/8 second-favourite to win the Italian GP, has been handed a six-figure fine for his part in the crash, that punctured Hamilton’s rear tyre, but the Englishman has claimed he will not take vengeance.

“I will always put the team first and I won’t take anything into my own hands,” he said. “The weekend was damaging. I don’t know how I’m going to get back those 29 points [with seven races to go], but what I do know is I’ve a great group of people behind me.

“The poor guys on my side of the garage have had quite a lot of bad races.”

Hamilton, 11/8 to lift his second Drivers’ Championship, is a winner of this track in 2012, and he is odds-on favourite at 10/11 to do so again. Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, are multiple Monza victors, and are 22/1 and 33/1 respectively.

Daniel Ricciardo, 8/1 to win, has taken full advantage of Mercedes’ child-play, winning the last two races. The Australian, who also recently won the prestigious Trofeo Bandini trophy, is the only driver from another constructor to win this season (three overall), and is now a 33/1 chance to claim the individual award in his debut Red Bull season. He is now just 35 points off Hamilton and 64 behind Rosberg.