LEWIS HAMILTON cruised to his seventh win of the season at the Italian Grand Prix yesterday but was made to wait nearly three hours for confirmation of his win following a tyre pressure enquiry.

Hamilton’s left rear tyre pressure was found to be 0.3 psi below the minimum of 19.5 when measured before the race. But stewards decided to take no action because they determined that the pressure was at the correct level when the tyres were fitted to the car.

“I wasn’t aware of it,” Hamilton said, adding that 0.3 psi “is not really a huge amount on one tyre.”

Sole tyre supplier Pirelli, still recovering from the Belgian GP two weeks ago where there were frightening tyre deterioration problems, agreed with the stewards’ decision.

“We are totally sure no one is cheating,” Pirelli spokesman Roberto Boccafogli said, adding that “0.3 psi is nothing. Such a small thing.”

Otherwise, it was a golden weekend for Hamilton, who topped every practice, started from pole position and led the race from start to finish.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had a weekend like this,” said Hamilton, who is aiming for his second straight F1 title and third overall.

The victory nearly doubled his Formula One lead over Mercedes teammate Nico Ros

berg, whose engine caught fire with two laps remaining.

A potential challenge from Ferrari fizzled when Kimi Raikkonen stalled on the front row of the starting grid.

In perfect conditions, Hamilton finished 25 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the other Ferrari, while Felipe Massa crossed third, 47 seconds back.

Massa finished just three tenths of a second ahead of Williams teammate Valtteri Bottas.

“It’s the best second-place I’ve ever had,” said the four-time world champion Vettel, who raced for Ferrari for the first time at Monza. “The emotions on the podium are incredible.”

With the 40th win of his career, Hamilton moved within one victory of his childhood idol Ayrton Senna and Vettel on the all-time list. The Briton also became the first driver to secure back-to-back wins at Monza since Damon Hill in 1993-94.

Hamilton had such a comfortable lead that he told his team midway through the race that he was turning his engine down.

But Mercedes must have been made aware of the tyre pressure issue late in the race — and potential time penalties — because the team started to send worrisome messages to Hamilton via radio.

“We need to pull a gap,” a Mercedes engineer told Hamilton.

“Don’t ask questions, just execute.”