multi21

Damn, I never would have thought the closest Ferrari would be more than 1/2 second behind the McLarens and Kimi more than a full second off the pace. I hope they have a fuel cell the size of a septic tank, or they'll have no chance this weekend.

Ray S

Not a lot of action, but a good race.

The pass of the race was definately Hamiltons move on Kimi. He really caught him sleeping.

A.Wayne

By Matt Beer Sunday, September 9th 2007, 13:25 GMT

Fernando Alonso reduced Lewis Hamilton's world championship lead to three points by taking a dominant victory in the Italian Grand Prix.

But Hamilton prevented his teammate from making further inroads by putting a bold pass on Kimi Raikkonen for second place after the Ferrari had got between the McLarens during the pit stops.

Raikkonen's third place leaves him 18 points adrift of Hamilton with four rounds to go, and with Felipe Massa retiring early with his first mechanical failure of the year, Ferrari's title hopes look increasingly distant.

While Alonso calmly led away at the start, Hamilton lost ground off the grid and was passed by Massa. The Briton went around the outside of the Ferrari into the first chicane, making slight wheel to wheel contact and cutting the apex of the left-hander in the process. The officials decided not to penalise Hamilton, who resisted Massa's vigorous attempts to regain second further around the opening lap.

The safety car then emerged for five laps after David Coulthard's front wing - weakened in contact with Giancarlo Fisichella's Renault - collapsed in the middle of the Curva Grande and sent the Red Bull into the barriers at high speed. Coulthard was unhurt in the accident.

After the restart Hamilton was able to get away from Massa, who retired soon afterwards after reporting a mechanical problem with the rear of his Ferrari.

Hamilton stayed close to Alonso through the first stint, but pitted two laps sooner, allowing Alonso to establish a more comfortable lead in the middle of the race.

While McLaren had opted for a two-stop strategy, Raikkonen was only pitting once, and he was able to lead after the McLarens' stops.

He then maintained a sufficiently fast pace in his heavy Ferrari to keep McLaren under pressure, and when Hamilton made his final stop on lap 40, he rejoined behind Raikkonen in third place.

With Alonso far enough ahead to retain his lead even after his stop, it looked like Hamilton's championship lead might dwindle to a single point.

But just as Alonso was making his final pit visit, Hamilton was diving down the inside of Raikkonen into the first chicane and retaking second place. He then accelerated away to complete a commanding McLaren one-two.

BMW took fourth and fifth with Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, despite the Pole losing a lot of time when his car fell from its jacks at his first pitstop. He finally reclaimed fifth place by driving around the outside of Nico Rosberg at the first chicane in the closing stages.

Rosberg beat the two-stopping Heikki Kovalainen and fellow one-stopper Jenson Button to sixth. The German and the Briton had engaged in a spirited battle in the opening stint, running absolutely side by side through the first chicane before Rosberg secured the position with an outside line dive at the Roggia.

Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello completed the top ten, ahead of the slow-starting Jarno Trulli.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Italian Grand Prix
Autodromo di Monza, Italy;
53 laps; 306.720km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Alonso McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1h18:37.806
2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) + 6.062
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) + 27.325
4. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) + 56.562
5. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) + 1:00.558
6. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) + 1:05.810
7. Kovalainen Renault (B) + 1:06.751
8. Button Honda (B) + 1:12.168
9. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) + 1:15.879
10. Barrichello Honda (B) + 1:16.958
11. Trulli Toyota (B) + 1:17.736
12. Fisichella Renault (B) + 1 lap
13. Wurz Williams-Toyota (B) + 1 lap
14. Davidson Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 1 lap
15. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) + 1 lap
16. Sato Super Aguri-Honda (B) + 1 lap
17. Liuzzi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
18. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
19. Sutil Spyker-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap
20. Yamamoto Spyker-Ferrari (B) + 1 lap

Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:22.871

Not classified/retirements:

Driver Team On lap
Massa Ferrari (B) 11
Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 3


World Championship standings, round 13:

Drivers: Constructors:
1. Hamilton 92 1. McLaren-Mercedes 166
2. Alonso 89 2. Ferrari 143
3. Raikkonen 74 3. BMW Sauber 86
4. Massa 69 4. Renault 38
5. Heidfeld 52 5. Williams-Toyota 25
6. Kubica 33 6. Red Bull-Renault 16
7. Kovalainen 21 7. Toyota 12
8. Fisichella 17 8. Super Aguri-Honda 4
9. Wurz 13 9. Honda 2
10. Rosberg 12
11. Webber 8
12. Coulthard 8
13. Trulli 7
14. R.Schumacher 5
15. Sato 4
16. Button 2
17. Vettel 1

A.Wayne

www.f1.com

Ferrari’s Felipe Masssa and Red Bull’s David Coulthard on their early exits from the Italian Grand Prix; BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica on his difficult pit stop; and Honda’s Jenson Button on his second point of the season. All 22 drivers review Sunday’s action…

Fernando Alonso, McLaren (1st):
“To win at Monza for the first time is very special. Sometimes everything goes in the right direction; this weekend was one of those times and we were able to keep up the momentum. My start wasn’t perfect, and I had to defend my lead coming in to the first corner. In the second corner I was a bit worried as I thought Lewis (Hamilton) and I would touch but fortunately this did not happen. The safety car could have caused us a few problems as it was important for our strategy to open up a gap as soon as possible. However it was a perfect afternoon today with the car and the team working really well, and to win in front of the enthusiastic Italian Formula One fans is very emotional.”

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (2nd):
“Obviously I didn’t get the best getaway and Felipe (Massa) managed to shoot past me. I outbraked both him and Fernando (Alonso) into Turn One, and I almost thought I was going to get past, but then Felipe clipped me and sent me over the second chicane. I was suffering vibrations on my tyres in the first stint, so I opted to pit earlier to play it safe. Once we knew that Kimi (Raikkonen) was on a one-stop strategy it was key to really optimise my second stop. Unfortunately I came out behind him, but I knew I was faster on the new tyres, if only for a couple of laps, and so I just took the opportunity when I caught him up. It was really important for me to get that place back, not only for my position in the Championship, but also for all the team. We had the one-two in qualifying yesterday, and to maintain this in the race was the icing on the cake. They have all done a fantastic job.”

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari (3rd):
To follow.

Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber (4th):
“My start, as such, wasn’t bad, although Kimi’s was even better. Before the first corner it was very busy in front of me, and in the second corner I was on the outside line and lost a position to Kimi there. Anyway, this would have happened sooner or later, because he only stopped once. The early safety car period helped all those who were on a one stop strategy or wanted to pit late. Part of our strategy was to gain advantage over the one-stoppers or late-stoppers during the first stint. This obviously didn’t work out because of the safety car. Besides this, I had a very good race with perfect pit stops. Now we can start thinking about reaching the magic 100 constructors’ points, which would be a great success in what is only our second season.”

Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber (5th):
“The race was okay for me. In the first laps when the car was lighter we were really quick, but I think we could have had a better performance when the car was heavy, so perhaps this is something we have to work on. For the pit stop I didn’t arrive straight so the car slid down from the jack when the guys were changing the tyres. Then after the stop we couldn’t get the jack out from under the front wing, so it cost me a lot of time, but fortunately in the end it didn’t change anything for the team. After that first stop I was behind Heikki Kovalainen and it was not possible to stay closer than six or seven tenths, as any closer than that and I was losing downforce. After the second stop I was in front of him and then I had to get by Nico Rosberg. I had new tyres and a pretty light car, while because of his one stop strategy he was on old tyres, so I went very quickly out of Parabolica, which was not easy after you spend so much time behind someone. However, I braked much later and was able to get by.”

Nico Rosberg, Williams (6th):
“It was a good weekend for us. We showed a competitive pace and we’ve been happy with our performance all weekend. The team’s made good progress following the test here last week, and the hard work paid off with a really a big step forward. Well done to Toyota as Monza’s an engine track and we held our own. It’s also great to get more points for both the championships.”

Heikki Kovalainen, Renault (7th):
“I was on the limit every lap today, and we just didn't have the pace over the full race distance to make up any ground. I got a fantastic start, passed Kubica and was fighting with Heidfeld going into the Curva Grande, but he put me on the grass and I had to back off, which meant I lost a place to Kubica as well. After that, it was quite a lonely race. I passed Robert at the first stop, and kept him behind me for the middle stint, but we just didn't have enough pace to come out ahead of Rosberg after my last pit-stop. Everybody did a good job today, and there were no mistakes at all. But unfortunately, this was the maximum we could do.”

Jenson Button, Honda (8th):
“It was nice to get a point today but it was a frustrating race for me as I had so much understeer on the first stint. We run such low front wing around this circuit that it is very easy to lock the front tyres, particularly at Parabolica, and I flat-spotted the front right which meant I was losing grip through every right-hand corner. This meant that I couldn't fend off Rosberg and the long first stint of 33 laps compromised me even further. So it was frustrating as we could have had a better result but we did our very best this weekend and a point is definitely some reward. The team have done a great job and everyone is in good spirits, so I'm pleased to have got another point for them. They really deserve it.”

Mark Webber, Red Bull (9th):
“I had a pretty good start and a good scrap with Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg over the first few laps. I tried to be as consistent as possible on the heavy load fuel I was running, and to keep the best rhythm I could, but it wasn’t easy as the car wasn’t that easy to drive. It was one of the most difficult races I’ve done in terms of inconsistent balance, so we need to improve that and sort out some of the reliability issues that are still affecting us. It’s disappointing to only finish ninth after the effort we’ve put in over the last few weeks.”

Rubens Barrichello, Honda (10th):
“It was a good race today but unfortunately all of the cars in the midfield also had a competitive race and there were five cars racing within about ten seconds. We had a good pace and I put in some really good laps on the prime tyres but unfortunately my challenge for a better position was over when Webber was just able to get out ahead at the second pit stop. However we have been better all weekend which is down to some really hard work from the team and I look forward to having more competitive races for the remainder of the season.”

Jarno Trulli, Toyota (11th):
“It was a pity that we made such a poor getaway because our pace was good today and we could have made the points. Unfortunately once again we had problems at the start. I lost three positions and from then on it was a different race. The car was competitive and consistent but after the first few corners I was in traffic for the rest of the afternoon. I was quicker than the cars in front but it was impossible to overtake here. This shows that when the gaps in the midfield battle are so tight, one little detail can make all the difference and you need to get everything right. We still have a lot of work to do but first we must look for a better result in Spa.”

Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault (12th):
“I made a really good start, then got blocked out by several cars - and ended up losing position to Davidson because of it. Coulthard hit the back of my car on lap two I think, and it damaged the rear endplate on the left hand side. I also had understeer all through the race, so the balance wasn't perfect. In the first stint, I was losing time behind the Aguri, but it was only near to the pit-stops that I had enough extra pace to pass him into turn 1. After that, we all had pretty much the same strategy, and there was nothing much to do to gain positions. So we turned the engine right down, and looked after it because I have to use it again in Spa. Hopefully, things will go better for us there.”

Alexander Wurz, Williams (13th):
“It was a difficult first stint for me. We went with a very aggressive strategy but having a heavy fuel load had a negative effect on my rears and I just couldn’t get the speed I needed. It all comes down to my qualifying position. Making a mistake on Saturday means you’re chasing it during the race, but I like the challenge.”

Anthony Davidson, Super Aguri (14th):
“After a reasonably good start everyone was fairly well behaved into Turn One, but Vettel made contact with the rear of my car which damaged the diffuser. The car seemed to be quite good on a heavy fuel load and I was able to challenge Wurz in the Williams and also Fisichella. I then overtook him when he made a mistake round Parabolica and we had a good fight, which was probably the highlight of my race. Then as the fuel loads came down I think that we just struggled for speed a bit and it was hard to keep the faster cars behind me, but I managed to hold off Ralf (Schumacher) in the Toyota right to the end, so I am happy enough with that.”

Ralf Schumacher, Toyota (15th):
“That was a very disillusioning result for both of us. It didn’t work very well and it was a struggle for us today. Jarno managed to handle it better than me this weekend but I could see that the race here in Monza would not be our strongest race. We still have some problems with kerbs and that makes a big difference at Monza. The first corner is always chaotic here but today it went relatively smoothly for me. Of course even if you’re at the back you still push hard and I tried to drive as quickly as possible. We have much to analyse but now we must turn our attentions to next race. We had a good test at Spa so we can aim for a better result there.”

Takuma Sato, Super Aguri (16th):
“On the way to, and also on the grid, I felt the brake pedal had gone really soft and I clearly had a problem, but at that time there was nothing we could do. I tried to warm up the car on the formation lap and then the front brakes caught fire when I got back to the grid and there was a lot of smoke, which I was really worried about it. I didn’t have a good feeling about the brakes, but into Turn One I was able to make up some places. My front brake was really fading and I was struggling with the car as it locked the rear wheel a lot. I couldn't stop because the front didn't have any bite and as a result I lost a few places. The safety car then helped me to cool down the brakes and they came back to reasonable level. After that I was able to recover my race, overtake a few cars and push my way through. On the last stint the option tyre came into reasonable grip and I was able to do a good lap time, but overall it was a tough race.”

Vitantonio Liuzzi, Toro Rosso (17th):
“The most positive thing from this weekend is that we saw the chequered flag again. In the race we did not have enough pace to get ahead of the cars in front. From my point of view I had a good race, although I had a bit of understeer in the first stint, which cost me a lot of time. My second stint was quite strong. Our pace was not too bad after we improved the car on Saturday morning, but in qualifying we did not get the most out of the car. We struggled to stay with other cars when we were in their slipstream as I really lost a lot of downforce when I was near to other cars. All we can do now is to look forward to trying again in Spa.”

Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso (18th):
“My start was okay and then I saw David (Coulthard) coming up my right hand side, which forced me to go round the outside and then in the second chicane, unfortunately I ran into Davidson. It was partly my fault. I was happy the safety car came out as I didn't lose too much. But later, I had a big problem with the brakes and we will have to find out what caused it. I was hardly able to stop the car and at this high speed track you need to have confidence in the brakes. Today was a bit frustrating, after I had a good day yesterday.”

Adrian Sutil, Spyker (19th):
“Today was not such a good day, but we did at least get to the finish with the new car. The car balance was not great and at the start it was difficult to keep the temperature in the tyres under the safety car so I had a bad first stint. The second stint was a little bit better but I still had some understeer with the car. It's not been the best weekend but we'll be better in Belgium I'm sure.”

Sakon Yamamoto, Spyker (20th):
“Today from the start we were fighting with the other cars and we had made the most of the two stop strategy. I could push and keep up with the field without problems, but in the end we lost a bit of time compared to the others. I am quite happy to make it to the end with the B-spec car and for the next race I will keep pushing and look forward to it.”

David Coulthard, Red Bull (DNF):
“I touched the back of Fisichella’s car in the middle of the first chicane and broke my front wing. When I accelerated, the downforce pushed the wing underneath the front of the car and broke the steering. I went straight off the track and into the tyres, that was the end of the weekend.”

Felipe Massa, Ferrari (DNF):
To follow.

mitch236

+1

What is going on with Kimi getting bored during races. He got schooled!!

Spyderidol

I'm not a Ferrari fan for obvious reasons, but apparently Kimi was suffering from his neck due to the crash earlier on. He was having a real problem trying to keep his head up, especially under breaking.
This explains why Hamilton was able to pull that pass with relative ease.

Flying Finn

He wasn't getting bored, I think his neck muscles from 22g chrash were worn out (Mark Arnall explained that after a chrash like that your muscles are not necessarily in pain but so close after the chrash the muscles have no power).

I think he didn't expect Hamilton to try the pass and was surpriced, awesome pass from Hamilton.

Good race, especially the first few laps where there was a lot of close battle going on behind the McLarens & Ferraris.

Nordschleife

I don't know if you saw all the different camera angles, but one of them showed Hamilton rotating the car in the middle of the track with all four wheels locked - just like a cart

R+C

Flying Finn

Saw it although to me it looked more like it wasn't so intentional. Got the car lose and then managed to save it. He himself said he didn't think he was gonna make it but somehow it worked. Regardless, great move.

A.Wayne

It was a great pass and Kimi had a great race to get back in the car after such a hit and get on with it .... Finnish rum does have it's benifits, great numbing effect

A.Wayne

Hamilton moves the car around alot , if you look at the pics from the other races ,
he does get busy with it .....

multi21

It did look like a carting move. Great pass, but Kimi was hurt and doesn't necessarily drive defensively.

Funny how Hamilton is mortal without Alonso's set up on the car.

Ferrari is done, even in the constructor's points, even if the Hungarian GP points are taken away from McLaren.

It's down to Alonso and Hamilton and if Hamilton doesn't get Alonso's tech set up, he's done as well.

Nordschleife

I wouldn't 'read' too much into that. You are assuming that the driver has too much say in what goes on. From a team management perspective, I can tell you that the bosses know exactly how each car is set up, and will point engineers in the right direction, as required. As drivers have different styles, so they require different set-ups. At Alonso's behest, his car doesn't even have the same equipment as Hamilton's car. So 'copying' Alonso's set up isn't as important as you imagine.

Given the way everybody is behaving, I'd say that Alonso and Ferrari are a marriage made in heaven.

R+C

multi21

Yes your right in that we don't know the full story, but I'd imagine Alonso's experience gives him an advantage over the his younger teammate in what will work or not.

Agreed that the team principals have a vested interest in knowing each cars set up and getting both cars to come in 1-2 as they did yesterday. We don't know if that information is shared behind the scenes (I imagine it is, regardless of what is said to the public).

The SPEED broadcasters did mention that Alonso was running the same brakes he did when at Renault and the same as he's run with McLaren after the Canadian GP (I can't recall the name right now). Hamilton was running the Carbon Industry brakes.

You can't read too much into it, but Alonso had a problem with the Carbon Industry brakes on the same corner in Canada (3-4 times on the same corner) where he seemed to be running comfortably yesterday on a circuit that requires heavy braking.

Nordschleife

Put it this way, you don't tell driver A that you have passed on set up information to driver B's engineer. But you would be failing your team, its owners and sponsors if you didn't make sure that information was appropriately shared.

Most drivers don't really 'know' what their set up is apart from 'more/less/downforce/understeer', they may look at it at some stage to see the correlation between what they say to the engineer and
what changes are made to the car. A lot of the time the drivers pretend they understand more than they do. Once you start comparing the different drivers' telemetry, significant differences in set up are rather obvious.

To maximise testing time, you have to run both cars as members of a single team, which means all data is open to some level in the organisation, based on this information, so the set up of the cars can be altered. Not to do this cuts the rate of development by at least a third.

One of the benefits of driving oin the GP2 series is that drivers get an accelerated course on working with their engineers in that series.

One of the things that old and mean team managers do when trying out a new driver is to deliberately send him out with the car improperly set up in a known way, and seeing how he picks this up.

R+C