The European season has now elapsed as preparations begin the travel into the far east for the first of the fly-away races on the awesome streets of Singapore. It can be said that everyone was rather well behaved today, no mad multi-car pileups and insanity, instead there was a lot of passing, mainly through the two DRS sections and the low downforce nature of the track reducing the amount of aero turbulence. Also the particular stresses and strains of the power of Monza had a detrimental effect to some of the key runners in the championship before leaving the continent behind.
The Italian GP, was at times a little diluted in terms of action, but it made up through strategy and precision. This season has seen a lot of overtaking efforts that have gone a little awry, from Maldonado on Grosjean back at the beginning of the season in Australia - and a whole bunch of other incidents involving the the crazed Venezuelan. But this time, the altered regulations on defending your position have actually taken effect, meaning that people have to leave room even if the tiniest portion of the chasing car is alongside. Trying to judge something like that has lead in most cases to a lot more caution when both making and defending passes. It would go a long way to explain the amount of passes that are being made round the outside of chicanes, like the bus-stop in Spa last week, because as the track shifts in the opposite direction the drivers are forced to give way. That and the high apex mounds funnel drivers towards each other and opens the door for contact. So how did these regulations and unique challenges shape the Italian GP.
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| Credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk for the image |
We had a wider range of race snacks in position this weekend in preparation for the start of the event, and everything seemed orderly - almost too orderly, even the beverages were equidistant from the edge of the table. A long way from pinning the toastie machine in place with a bottle of flammable liquid before the less friendly run down to the first corner there. The amount of order was almost compromised when the Mercedes team forgot which fans went in which sidepod before pushing the car down to the grid spot. But in the OCD world of formula one that was the highlight of the pre-race build-up, not even Brundle's gridwalk went without barging international journalists out of the way.
It was time for the start, where for the second time this season the blog was joined by esteemed guest John, purveyor of the famous outside broadcasts last season, and for the Chinese GP this season - and the rationale behind why bagels currently have four bonus points. There was some chatter on the radios before the formation lap regarding the space on the other side of the white line on the grid, declaring it out of bounds except for emergencies to prevent people rejoining into the pack and causing an accident. Like we had this time last year. But off the line the grid seem to leave in unison, with the exception of Rosberg who was operating on a slightly different time scale to everyone else and started rather slowly. It was the Ferraris that on the whole made the best start, Massa passing Button and Alonso passing Di Resta.
Throughout the weekend it has been surprising how many people have managed to fit through the chicane at the start, but these are bigger cars, yet they all avoided each other, without even using the run off. Demonstrating potentially dangerous amounts of co-operating and friendliness - Kobayashi took a small knock to the rear corner and an HRT chipped an end plate, but that was the sum total off all the conflict and contact in the Retifilo. It got more confusing because throughout the rest of the lap no-one as much as brushed wheels - Di Resta got a couple of wheels on the grass on the run into Curva Grande trying to re-pass Alonso. The order settled into a single file formation after the grid passed through the Della Roggia chicane sorting themselves out before entering the first of the two Lesmos.
In the early stages it was the second of the Ferrari drivers that was making a charge forwards, driving past Kamui Kobayashi on the exit of Parabolica, Fernando caught straight onto the back of the next car in the train. The Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen - who running the Renault engine before the DRS system was activated was powerless to resist the straight line speed of the local favourite. Making the pass on Kimi before the cars reached the first chicane. Out front however Hamilton was easing away from Massa who in turn was dropping Button in 3rd, with explicit instructions to break free from the DRS region amidst the threats of the powerful McLaren system. On the following lap, the wing system was activated and one of the first take advantage was the Red Bull of Vettel, what was rather odd was that the he was able to make a straight line power pass on a Mercedes - considering the trouble they had in Spa passing the same car of Michael Schumacher.
We had completed a few laps without any wheel banging and that was about to change, as Rosberg came across the Williams of Bruno Senna in the Retifilo with a slightly forceful pass, bumping the Brazilian across the speed bumps. Things didn't get any better for Bruno as he then found himself battling with the Force India of Paul Di Resta, on the entrance to the Della Roggia chicane - Senna looked to the outside under braking before being eased off the track by Di Resta. A couple of gesticulations later Bruno coasted through the run-off and rejoined from a second excursion. Meanwhile on the front straight the camera caught a Torro Rosso losing control braking for the first corner and collecting the apex curb, the front of the car was launched into the air clattering back down on the grass in the middle of the corner. Jean Eric Vergne suffered broken rear suspension under braking and slid, and flew in to retirement, While the yellows were out to take the car away the DRS system was deactivated after the problems it caused in Valencia.
Towards the end of the first stint some of the cars were beginning to fade, Di Resta and Schumacher were struggling with wear rates on the rear tyres, which became a problem for Raikkonen who was unable to pass the Mercedes. Paul however was not able to maintain his position, losing ground to the Red Bull of Webber on the run down the Ascari chicane, defeated by Mark's DRS advantage. This lead to a flurry of pitstops initiated by Maldonado who miraculously had not hit anyone, followed by Nico Rosberg in the other fading Mercedes. There was one car that wasn't even considering heading into the pit lane - and there are no points for guessing who was on a single stop strategy and making progress. Indeed it was the Sauber driver One-Stop Perez who was now running behind Kimi Raikkonen, and the Mexican found a way past on the outside of the Roggia chicane. Taking advantage of the new regulations completing the pass on the inside of the second apex.
Over on the Ferrari pit wall there was a lot of nothing going on, as all telemetry from Massa's car was not being transmitted back to the team, just as Button was closing rapidly on the Red machine, the lack of data had no effect on the pace of Felipe but had more strategic implications. Jenson stayed in the draft of the Ferrari through Curva Grande making the pass cleanly round the outside before turning into the chicane. The Ferrari took the pits, one lap before Vettel and Alonso pitted at the same time - and exited at the same time two wide down the lane. Rejoining behind a train of one-stopping mid field cars, containing the remaining Torro Rosso of Ricciardo and Senna's Williams. This closed up the battle, and brought Alonso back into contention while the two McLaren were making a break out front. On the One-Stopping Perez update, he still wasn't coming in and running in third, but as the two silver cars out front cycled through their stops Sergio went through into the lead.
After filtering through the cars on the alternate strategy and nearly running over each other in the process Alonso was left duelling with that German bloke, and the Ferrari had the top speed advantage Coming through Curva Grande Alonso got a significant run on his rival, switching to the outside mid corner. Vettel covered the line, and then kept covering the line until there was no more line to follow - which meant there was no space for Fernando... who was now on the grass and gravel at close to 190mph. New pants there perhaps, but instead he called the team to complain about the German bloke, after pulling a diluted version of the same move 12 months ago. After a brief investigation by the stewards it was decided that Vettel's conduct was not acceptable and he was handed a drive through penalty. Meanwhile in the calmer Sauber garage One-Stop Perez was instructed to hang onto the tyres and his target pit lap was extended by four laps.
Time for some overtaking and it was Kimi Raikkonen, who was about to deliver after catching Hulkenberg who was also on a one stop strategy in the Force India - on the fresher rubber Kimi was able to complete the pass at the end of the DRS straight under braking for turn one. Hamilton had also caught up to the interim leader in his McLaren as Sergio's tyres were starting to go away towards the end of his opening stint. Knowing he was not in contention to race Lewis he didn't defend the position into the Retifilo chicane - after all Hamilton had set a string of fastest laps to get there. Round two between Vettel and Alonso was less likely to result in one driver being planted in the barriers, as the Ferrari sailed safely past before the Roggia chicane, as at this point Vettel was unaware of the penalty that was heading his way.
The race entered the almost inevitable stage of stagnation where nothing too much took place, generally in the middle of the stints where all tyre performances have equalised and no-one is gaining or losing. However this mid-race break was punctuated by a rather key development, Jenson Button's McLaren had stopped working, on account of a fuel pressure problem on the back straight. Severely denting his championship position and deleting his shot at a podium and a McLaren 1-2. After that moment the race started to enter the more interesting final stint - where a certain Mexican on fresh softer tyres was going rather quickly indeed, encountering a feisty battle with Raikkonen - Sergio passed the Finn in the Roggia but was re-passed on the exit before finishing the duel two-wide through the Retafilo chicane, which apparently is possible with the new rules. Without Button in the race any more both Ferraris were now on the podium - in the wrong order. Several sneakily coded messages went out to Massa, telling him to conserve tyres, and that Fernando was in the DRS window. Within laps of the two cars appearing within range the positions were reversed on the main straight.
Another set of fastest laps were being posted as Schumacher pulled his car into the pits for the second time and releasing the Sauber into 4th position - Perez was flying reeling in the two Ferraris at close to two seconds a lap and running faster than Hamilton by over a second. This prompted Smedley to get back on the radio to Massa asking him to pick up the pace a little - there is a car closing in rather quickly indeed. Raikkonen however was going backwards losing a place to Rosberg, while the second Mercedes threw the car down the inside of Kamui into Della Roggia, both cars with a box full of oversteer on the exit.
Massa no longer needed the instructions from the team as to where the car of One-Stop Perez was, as the Sauber was right behind the Ferrari, and Felipe had no defence against the Sergio. One the run down towards the Parabolica Perez drafted right up to the back of the Ferrari before ducking out at the last moment passing Massa before turning into the corner. Allowing Sergio to set his sights on the next car a few seconds further down the road, at this point a radio call went out to Hamilton in the lead car warning him to pick up the pace a little just to make sure he'd stay clear of the charging Sauber. Another radio call was sent to Webber who was running line astern with his team-mate telling him that Vettel's car could stop suddenly at any moment with a potential alternator failure again. In the time all those radio calls had taken place, Perez was now right behind Alonso and coming through the second of the two DRS zones swept past the Ferrari before Ascari - and set off after the lead McLaren.
It turned out that the prophecies on the Red Bull pit wall were all too accurate as Vettel's car lost all power and crawled to a halt before the first chicane - bombarded by his engineer shouting at him to stop the car as soon as possible to preserve the engine and avoid a grid penalty. Life was falling apart on the other side of the garage too as Webber's car got loose after clipping the final part of the Ascari chicane, luckily he managed to keep the car out of the inside wall but flatspotted all four tyres in the process. Mark didn't risk driving the car to the end of the race on the damaged tyres, Raikkonen knows how well that situation can end after a flatspot took his entire front suspension off at the Nurburgring some years ago. Within two laps he pulled the car into retirement.
Perez tried to cut the gap down to Hamilton but the were not enough laps left to get the job done, meaning the only McLaren left in the race crossed the line to take victory 5s clear of the Sauber he passed mid-race on an alternate strategy. Alonso gave the sea of red fans something to be pleased about as he put the Ferrari on the podium, followed home by his team-mate, both Ferraris scoring well on home turf. Raikkonen held off a late charge by Schumacher in a reversal of fortunes for most of the race where the German was in front. The second Mercedes clocked the fastest lap as it crossed the line with Rosberg at the wheel ahead of Di Resta and Kobayashi. For the final point somewhere on the final lap Ricciardo was defeated by both Williams handing 10th place to Bruno Senna after he had an eventful afternoon battling with various people.
The Bonus Points Championship
Looking back, today was not the most eventful of all weekends, although the final day of support races were great fun to watch. Seeing the GP3 title decided by the slimmest of margins in by one position on the penultimate lap of the race. But in the main game, the entertainment was in a restrained fashion today so finding points for exuberance may be a little complex. But nevertheless here are the winners from the Italian GP.
- 25pts: One-Stop Perez - Another well raced and managed strategic race, with strong pace and overtaking
- 18pts: Fernando Alonso - From rally crossing through the gravel to charging through from 10th a good job
- 15pts: Felipe Massa - Despite being defeated by his team-mate had a decent showing for once
- 12pts: Heikki/Petrov - Crossing the line two wide after 53 laps is rather cool.
- 10pts Hamilton - Probably should have some points for winning
- 8pts: Bruno Senna - From being pushed off twice to sneak a point on the final lap
- 6pts: Webber - For keeping the car off the wall on the exit of Ascari
- 4pts: Vergne - Points for the impromptu flight in the first chicane
- 2pts: John: - For race snacks, which are always a good idea
- 1pt: Daniel Abt: For almost doing the seemingly impossible in the GP3 event in the morning
The Penalties Championship
Only one penalty has been handed today and oddly enough it wasn't handed to Maldonado which is a first, but instead heading to Sebastien Vettel for his overly defensive manoeuvre on Fernando on the way through Curva Grande.
The Penalty Points Championship
Even though the grid was painfully well behaved across the weekend that doesn't mean I can't offer up some penalty points for the other things going on this weekend, and even they were being so well behaved. Even they were controlled, including two drivers battling two wide through Ascari without making contact, but there was one moment that does deserve a penalty and that goes to the GP3 champion. Mitch Evans started the race last and drove up into the points - a good thing - but took damage avoiding a spinner in turn one over the curbs. As a result he ran off at Roggia and when rejoining proceeded to weave across the track to try and keep drivers behind him - lunacy and deserves a penalty point.
Looking ahead to Singapore
Monza was on balance a controlled strategic race, on a high speed traditional circuit which has been part of every season bar one since 1950 - so it can be said that the next race is one of the greatest of contrasts. As the series takes to the bumpy, narrow streets under the radiant artificial lights of Singapore. Out of all the newer tracks that have found their way onto the calendar, the Marina Bay Circuit has made one of the greatest impacts on the sport in terms of spectacle and entertainment. And it is a track where Schumacher has a tendency to crash into Saubers, Kamui in 2010 and going over the top of Perez last season. After visiting some of the greatest traditional venues on the calendar the street track is something completely different and the longest race of the season, where the event will close in on the two hour maximum limit. Even without the likely visit from the Safety car.
In a championship which is close and unpredictable as it has been this season, the injection of a complex race such as Singapore can prove to be crucial in deciding the title, as it was for Hamilton in contact with Webber in a previous visit to the track. This time we may have been starved of some out and out mad racing action but throw in a street track into a challenging and competitive end of the season could make up for Monza and every other uneventful race this year. Singapore is a fantastic way to welcome in the final phase of this season and until then this is farewell from me here in the isolated world of blog HQ..
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