I am starting to think that rain is forbidden on a Sunday afternoon, on each occasion it has been threatened the skies remain clear and the track remains dry. If we were to stage a race at the bottom of the pacific ocean, the seas would part to leave a track as parched as the surface of the Attacama. Much like the situation was in Spa events managed to unfold such that the majority of the race became a foregone conclusion - the two participants mostly out of position encountered early difficulties removing them from the equation and stifling the prospect of a race long charge through the field. Furthermore this race saw some glaring disparity in the effectiveness of DRS from car to car, it was either completely useless or monstrously overpowered. We also learned that you need the straight line speed of a scalded cheetah to get anywhere close to passing a Toro Rosso around Monza, yet they themselves don't have the pace to catch the cars in front of them. I've no idea what on earth has been going on at the famous autodromo but all of the series have been a little...off. GP3 driving has been a little silly, and it flows from one extreme to the other in GP2 - four corners of intense racing followed by several laps of roughly sod all going on. At least the F1 race was a little more consistent, and ramped up towards the end - but once more that top step of the podium may as well have been booked and set in advance. Maybe next time things will be different, room for madness on those streets.
The Race
Hopes were momentarily raised when the pit-lane seemed a little damp in the build up to the race, and rain was present in the air, still falling albeit lightly - helped a little with the fact that cars were heading to the grid on intermediate tyres. A hope that as per usual faded into the familiar sense of disappointment, because the rain came to an abrupt end, the clouds rolled away, and the track was completely dry with plenty of time before the start of the race.
Off the line it was unsurprisingly the two Ferraris that made the most ground, sweeping past Hulkenberg like he didn't exist. Massa also managed to slip past Webber, and it almost seemed like he defended from Alonso - if that was the case he'd probably be shown the door for not jumping out of the way. Despite being all alone in the lead on the really long run down to the first corner, Vettel locked up and flat-spotted his front tyre. Although the entire wheel could have fallen off and the car would still be the fastest thing around. Further back Kimi Raikkonen found himself behind Perez, and given the amount of altercations they've had this season Kimi thought it best to nudge the Mexican down the escape road - unfortunately it ruined the Lotus front wing in the process dropping him to the back of the grid. But on the whole it was a unusually damage free run through the first chicane. So that was made up for in the braking zone of the Della Roggia chicane, as Di Resta clobbered into the back of Grosjean. Romain could continue, but Paul was missing a front wheel and was forced to retire.
Vettel was clear off in the lead, and as per usual was never seen again, Massa was second while Webber held of Alonso for third. Hulkenberg still existed but had Rosberg for company in summary of how this race was to play out through the remainder of the race, only one position changed in the top six from now until the end of the race...But if we just looked at that then the race would seem dull, uneventful perhaps - yet everyone else seemed to be having fun. A train of cars behind Vergne including a recovering Hamilton was initially quite excitable, Lewis passing Gutierrez in the second chicane. That backed the Sauber up into the Williams team who in turn were almost passed by Pic in the Caterham. Perez was having the same trouble trying to pass the other Toro Rosso of Ricciardo - whilst being caught be Grosjean. Both these groups were able to duel amongst themselves but had nothing for the Toro Rosso roadblocks.
As soon as the DRS window opened Hamilton breezed past Jenson as if he didn't exist before the Ascari chicane - because the McLaren team had got the gear ratios wrong and were defenceless. Further forward Alonso made a move round the outside of Webber in the second chicane easing across on the racing line on the exit of the corner. Once again Mark found himself without a front wing endplate - this time didn't lead to a subsequent barrage of fastest laps, only Van Der Garde has the ability to improve Adrian Newey's handiwork. Hamilton's charge was about to encounter a bit of a problem, starting with a complete failure of his in-car communication system which meant he couldn't hear the team inform him of a slow puncture developing on that Mercedes. This allowed Button to recover the gap and then retake the place on the outside of the Roggia chicane - interesting to see more passing away from the DRS zone. Except for Massa moving out of the the way for Fernando - but that was an inevitable team manoeuvre - there was no way at all Massa would have been allowed to keep that place...Now would Kimi be so co-operative.
Vergne may have lost Hamilton after the Mercedes finally recognised the problem via the almost archaic system of using a pit-board and pitted - only to rejoin behind Raikkonen - but the Frenchman gained Jenson Button staring at his gearbox. However there was nothing Jenson could do the Toro Rosso was far too fast in a straight line - until it broke down before the first of the Lesmos, narrowly missed by the McLaren as Vergne pulled it out of the way. Grosjean and Perez on the other hand, were still struggling to make any ground on Ricciardo allowing Button to work his way up to the back of that particular train of cars.
While nothing else was going on, it was time for the pit-stops - and this being a one stop race the strategy was slightly less relevant making it less of a tactical event - just a case of running the tyres until they were done, swap the other set on and then go to the end. Of course that process changed for Raikkonen and Hamilton who were forced into an early stop. Red Bull once more illustrated their dominance by stopping both their cars on the same lap, with immaculate consistency 2.6 and 2.7s for Vettel and Webber respectively - servicing both cars within 10 seconds... This turn around was enough to move Webber in front of Massa and much closer to Alonso in the other Ferrari. Everyone else retained position, in relative terms as late stopping cars were temporarily out of position - Raikkonen was back up to 5th after being last on the opening lap. The two McLarens found themselves back behind Ricciardo after the stops but Jenson had made it through past Perez, without the need to knock carbon fibre off each other.
Speaking of intra-team battles Mercedes ran two wide through the opening chicane with Hamilton taking the position. Lewis then caught up immediately to Hulkenberg and almost performed an identical pass on the Sauber, but not being team-mates he was able to defend more robustly but Hamilton used all his KERs to go round the outside through Curva Grande. Nico and Nico then resumed the battle they'd been in since the start of the race, but lost a lot of ground by missing the first chicane and having to meander through the maze of polystyrene marker boards. Hamilton was told to pit - but proceeded to set the fastest lap instead, some more communication issues going on there, eventually Mercedes were able to apprehend Lewis to give him some new tyres.
In the final phase of the race we were set for another battle towards the front as Webber was right behind Alonso and was clearly in a much faster car - considering the Red Bull is realistically faster than everything. But the team came on the radio once more to the Australian to say something was wrong with the car, this time it was the gearbox. In order to get the car home he had to short shift in the traction zones - losing ground out of the chicanes on the Ferrari and ending that battle. Instead we turned to Raikkonen and Hamilton on a two stop strategy and much fresher tyres fighting back from outside the points. Kimi was making considerable progress - first picking off Gutierrez and then Sutil in very quick succession closing rapidly on the McLaren pairing of Perez and Button. But once again just as things were going to get interesting Lotus informed Raikkonen that his KERs was malfunctioning ending that battle. This allowed Hamilton to use his KERs once more in Curva Grande to take the place. Further forward the potential for Massa to come after an ailing Webber for 3rd came to nothing as Felipe was struck down with KERs problems of his own. Was anyone allowed to to battle today.
Vettel won the race a country mile ahead of every one else, even he had slowed down through his own gearbox issues, Alonso scored another podium for Ferrari at their home race, which the tifosi were quite pleased about. Webber was locked into third by his technical difficulties and safe from Massa and his technical difficulties - Mark parked the car at the end of the pit-lane. Not sure if that was wise with the post-race track invasion, Fisichella parked a Benetton on the the front straight several years ago and the fans stripped it like a crowd of angry vultures. Aside from the Ferrari/Red Bull contingent - the two Nicos finished in the same places they ended the first lap in, Hulkenberg doing well to score a top five place ahead of Rosberg. Ricciardo proved to be completely unpassable, and so did the other Toro Rosso for the brief time it was running. Grosjean was the only Lotus to score points in 8th position and one of the few drivers to make up a few places today despite barely been spotted on Camera. Hamilton was able to use the DRS advantage to defeat both McLarens in the dying laps to score a couple of points while Jenson held onto the final point ahead of Raikkonen in 11th. Kimi incidently went from being the closest rival to Vettel, to being out of the hunt in two races losing 50 points to the German Bloke...2013 does look even more inevitable as it progresses.
The Bonus Points Championship points winners
There are some races where it is difficult to decide where to assign the bonus points with so many different stories developing throughout the field - this is not one of those races, the majority of the grid circulated in roughly the same positions they started in. So many battles were taken away through excessive DRS or ineffective gear ratios making overtaking impossible, others were ruined through technical dramas. Of all the races of the season this one promised so much, so often and then each time crushed that potential out of existence. But points must be assigned to someone, 10 someones in fact, so here goes.
- 25pts - Nico Hulkenberg - Had to take the top score, beating Mercedes, McLaren and Lotus in this years Sauber which is a shadow of it's former self
- 18pts - Lewis Hamilton - Despite being massively grumpy, that was strong damage limitation driving today
- 15pts - Fernando Alonso - Still the only car able to come within a million miles of Vettel
- 12pts - Mark Webber - A broken front wing, a ruined gearbox and still gave Alonso a run for his money
- 10pts - Felipe Massa - Driving well to try and retain that drive for the coming season
- 8pts - Red Bull - Two completed pit stops within around 10s seconds... needs points
- 6pts - Toro Rosso - For creating a car that cannot be passed, endorsed by Gandalf I'd imagine
- 4pts - Sebastien Vettel - Fine the German Bloke can have some points
- 2pts - Charles Pic - Wins the lower division
- 1pt - Adderly Fong - Wins the high jump award for Monza for a massive wheelie in turn one during the GP3 race
Looking forward to Singapore
If there is one track of the season that doesn't need any rain to make things interesting it is the twilight streets of Singapore lots of inviting walls and movable barriers to for Maldonado make a fort out of. Pastor managed to fail to notice the same barriers between the Lesmos and no forts were built. The Marina Bay circuit has been a polarising venue among fans and supporters of the track, because it is seen as novelty addition which doesn't really add anything to the season. But here at Blog HQ it is met with great approval, it is a different type of street circuit to Monaco, almost making the comparison very limited, the roads are wider, the straights are actually straight and overtaking is possible. There are no health and safety run-off areas, and the slightest error leads to a concrete wall and some missing wheels.
Leaving the fastest circuit and the shortest race of the season and heading to the longest most draining event always pushing the two hour limit and frequently attracts the presence of the Safety car. However this time Schumacher isn't on the grid, and he was responsible for some of those safety cars for assaulting Saubers, and then Vergne's Toro Rosso because it was in the vicinity of a Sauber. So potentially this time things might be a little less destructive, either way we might go to Singapore and something might happen, and Vettel might not be impossibly fast...well we can dream.
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