Sebastian Vettel scored his eighth victory of the season with an impressive drive in the Red Bull RB7 at Monza.
The championship leader achieved his maiden win back in 2008 for Toro Rosso and this latest triumph, his eighteenth career Grand Prix victory means Sebastian Vettel is edging closer towards the drivers’ title.
Jenson Button won the battle over Fernando Alonso for second position, with Lewis Hamilton having to settle for fourth after spending much of the race stuck behind Michael Schumacher.
As for Mark Webber – Vettel’s closest challenger in the points prior to the weekend – crashed out following a clash with Felipe Massa.
Alonso had briefly raised the tifosi’s hopes for success by surging his Ferrari to the front in a spectacular start from fourth on the grid. Vettel was slow away from pole position and was immediately attacked by Hamilton’s McLaren before Alonso appeared down the inside, taking a bit of the grass along the way.
Carnage further back prompted the safety car. Tonio Liuzzi losing control of his HRT under braking and spun down the inside grass before slamming into Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes and Vitaly Petrov’s Renault in the middle of the Rettifilio.
Rubens Barrichello’s Williams and Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber picked up damage in the consequent traffic jam, while Bruno Senna, Sebastien Buemi and Adrian Sutil had to trundle through the gravel in avoidance.
The race restarted on lap four with Schumacher taking advantage over Hamilton to move into third for Mercedes.
Webber was taking sixth from Button during this moment of time, both having lost ground at the start. But when the Red Bull attacked Felipe Massa into the Rettifilio a lap later, Webber ended up tagging the Ferrari into a spin and damaging his front wing, which then folded under the car and caused him to crash at the Parabolica.
The sister Red Bull was faring better with Vettel seeking an opportunity to get by race leader Alonso. On lap five, the championship leader had better acceleration – thanks to a short gear ratio – to make a brilliant around-the-outside-pass at Curva Grande. After that, Vettel was unstoppable, storming away and holding a 15-second margin as he notched up yet another victory.
Alonso then came under attack from Schumacher and Hamilton for a while, but soon the latter pair were too busy fighting each other. The Mercedes’ supreme straight-line speed and some firm defending from the seven-time world champion kept Hamilton at bay.
Button caught the Schumacher-Hamilton duel, and was able to pass both in quick succession on lap 16 – taking Hamilton when he had to abruptly back off as Schumacher closed the door shut at the Curva Grande, and then slicing down the outside of the Mercedes into Ascari.
That left Button in clean air to chase down Alonso – who he overtook shortly after the second round of pit-stops when the Ferrari got a poor exit from the Rettifilio.
The battle between Schumacher and Hamilton was exciting. The Mercedes’ had the straight-line speed advantage but had to defend quite aggressively to prevent the McLaren getting by. It didn’t help that Hamilton was hitting the rev-limiter as he tried in vain to pass the Silver Arrow.
Hamilton eventually pass Schumacher on the approach down to Ascari on lap 27, and then mounted his own pursuit of Alonso – catching the Ferrari on the final lap but running out of time to try a pass.
Massa recovered from the Webber incident to finish in sixth position for Ferrari behind Schumacher.
Sergio Perez looked assured of seventh on a one-stop strategy until his Sauber’s gearbox failed, which meant Jaime Alguersuari could take the place after a strong drive from P18.
Paul di Resta, Senna and Buemi recovered from their first-corner delays to complete the points-scorers for Force India, Renault and Toro Rosso respectively.
A fine start and a safe passage through the first-lap chaos saw Pastor Maldonado run as high as sixth place for Williams. But he did not have the race pace to remain there and slipped down to P11 by the chequered flag.
Behind the delayed Barrichello, the high attrition rate allowed Lotus duo of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli, and Virgin Racing’s Timo Glock, to take potentially useful finishes in P13 through P15.
So a fantastic result for Red Bull Racing. This result proves that the team had firmly conquered its Monza weak spot by dominating the Italian Grand Prix thanks to Sebastian Vettel. The German can actually win the world championship in Singapore. Currently he is 112 points clear with 284. Alonso moved to second place today with 172, with Button and Webber third on 167 and Hamilton fifth with 158.
Italian Grand Prix race results, 53 laps:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h20:46.172
2. Button McLaren-Mercedes +9.590
3. Alonso Ferrari +16.909
4. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes +17.471
5. Schumacher Mercedes +32.677
6. Massa Ferrari +42.993
7. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
8. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
9. Senna Renault +1 lap
10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap
11. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth +1 lap
13. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault +1 lap
14. Trulli Lotus-Renault +2 laps
15. Glock Virgin-Cosworth +2 laps
Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:26.187
Not classified/retirements:
Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 40 laps
Perez Sauber-Ferrari 34 laps
Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 23 laps
Sutil Force India-Mercedes 11 laps
Webber Red Bull-Renault 6 laps
D’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 3 laps
Petrov Renault 1 lap
Rosberg Mercedes 1 lap
Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1 lap
World Championship standings, round 13:
Drivers:
1. Vettel 284
2. Alonso 172
3. Webber 167
4. Button 167
5. Hamilton 158
6. Massa 82
7. Rosberg 56
8. Schumacher 52
9. Petrov 34
10. Heidfeld 34
11. Kobayashi 27
12. Sutil 24
13. Alguersuari 16
14. Buemi 13
15. Di Resta 12
16. Perez 8
17. Barrichello 4
18. Senna 2
19. Maldonado 1
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 451
2. McLaren-Mercedes 325
3. Ferrari 254
4. Mercedes 108
5. Renault 70
6. Force India-Mercedes 36
7. Sauber-Ferrari 35
8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 29
9. Williams-Cosworth 5
Next race: Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay. September 23-25.
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel has described that winning the Italian Grand Prix at Monza was the most emotional of the year. Autosport.com has the story.
Sebastian Vettel said the combination of Red Bull’s previously poor Monza form and the fact that his first career win had come at the same track three years ago with Toro Rosso made his Italian Grand Prix one of the most emotional of his incredible season.
The world champion was able to dominate the race once he had overtaken fast starter Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari early on.
“Very emotional,” said Vettel. “This circuit means a lot to me and has been very special – my first win was here so when I crossed the line I remembered every single bit.
“It’s unbelievable. A circuit that has been tough for us to be competitive and we came back this year and the car was amazing.”
Although Vettel was racing by himself for most of the distance, he had a busy first few laps with a three-abreast moment into the first corner with Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, and then a close call with Alonso through Curva Grande as the Ferrari defended just before Vettel’s successful pass.
“The start was not that good,” Vettel admitted. “It took me a while to see we were three alongside going into Turn 1. Then after the restart I was able to pass [Alonso]. He didn’t give me much room so I don’t know if he knew I was on that side.”
Red Bull had run a short top gear on Vettel’s car for better acceleration out of corners at the expense of top speed – a decision that paid off as he took pole, but was felt by his rivals to be a potential weak point in the race, though Vettel said his win proved it had always been the right call.
“I don’t think we took any gamble today, we took the gamble yesterday in qualifying,” he said. “People saw our top speed was not very high so gears were slightly shorter, so I couldn’t use the speed on the straight, but for the race we were comfortable.
“I was able to pass Fernando without DRS but even with DRS it may have been a bit comfortable. All in all we did the right thing, had a great race car and great speed all the way through.”
Vettel can now clinch his second title in Singapore in a fortnight if he outscores Alonso by 13 points and Jenson Button and Mark Webber by eight points – though this came as a surprise to the champion.
“Wow! I don’t know. It has been an incredible year so far to be honest, we have progressed so much as a team, got so much stronger,” said Vettel.
“We’ll just do Singapore as we used to do all the other races – go there and go step by step.
“I am looking forward and we’ll see what happens there.”
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso admits he was hard on Sebastian Vettel in their Monza duel. Autosport.com has the story.
Fernando Alonso admitted he was particularly hard on Sebastian Vettel when the runaway points leader was attacking him in the opening stages of the Italian Grand Prix as he felt Vettel would not want to risk too much given his position in the standings.
Alonso had taken the race lead at the start, but was only able to hang on for just over a lap following the early restart before Vettel got through. The Red Bull ended up partially on the grass at Curva Grande at one point as Alonso tried to maintain his place.
“We have nothing to lose in the battles with Sebastian,” said Alonso, who ultimately finished third. “He is leading the championship by 100 points so when we have to defend we will be a little bit harder with him.”
The start had seen Alonso move from fourth to first, taking to the grass as he went three-abreast with Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.
“We have been doing some good starts in last couple of grands prix but when starting fifth or sixth there was not enough room to overtake,” Alonso said. “Here in Monza we knew if the car was in the same feeling of good starts then we have enough space and enough of a run to the first corner to overtake people.”
He admitted that there was no way he could have stayed ahead all the way to the finish, and having also lost second to Jenson Button later in the race, Alonso suspected that he might have been pushed off the podium by Hamilton had the race been longer or the McLaren spent less time trapped behind Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes.
“It was close, I think one or two more laps and probably we’d lose the podium,” Alonso conceded. “We were a little bit lucky with Michael and his battles because Lewis lost 20-30 seconds in the first laps, so we managed that gap.”
McLaren’s Jenson Button blamed a poor start but was left feeling happy after finishing the Italian Grand Prix in second position. Autosport.com has the details.
Jenson Button was left lamenting his poor start to the Italian Grand Prix, as he felt he could have been more of a challenge to Sebastian Vettel.
Button, starting from third position, dropped down to seventh at the start, and had to charge back during the race, passing Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher in the process.
The Briton went on to finish in second place, some ten seconds behind Vettel.
Button admitted he enjoyed the race, but rued his poor start, as he felt he could have been closer to Vettel.
“It was a really fun race,” said Button. “Fighting with Lewis, with Michael, and with Fernando. It was a good race, it wasn’t for the lead, which was a shame but it’s always very difficult when you are down in seventh.
“I had a tough start to the race but it was a lot of fun, and the atmosphere here is electric. We have to get things together on race weekends and then hopefully we can be challenging Seb.”
He added: “I don’t know if we could have challenged Seb today. It’s a pity we had such a poor start. It is a little issue but it can cost you a lot of time.
“We did a great job with the pitstops. It is great to get a second but you always want a lot more.”
Button said passing Alonso for second was a “tense” moment, as he was unable to overtake the Spaniard with the DRS and KERS on the straight.
“It’s a weird thing with the DRS. We get to a point on the straight where we don’t go anywhere, we sit on the limiter. I made a mistake at Ascari, and Fernando got a gap and I couldn’t get any closer, but on the hard tyre Fernando was struggling for grip.
“That is the good thing about KERS: you can catch people out if they make a mistake. It was a tense moment but I eventually pulled a gap and easy to settle into the race.”
Michael Schumacher declared himself very happy with his performance in the Italian Grand Prix after coming home in fifth place.
The Mercedes driver was one of the protagonists of the early part of the event, when he was embroiled in a close battle with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton for third position.
In the end Schumacher dropped down the order to fifth, but the seven-time champion felt he had extract everything from his car and was pleased with the result.
“It was an exciting race today, both for me and I think for all of our fans, and that is why I am happy,” said Schumacher. “The fighting against Lewis was big fun, and my mirrors seemed to be very small at times.
“We are both known for driving on the limit, and that is what we did. I had to make my car as wide as a truck, and had to stretch the possible as much as I could, but in the end, as expected, he was still faster.
“The start was ideal, I held back on purpose at first in order to use the grip perfectly afterwards, and then the left side was all free.
“To make the most of your possibilities is the maximum possible at times, and that is why I had fun today, especially knowing that there is more to come in the future, with all the support we have from Mercedes.”
Team-mate Nico Rosberg’s race lasted just one corner, after which he was taken out by the HRT of Tonio Liuzzi, who had lost control of his car on the grass.
“It was a disappointing race for me today in Monza,” he said. “I had a difficult start on my prime tyres but still managed to gain a place at the first corner, so it was quite good.
“Then Liuzzi flew like a torpedo over the grass and put me out of the race. It’s a pity because I had a strong strategy and, as Michael’s good result showed, our car was very strong this afternoon.”
Source: Autosport.com
Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari was surprised by the pace of his car during the Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard went on to finish seventh after qualifying in P18. Autosport.com has the story.
Jaime Alguersuari admitted he was surprised with the performance of his Toro Rosso car during the Italian Grand Prix after a superb charge from the back.
The Spanish driver had qualified in 18th position on Saturday but, as he had done often this year, charged into the points in the race, finishing in career-best seventh position.
Alguersuari joked that he would be looking to start from even further back in the next race.
“I am very happy with my race today,” said Alguersuari. “I think I would like to start even further back on the grid for the next one, because it seems that whenever I have a poor grid position, I finish in the points! I am also very pleased for the team, as they got both cars home in the points.
“I am a bit surprised at the way the car performance came good on Sunday in the race, because I did not expect to be quicker than Force India and Sauber.
“Getting this great result at our home race, also makes it extra special. We need to keep on working like this and try and improve our qualifying performance on Saturday. If we do that, I think we can finish in the points on a regular basis.”
Team-mate Sebastien Buemi also finished in the points – in tenth – but was left disappointed after his car was damaged in the first-corner accident.
“I am bit disappointed with the way the race panned out,” Buemi said. “I made a very good start, but then when an HRT triggered a big accident, I took a knock at the back of my car and it was definitely damaged in some way, as it did not work at its maximum potential from then on.
“If that had not happened, maybe I could have finished ninth or eighth. But while tenth is therefore a bit disappointing, losing out to Senna right at the end, when he was on the Soft tyre and I was on the Medium, it’s time to look ahead and think about doing better in two weeks time in Singapore.”
Tonio Liuzzi will lose five places on the grid for the Singapore Grand Prix following his accident at the start of the Monza race.
The HRT driver lost control of his car under braking for the first corner, going onto the grass and hitting the cars going through the chicane at the time when he rejoined the track.
Liuzzi, as well as Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov retired on the spot, with other drivers like Sebastien Buemi or Rubens Barrichello damaging their cars.
The stewards decided after the race to impose a five-place grid penalty for Liuzzi for the next race.
The Italian had started from last position at Monza.
Source: Autosport.com
Renault’s Bruno Senna was encouraged by finishing in the points in the Italian Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.
Bruno Senna said he was very encouraged to see he is capable of fighting for F1 points after the Italian Grand Prix.
The Brazilian, in his second grand prix with the Renault team after having replaced Nick Heidfeld, drove a solid race to grab his first points in Formula 1 with ninth position.
Senna had started from tenth, but lost places at the start due to the accident at the first chicane.
“I’m happy to score my first F1 points today, especially as it was only my second race for the team,” said Senna. “Although I started 10th, it was not been an easy job to finish ninth.
“We suffered some bad luck in the first corner; everybody was cutting the chicane which forced me to drive on the outside, and in the process I lost all the places I had fought so hard for in qualifying.
“It makes me very happy to know that I am able to put myself in the position of scoring points, and also to fight with the guys who have been doing this for a long time.
“The pace of the car was clear for all to see, but I wish the race was just one lap longer because I may have been able to pass Paul (Di Resta) for eighth.
“The team chose a great strategy, the tyre was fast enough where I needed it to be and I am very happy to get my name on the points board. The team did a great job and I am really looking forward to Singapore.”
Team-mate Vitaly Petrov was hit by Tonio Liuzzi’s car at the first corner, the Russian feeling lucky he was not injured.
“Naturally I am very disappointed with what happened today,” he said. “I had a reasonable start and, as I was heading into the first chicane, Vitantonio’s HRT came from nowhere and hit me big time, which brought my race to an end. There’s nothing I could have done to avoid this.
“First of all, I’m happy not to be injured, as the impact was quite strong and it could have been a nasty accident. We have put in so much effort since Spa, at the track, Enstone and Viry, so I’m sorry that wasn’t translated into points today. This is part of racing, but I can’t help thinking that we could have secured a good result.”
Tonio Liuzzi said he was “just a passenger” in the first-corner carnage at Monza – for which the HRT driver was judged responsible and given a five-place grid penalty for the next race in Singapore.
Liuzzi’s HRT collected Vitaly Petrov’s Renault and Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes at the first chicane after spinning down the grass, causing a traffic jam that delayed many other drivers.
But though the stewards decided that Liuzzi was to blame, he said he had been squeezed onto the grass by Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen.
“It was a shame and I apologise to Rosberg and Petrov but it wasn’t my fault because I got squeezed into the grass by Kovalainen,” Liuzzi told AUTOSPORT.
“Once I was on the grass I lost completely the control of the car and that is why it happened and everything.”
He added: “I went on the right side of Kovalainen and then he squeezed on to the grass and once I was on there it was already the braking point. I tried to brake but obviously we had no grip and that’s why we lost the car.”
Liuzzi explained that he felt he had regained control once, only to lose it again further down the run-off area.
Asked what he was thinking as the accident unfolded, he replied: “Basically it was ‘oh s**t’. That it’s a shame because I was sure I was going to hit somebody.
“First time when I drifted I controlled the car even on the grass but then the second time I lost it and it was then.
“I was sure I would hit somebody but at the end of the day I couldn’t do much because Kovalainen pushed me completely on the grass and that’s why it happened. I was just a passenger.
“It was a shame because we had a really amazing start. I passed Daniel [Ricciardo] and both Virgins and I was also passing a Lotus but it didn’t happen.”
Liuzzi acknowledged that even though he felt Kovalainen was at fault, he was not sure of the Lotus’ situation at the time of the incident.
“I think of Kovalainen had not closed the door we would have escaped because I think there was space enough,” said Liuzzi.
“But I want to watch the videos because somebody told me he got closed down as well, but for sure he closed on me and the put me on the grass.
“For sure there was the possibility to the avoid it.”
Source: Autosport.com
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was not pleased with his race result at Monza. Autosport.com has the full story.
Lewis Hamilton said he could not be happy with his fourth place at the Italian Grand Prix, having started from the front row of the grid.
The McLaren driver lost two places at the start of the race and was stuck behind Michael Schumacher for several laps, unable to pass the German, who has much faster on the straight with the Mercedes.
Hamilton was pleased to get some points in the end, but admitted dropping to fourth was far from ideal.
“It was not a great result. I started second and I fell back two places,” said Hamilton. “I’m definitely not happy, but that is motor racing.
“I’m happy that I finished and got some points for the team so that’s a good step. I’m okay. We got some points and I finished the race so I can’t complain really.”
The Briton claimed he was slower than Schumacher even when he had his DRS open on the main straight.
“I was too slow on the straights. I was just stuck behind him. He was very fast on the straight. He was as fast if not faster than me when I had my DRS engaged on the straight.”
The race-winning team Red Bull Racing has dedicated their Monza victory to a former staff member. Autosport.com has the details.
Red Bull Racing has dedicated its victory in the Italian Grand Prix to former staff member Erin Pezzella, who lost her battle against cancer earlier in the week.
Sebastian Vettel moved a major step closer winning the world title with a dominant victory at Monza on Sunday – and the result means he can now clinch the title in the next race at Singapore.
Team principal Christian Horner was delighted with the result, especially as it came on a track that was not expected to play to Red Bull Racing’s strengths, and afterwards paid tribute to Pezzella.
“Earlier this week we lost a young girl who worked for the team for five years in accounts,” said Horner.
“She was 31 years of age and she lost a very brave fight against cancer, so as a team we would like to dedicate this to her today. It puts everything into perspective.”
Although there had been much focus ahead of the race about the gear ratio choice opted for by Red Bull Racing, Horner said the outfit was more confident about its pace in the GP that it had been for qualifying.
“We felt that the hit was potentially in qualifying when you can use the DRS all the time, whereas for the race we thought we were better placed,” said Horner. “That ultimately proved to be the case, even dropping behind Fernando, who we knew was pretty quick on the straight, Seb still managed to make it work. I think it was absolutely the right thing to do in the end.”
He added: “It was an unbelievable day. Fernando [Alonso] had an awesome start and looked like he was only ever going to be the leader out of the first chicane. Sebastian was already pressuring him before the safety car and for anybody that doubted if he could overtake or not, I think he demonstrated it very clearly today with a very brave move, with two wheels on the grass. He made it stick – got his head down and had tremendous pace.
“It was a very, very well executed race strategy wise, pit-stop wise and from Seb himself. It is phenomenal for the team for the team and Red Bull to win in Monza.”
Mark Webber conceded that the world championship fight was all but over after he crashed out of the Italian Grand Prix and his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel notched up his eighth win of the year.
Despite having not won a race so far in 2011, Webber was second in the standings heading to Monza – 92 points adrift of Vettel. Today’s results leave him fourth, 117 points down, and part of a four-way battle for second in the championship in which Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Webber and Lewis Hamilton are covered by just 14 points.
“I think we’re all battling for second now,” Webber told television reporters.
“I think Seb needs to have a very, very incredibly disappointing finish to the season for anyone to take the championship off him at this point.
“He’s in a great position. He’s done a great job. And clearly the car was good today, so it was a missed opportunity for me.”
Webber’s accident came after he collided with Felipe Massa while trying to overtake the Ferrari for fifth early in the race. The Red Bull’s damaged front wing then folded under the car and caused it to plough straight on at the Parabolica.
“I got a good run down the straight, braking down the outside and then obviously trying to go around the outside,” Webber explained.
“Felipe started to come across and then I thought ‘okay, maybe I need to get out of here’. I didn’t know if he was going to come that far across and that’s what I had to work out when we got there.
“I started to bail out of the move but those kerbs are so high on the inside that if you clip the inside it just launches the car and I think I made contact with him.
“Then I was trying to get back to the pits obviously. I knew there was some damage of course but I didn’t know that the front wing was jammed under the front of the car, and then I lost the steering.”
Source: Autosport.com
Shock news, Vettel won again, but this time he overtook someone!!!!!!
It was actually a great race, with plenty of action and wheel to wheel racing and thanks to Tonio Liuzzi, a bit of carnage. So much so that it brought some drivers to a stand still. Even Rubens had trouble driving away by getting beached on the kerb! I do think the five-place penalty for Tonio was a bit harsh. But harsh seems to be the order of the season from the stewards.
Watching the Ferrari of Alonso take the lead at the start was great! Hearing the crowd roar above all the cars shows the Tifosi fans never loose their passion for their team. But Alonso’s lead was unfortunately short lived but a charging Red Bull with SV behind the wheel. Thanks to a very short ratio gearbox, the German had an incredible advantage over every other car on the grid. With a blinding overtake on the outside of the corner, Seb took the lead at Curva Grande. Even with Alonso forcing Seb to put two wheels on the grass. A very ballsy move (though not a patch on team-mate’s move at Spa), lead to the Red Bull never looking back and instantly puts seconds between them and Vettel from then on had only himself to battle. Surely now his is the back to back champion?
We saw some great action with Lewis and the shockingly quick Schumacher. With McLaren setting up their car to try and match the rapid accelerating Red Bull, Lewis found his top gear was not quite enough to overtake the German. With his lack of top speed, the Mercedes had enough speed and with Schuey making his car very wide, Lewis could just not get past. We all know Lewis can loose his head at moments like this, but this race saw him staying crash free. Some were saying this time he had a cool head on, but watching the footage, I think he was even close to making a desperate move, so I’m not sure how cool he would of stayed had he been a bit closer.
So close were they that Schuey got numerous warnings over the radio to stop weaving but none other than The Boss Ross Brawn. One move put Lewis on the grass! This was incredible racing by the two, and really shows Schuey has still got it in him given a car that. On the day, was fast. Brilliant stuff and yet again, he had me cheering them both on. But eventually with various warnings, Michael realised that to stay ahead of Lewis for much longer would mean an even more dangerous defence, or moving too many times, and finally more or less, gave Lewis the place.
During the tussle meant Button was breathing down their necks and managed to overtake Lewis then Schumacher in a move that frankly embarrassed the efforts his team-mate tried to pass the Mercedes GP car. Then managing to take Alonso, meant Button took and keep second place. It does seem this year he has been far more dependable than Lewis, a bonus given his pay grade being less than Lewis.
I do love this circuit and you forget just how fast this tarmac is. All the drivers put on a great show. Needing to re-arrange my TV cinema set-up meant missing the obvious end and THAT finger.
As mentioned I think we can very safely say we have our championship driver for 2011. Not my have by a long shot, but given he could win the title in the next race and the constructors’ title has been taken by Red Bull again, it’ll be an interesting final five races if this does happen. With nothing to win now, I wonder how the other teams will push themselves. It’s been such a long time since we had such a dominant season by one driver I think everyone will have forgotten what it’ll be like. Still, it’s extra time for the close rivals to design a car that can hopefully come close to challenging next season. Well one can hope!