Sebastian Vettel took a commanding victory at Monza, extending his championship lead with an impressive 222 points.
This was the triple champion’s sixth win of the season and his 32nd in the sport. Vettel achieved his maiden victory five years ago for Toro Rosso.
As for Fernando Alonso, competing in front of the passionate Tifosi, the Ferrari driver won the battle for second position.
With the lead Red Bull out of reach from the start, the best Ferrari could hope for was the ‘best of the rest’ honours, which Alonso secured after a long battle with Mark Webber.
Both Red Bulls were ordered to short-shift to protect a potential gearbox issues in the closing moments of Italian Grand Prix, which halted Webber’s pursuit of Alonso and yet Vettel had enough in hand to ease off and still take the flag in style.
In further good news for Vettel, his championship contenders in the shape of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen were left fighting for minor points after some early incidents.
Vettel was threatened by both Webber and the second Ferrari of Felipe Massa into a busy first chicane, locking up his right-front tyre which caused his team a concern.
A beautifully judged move around the outside into the Roggia chicane on lap three took Alonso past Webber’s Red Bull for third, as they went wheel to wheel right through the complex, making only slight contact on the exit.
Massa then made life very easy for Alonso when he came to overtake for second, and the Spaniard was able to stabilise Vettel’s lead at six seconds.
But when Alonso tried a slightly divergent strategy by running four laps longer before his sole pitstop, Vettel’s lead increased to over 10 seconds.
Alonso came back out only just ahead of Webber, who had jumped Massa in the stops, and had several close calls in the closing laps as the Red Bull attacked, before claiming second.
Nico Hulkenberg lived up to his qualifying performance by settling his Sauber into fifth place.
He had Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes in often very close company all afternoon, but kept his compatriot at bay and finished just a few seconds behind Alonso, Webber and Massa after an outstanding weekend.
Raikkonen had to pit for a new front wing after bumping into Sergio Perez at the start, while an early slow puncture put Hamilton onto a two-stop strategy, hampered further by radio problems.
The recovering Lotus and Mercedes then ended up in the same place on track late on having an epic battle both with each other and the midfield traffic.
Daniel Ricciardo stayed just far enough ahead of late chargers Romain Grosjean and Hamilton to take seventh, while Jenson Button just denied Raikkonen a point.
Sergio Perez and Esteban Gutierrez chased them home. Grosjean reached the end despite Paul di Resta’s Force India slamming into his Lotus at the Roggia on lap one, an impact that ended the Scot’s race.
Jean-Eric Vergne was another early retirement, having battled in the top ten before smoke erupted from the right-rear of his Toro Rosso.
So a fantastic result for Red Bull Racing and Sebastian Vettel. Victorious for the sixth time this season. That championship is looking very good in favour of the dream team and driver combination now.
Italian Grand Prix, race results after 53 laps:
1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h18m33.352
2. Alonso Ferrari +5.467
3. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 6.350
4. Massa Ferrari +9.361
5. Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari +10.355
6. Rosberg Mercedes +10.999
7. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari +32.329
8. Grosjean Lotus-Renault +33.130
9. Hamilton Mercedes +33.527
10. Button McLaren-Mercedes +38.327
11. Raikkonen Lotus-Renault +38.695
12. Perez McLaren-Mercedes +39.765
13. Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari +40.880
14. Maldonado Williams-Renault +49.085
15. Bottas Williams-Renault +56.827
16. Sutil Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
17. Perez McLaren-Mercedes +1 lap
18. van der Garde Caterham-Renault +1 lap
19. Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
20. Chilton Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap
Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:25.849
Not classified/retirements:
Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 35 laps
Di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1 lap
World Championship standings, round 12:
Drivers:
1. Vettel 222
2. Alonso 169
3. Hamilton 141
4. Raikkonen 134
5. Webber 130
6. Rosberg 104
7. Massa 79
8. Grosjean 57
9. Button 48
10. Di Resta 36
11. Sutil 25
12. Perez 18
13. Ricciardo 18
14. Hulkenberg 17
15. Vergne 13
16. Maldonado 1
Constructors:
1. Red Bull-Renault 352
2. Ferrari 248
3. Mercedes 245
4. Lotus-Renault 191
5. McLaren-Mercedes 66
6. Force India-Mercedes 61
7. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 31
8. Sauber-Ferrari 17
9. Williams-Renault 1
Next race: Singapore Grand Prix, Marina Bay. September 20-22.
Sebastian Vettel said being booed on the Italian Grand Prix podium was just a sign that Red Bull had done a good job by beating the Ferraris at Monza.
The Ferrari-favouring crowd gave Vettel a tough reception when he mounted the podium having taken a second Italian GP victory in three years.
But Vettel laughed off the jeers and said he had told his Red Bull team that they should be proud to prompt tifosi ire.
“You can hear the difference when you don’t win here in a red suit,” said Vettel.
“In the end it is very nice as it means you did good and beat the red guys. We are proud of that.
“Fortunately I had an experience in 2008 which blew me away completely, we won here in an Italian team with Ferrari engines [at Toro Rosso] so the atmosphere was fantastic.
“In 2011 it was a surprise [to be jeered], and this year was expected.
“I said on the in-lap, the more booing we get, the better job we have done.
“I don’t blame them, they love Ferrari, and it is something very special.”
Monza had traditionally been one of Red Bull’s weaker circuits, and the team had been pessimistic prior to this weekend.
Vettel said technical director Adrian Newey had been particularly cautious.
“He was as surprised as us,” said the champion.
“He thought it would be like damage limitation this weekend, so I said if damage limitation is like that, I want a lot more damage this season…”
Source: Autosport.com
Following that nightmare situation in qualifying in which the slipstream idea failed to work, Fernando Alonso was able to finish in second position at the team’s home race. Autosport.com has the details.
Fernando Alonso conceded he needs Formula 1 championship rival Sebastian Vettel to hit trouble in the remaining races if he is to stand a chance of beating him to the 2013 title.
Red Bull driver Vettel took his sixth win of the season at Monza, edging closer to his fourth consecutive crown.
The German is now 53 points ahead of Alonso, who was second in Italy.
With the Ferrari unable to match the Red Bull for pace, Alonso is aware that he will need luck to be on his side from now on.
“I think for the championship, we need to be realistic,” said Alonso. “It’s still a very big gap and we don’t have enough races and probably not have the speed right now to win some consecutive races.
“We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Seb or something to win the championship. With the races left and the points disadvantage it is hard.”
The Spaniard, however, admitted that he had not given up hope.
“It was the same last year,” he added. “It was difficult for him to catch up and it was up to us; we didn’t complete the job, we had one DNF in Suzuka and other problems.
“There is still a long way to go. We will try until the last race to be as good as we can and score as many points as possible and in Brazil we will see how many points we have compared to this.”
Fernando Alonso on the 2013 Italian GP podium
Despite losing more ground to his rival, Alonso said he was very happy with his weekend.
“This weekend we got the maximum from the car, so I’m very happy and today being on the podium is a fantastic feeling again,” he said.
“The fourth time I drive at [Monza] in a Ferrari and fourth time on the podium.
“It is something amazing, something unique. We did the maximum and had a nearly perfect weekend.
“We didn’t close the gap in the championship, which is the goal every weekend, but we have to congratulate them, they were best this weekend and we have to do a better job next weekend.”
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has admitted that his championship hopes is now over following a troubling Italian Grand Prix weekend. Autosport.com has the news story.
Lewis Hamilton declared his 2013 Formula 1 world championship hopes over after a “disaster” of an Italian Grand Prix.
Hamilton had only qualified 12th after picking up floor damage on his Mercedes, being blocked by Adrian Sutil and confessing to underperforming himself.
His race was then disrupted early by a slow puncture that forced him onto a two-stop strategy, with radio problems also a complication.
Hamilton’s eventual ninth place leaves him 81 points behind race winner and championship leader Sebastian Vettel.
“I’m ninth and we should be much further ahead, so I’m very disappointed with myself,” said Hamilton.
“I blew it in qualifying and it was just impossible to catch up.
“I gave my all. It’s so hard when you’re empty of energy and you’ve given your all for two points. That’s it for the championship.
“The team did a great job and I didn’t deliver this weekend. I’ve got to go away, reset and try to recover in the next race.
“Overall a disaster of a weekend.”
Hamilton said the radio failure had been a major handicap.
“It’s almost like driving blind,” he said.
“You just don’t know where people are, when to pit, when you’ve got to push, when you’ve got to save tyres… you’ve just got to manage it yourself and hope for the best.”
Jenson Button says McLaren made a mistake with its gear ratios after a difficult Italian Grand Prix.
The Briton finished in 10th position, having been unable to overtake the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo because his gears were too short.
Button believes McLaren’s pace in clean air was better than the result suggests, but admitted the short gears made it impossible to do any better.
“Today was tough. I think our pace was better than 10th, but we got stuck behind the Toro Rosso and couldn’t overtake,” said Button.
“The problem was that as soon as the fuel load comes down, the straightline speed is far greater. As soon as we followed anyone we were in a difficult position.
“We got it wrong with the ratios and it’s a problem we will hopefully solve for the next one.
“When we are DRSing we were stuck at 331[km/h], and everybody is passing by at 340. We made a mistake.”
Button’s race was also compromised after he flatspotted his tyres with 15 laps to.
“It was like driving like Lego tyres,” said Button.
Team-mate Sergio Perez finished in 12th position.
Source: Autosport.com
Lotus team boss Eric Boullier believes Kimi Raikkonen matched race winner Sebastian Vettel in terms of outright pace during the Italian Grand Prix. Autosport.com has the details.
Kimi Raikkonen’s Italian Grand Prix race pace was a match for winner Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull, reckons Lotus boss Eric Boullier.
Raikkonen had only qualified 11th and then had to pit for a new front wing after running into the back of Sergio Perez’s McLaren at the first corner.
That limited the Finn to an 11th-place finish.
Boullier said the result was hugely frustrating given the race potential Raikkonen had shown. He was 37 seconds behind Vettel when he rejoined after his early repairs and finished the race 38s down.
“If you overlay the race of Kimi and Sebastian and forget the first two laps, we are just losing one second over the 51 laps. This is the answer!” Boullier told AUTOSPORT.
He added that there was no option of leaving Raikkonen out with the damaged wing to see how he fared.
The lap-one pitstop meant he effectively had to convert to a two-stop strategy and pitted again on lap 30.
“The wing was unusable. It was damaged too much,” said Boullier.
Raikkonen added that the race pace comparison to Vettel was even more impressive because he had been hacking through traffic all afternoon while the German enjoyed a clear run.
“It’s not just the time in the pits, but you have to work your way through the field afterwards,” said Raikkonen.
“We did a pretty good job of that and the car felt good, surprisingly good given where we were on Saturday.
“Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do after the start to the race we had.”
Felipe Massa hopes the Ferrari team will still consider him for the 2014 seat despite the rumours of Nico Hulkenberg or Kimi Raikkonen joining the team. Autosport.com has the news story.
Felipe Massa is confident Ferrari knows what he can offer the team with a decision on its 2014 Formula 1 driver line-up imminent.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo revealed on Saturday that the choice will be made “immediately after Monza” with the team unsure as to whether to retain the Brazilian for a ninth consecutive season.
Massa is in contention to remain at Ferrari next year, but di Montezmolo confirmed he was just one of a number of names under consideration.
“Montezemolo knows me 100 per cent, he knows what I can do, he knows my talent, he knows what I already did for the team,” said Massa when asked by AUTOSPORT about his future.
“He knows how important it is next year to have experience for the new rules, for everybody, everything starts from zero.”
Ferrari has suggested a strong result at Monza would strengthen Massa’s case, but the Brazilian does not believe his fourth place will make any difference either way.
He also hinted that, should Ferrari not take him on, other teams would also be interested in his services.
“I don’t think this race is the most important thing, I have shown enough what I can do,” he said.
“I have shown how I work with the team and everything, but I have shown enough to the other teams as well.”
The 32-year-old had looked destined for third place having jumped to second at the start before ceding position to team-mate Fernando Alonso.
But he was vaulted in the pits by Red Bull driver Mark Webber, who pitted a lap earlier than him.
Massa admitted that not stopping on the same lap had cost him what would have been a second podium finish of the year.
“When you are fighting with another car, normally the car behind will stop one lap earlier,” said Massa.
“But maybe we didn’t do a good job on that strategy to maybe anticipate it and not allow him to stop before. It was a mistake.”
Paul di Resta has received a reprimand for his first-lap crash in the Italian Grand Prix.
The Scot ran into the back of Romain Grosjean under braking for the Roggia chicane.
Grosjean’s Lotus escaped without significant damage and went on to finish eighth, but di Resta was out on the spot.
“I didn’t have vision of the apex of Turn 4, I think there were a few passing manoeuvres going on in front,” di Resta told AUTOSPORT.
“Everything slowed and I tried to take avoiding action but unfortunately locked a wheel.
“I tried to go for the gap between them but unfortunately tore the front end off the car.
“Not the best but with everything that happened yesterday with the brake failure, we’ll try to forget about the weekend.”
The stewards acknowledged that di Resta had tried to prevent a collision.
“The driver made an attempt to avoid the collision (when he saw the cars in front braking earlier) by trying to drive between cars #8 and #15, but in doing so collided with car #8,” said the official report.
Source: Autosport.com
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has backtracks his chances on a Formula 1 title fight despite a tricky Italian Grand Prix weekend. Autosport.com has the news story.
Lewis Hamilton has backtracked on his belief that his Formula 1 championship hopes are over and vowed to fight until the end of the season.
Although the Mercedes driver is 81 points adrift of Sebastian Vettel in the title standings – with just seven races remaining – he has told his fans and teams that he will keep battling on.
“When I got out of the car I was angry, and definitely thought that would be it,” said Hamilton, referring to his declaration immediately after the Italian Grand Prix that his title hopes were finished.
“But I’ve been back with my engineers and I’m not going to give up.
“I basically need to win every race, which is the tallest order ever, but I can do nothing but try.”
Hamilton has always believed that F1’s return to high downforce tracks – like Singapore’s Marina Bay – will resurrect his hopes of fighting Red Bull for wins.
And although he says nothing can be taken for granted judging by Red Bull’s pace in Belgium and Italy, he still has hopes of an imminent lift in form.
“Our car was good in Hungary when we had higher downforce, and we’ll have that going into Singapore where we can hope for some improvements,” he explained.
“I hope we’ll be strong, get some more wins this year. I wish it was a closer battle at the front. It’s a shame it is like it is.”
Nico Hulkenberg does not believe his unexpected fifth place in the Italian Grand Prix will boost his chances of a Ferrari drive.
With Ferrari keen to make a decision on its 2014 line-up next week, current Sauber man Hulkenberg is among the drivers under consideration.
“Obviously, I did a good weekend, had a strong showing and it was a good team performance but I don’t think one race will change the world and change the whole story,” said Hulkenberg.
“I’ve had other good races previously this year, but obviously the result stands out a bit more this weekend.
“Maybe you can argue the timing is not so bad, but a good result like this is always important and very welcome, especially after quite a challenging year to give us some momentum for the flyaways.”
The German insists he is relaxed about his future and is certain the job he has done on track in Formula 1 is enough to show what he can do.
He pointed to his performances both for Sauber and for Force India in 2012 as proof of his abilities.
“I’m fairly relaxed about it, to be honest,” when asked how he felt about Ferrari’s imminent decision.
“I have done a very decent job here, we have done a 100 per cent score this weekend and that’s all I can do.
“Even the year before I think my performance has been very consistent and very good, that’s all I can influence now.
“Some decisions are not in my hands.”
Hulkenberg admitted that while he was hoping for such a good result after qualifying third, he did not expect it.
Although confident the car had the pace to be competitive, he was surprised to finish only 10 seconds off race-winner Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull after holding off the faster Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes in the closing stages.
“I was not expecting, but hoping,” he said.
“On Friday, my long-run pace was competitive so from that point of view I had confidence and was comfortable.
“But then to see us, especially in the last 15 laps, close the gap to Ferrari and Red bull was quite surprising.
“The Mercedes behind was pushing as well, Nico was very quick and without me in his way he could maybe have gone on for a podium.”
Source: Autosport.com