1 S Vettel Red Bull
2 F Alonso Ferrari
3 M Webber Red Bull
4 F Massa Ferrari
5 N Hulkenberg Sauber
6 N Rosberg Mercedes
7 D Ricciardo Toro Rosso
8 R Grosjean Lotus
9 L Hamilton Mercedes
10 J Button McLaren
11 K Raikkonen Lotus
12 S Perez McLaren
13 E Gutierrez Sauber
14 P Maldonado Williams
15 V Bottas Williams
16 A Sutil (ret.) Force India
17 C Pic Caterham
18 G van der Garde Caterham
19 J Bianchi Marussia
20 M Chilton Marussia
21 J Vergne (ret.) Toro Rosso
22 P Di Resta (ret.) Force India
14.41 Quick word from Lewis Hamilton on finishing ninth, brought
to you by the Beeb. “It is a nightmare weekend for me. It’s a real
shame but these kind of things happen. It has been a good year, we’re just
going to keep pushing.”
14.40 The crowd goes wild as Fernando Alonso takes the mic.
Whodathunk. “Second place is good, to have this podium ceremony which
is the most spectacular podium of the year,” he says. Spin it, Nando. “Hopefully
we’ll come back next year and have first place.”
14.38 “Alonso! Alonso!” the mob chant from the pit straight.
The Spaniard has finished in the top three at each of the last four races at
Monza. Bear-hugging master of ceremonies Jean Alesi hands Sebastian
Vettel the mic – and the boos ring out. Nothing like a bit of
sportsmanship to end proceedings today, but he takes it in his stride.
“You can hear the difference when you don’t win here in a red suit,”
he concedes. “But it means you have done well and beaten the red men
but it was a great team effort today. The race was terrific for both of us,
we had problems with the gearboxes at the end, but I was okay because I had
a good cushion and it was a fantastic win.”
14.35 The increasingly familiar sound of the German and Austrian
amthems ring out over the Monza paddock as Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull
accept the spoils on the podium. The tifosi can’t help themselves –
scattered boos meet their trophy presentations. Alonso plays to the crowd
and marches to the edge of the platform to share his third place with the
baying crowd and gets the biggest cheer of the day. You’d think they had a
thing for Ferraris round here…
14.31 Top marks for Nico Hulkenberg for backing up his
qualifying performance with a fifth-placed finish. But condolences for Force
India – not only did they lose Paul di Resta in the opening lap, but Adrian
Sutil, who was handed a three-place grid penalty for screwing up
Hamilton’s qualifying lap, pulled in to retire with one lap to go.
14.27 Consumate control from Vettel for a fourth successive victory,
with Fernando Alonso once again the bridesmaid in second. But a top
result for Mark Webber in third, nursing a car battered inside and
out to his first Monza podium in his last F1 race in Europe before his
retirement.
LAP 53 LAST LAP: Hamilton throws everything at Grosjean, but
he’s overshot the chicane and has to give up the position and it’ll be ninth
for the Mercedes man. Up front, it almost goes without saying that SEBASTIAN
VETTEL WINS THE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX. After yesterday’s 50th pole, Red
Bull notch up their 40th win. At a canter.
LAP 52 Raikkonen passes Perez to move within striking distance of the
points, but Perez hits back to keep him honest.
LAP 51 Sebastian Vettel – yep, still leading – is starting to ease off,
but with three laps to go it’s hard to blame him.
LAP 50 Hamilton versus Button for ninth. Old team-mates, former champs,
fellow Britons, but very different cars. Lewis finds plenty of room from
gentleman Jenson in the first corner and takes the spot.
LAP 49 Hamilton is up to 11th and chasing the McLarens for a place in
the points after sweeping around the outside of Raikkonen at curva grande.
And there goes Perez! Lewis in the points, with Button next on the hit list.
LAP 47 Daniel Ricciardo is still up there in seventh, with five cars
hunting him down, all within four seconds of one another. Superb racing!
LAP 46 Hamilton and Raikkonen are battling for 11th. With DRS at his
disposal it ought to be a cinch for Lewis, but Raikkonen is being told he
has no Kers and has to defend for his life.
LAP 45 This is tense for Webber – he’s in the fight for second behind
Alonso but being told to short-shift between second and third to preserve
the engine. That bfront wing he’s carried since the fist lap is starting to
give up the ghost as well. It’s his last Italian GP, his last race in
Europe. Stick or twist?
LAP 44 Romain Grosjean passes Jenson Button for eighth, while Raikkonen
leads the charge in front of Hamilton as both scythe their way towards the
points.
LAP 43 Raikkonen and Hamilton – remember them? Down in the teens, but
on the freshest rubber out there and will be flying for the rest of the race
as the drivers around them are forced to tip-toe around the track. Points
beckon, but a podium’s a long shot.
LAP 41 We’re in two-stop territory now, but we’re unlikely to see too
many. The track is nice and cool under the cloudy Milan sky and the tyres
are nice and healthy as a result.
LAP 40 Could we get a Red Bull one-two on the podium? Webber is
crawling all over Alonso’s rear wing – but he’s been told the car has an
issue. ” We need to short-shift at turn two”, the crewv tell him.
Answers on a postcard
LAP 39 Plan A for Jenson Button, the crew tell him. Sounds like he’s
not sure about these tyres, but the team are convinced he can nurse them to
the flag.
LAP 38 Hamilton pits. That is one nippy carrier pigeon. Perez makes
Grosjean earn 10th place at turn one.
LAP 37 Hamilton is starting to reel in Massa, but his second pit stop
is due. The crew are telling him to come in – but Hamilton shoots past once
more, and sets the fastest lap of the race. Hard to argue, but he gets the
first chicane wrong moments later. The car’s running well, but looks like
the tyres are struggling.
LAP 36 ROSBERG LOCKS UP and goes straight on at the first chicane,
giving Hulkenberg the chance to put some clean air between the duo.
LAP 35 Webber is still just a second down on Alonso, with Massa a
further two seconds back. The Red Bull team must be loving this – Alonso has
too much going on behind him to think about chasing down Vettel.
Top ten: 1 Vettel 2 Alonso 3 Webber 4 Massa 5 Hamilton 6 Hulkenberg 7 Rosberg
8 Ricciardo 9 Button 10 Perez.
LAP 34 Grosjean is closing up behind Button and Perez in the McLarens
as the battle for the minor points heats up. Rosberg surging towards
Hulkenberg – they’ve both made their sole stops today, so it’s a real race
for position.
LAP 33 Make that 11sec. With the rain holding off, this race is
Vettel’s to lose.
LAP 32 Alonso still 10sec back on Vettel, and showing no signs of
closing the gap. The McLarens are closing on Ricciardo in the battle for
eighth.
LAP 31 One-stop appears to be the tactic-du-jour among the front
runners, Hamilton aside, so we’re going the distance from here. Hulkenberg
finally surrenders fifth place to Hamilton after running wide at the first
chicane. Still a fine performance from the Sauber, miing it with the big
boys at the fastest race of the year.
LAP 30 Kimi Raikkonen is back in for his second stop after that
first-lap visit. Soft tyres on and he’s away.
LAP 29 Rosberg and Hamilton are jostling for seventh. The team tell
them that a podium isn’t out of the question here, which suggests they’re
going the distance on these tyres. No suggestion about it for Webber – the
Red Bull crew tell him he’s good to go the distance, all things being equal.
LAP 28 2.6sec standstill for Alonso – identical to Vettel’s pit time.
He rejoins just over a second in front of Mark Webber. Vettel back as race
leader.
LAP 27 Alonso is being told to stay calm and ‘do some greens’ – fastest
sectors – by his pit crew. Brave, given his mood with the team this weekend,
but the Spaniard is flying. He needs to – Vettel is just 16sec back as the
Ferrari pits.
LAP 26 Bottas has nothing but Mercedes in his mirror as Hamilton dances
all over his gearbox in the battle for ninth. The Williams pits, and
Hamilton will have some clean air for a few laps.
LAP 25 Massa rejoins next door to Webber, and the Red Bull darts in
front of the Ferrari at the first chicane. What a difference a half-second
makes in that pit lane…
LAP 24 Perfect stop for Vettel – and perfect stop for Webber right
behind him. Back-to-back stops in under 3secs each. They’re champions for a
reason.
LAP 22 Alonso is making some ground on Vettel as the German’s tyres
start to go south. Perez is in and out – behind team-mate Button in 14th.
LAP 21 Button in now, change of plan. He’s back on the move after
3secs, 2.6sec quicker than Grosjean. Hamilton is flying now, he’s set his
fastest lap on those new, fully-inflated tyres.
LAP 20 Romain Grosjean is in – and it’s not exactly the cleanest of
stops. Turning into a weekend to forget for Lotus – McLaren get on the radio
to tell Button to push and take advantage.
LAP 19 Daniel Ricciardo is in a ding-dong with Sergio Perez in the
battle for seventh. He must be floating after finally getting the nod to
jump into Webber’s seat next season.
LAP 18 We’re entering pitstop territory. Vettel’s rear light is
flashing – normally just for wet weather conditions. Slightly strange…
strange enough for Alonso to ask his pit crew why the German’s got it
switched on.
LAP 17 Alonso is struggling to make any headway into Vettel right now,
as the German opens up a 6.6sec lead.
LAP 16 Hamilton is back out in 18th, behind Kimi Raikkonen after his
early stop. An odd sight to see them both down there this season, but
there’s plenty of racing to be done yet.
LAP 15 Relief for Button – Vergne’s Toro Rosso has blown up, be it an
engine or hydraulic failure. The McLaren man is back to where he started –
and unleashed from behind the man he’s trailed for the past 10 laps.
LAP 14 Webber’s getting stuck into Massa in the battle for third. The
Aussie picked up some wing damage as Alonso came past earlier in the race,
but he’s sucked it up and got on with it. How Aussie can you get? Never
finished on the podium in Italy, Webber – and this is his last F1 race in
Europe. Written in the stars, perhaps?
LAP 13 Not entirely sure how Jean-Eric Vergne is holding off Button,
but h’es still holding firm in ninth. HAMILTON HAS SEEN THE SMOKE SIGNALS
and pits. Sounds like a lonely race for the Mercedes man out there.
LAP 12 Alonso told on the radio he has a 5.7sec gap between himself and
Vettel to eat into. Mercedes are kicking their heels in the pit lane –
doesn’t look like Hamilton’s getting the message.
LAP 11 Hamilton has just been told to pit with a slow puncture – and
drives clean past the pit lane! Can he hear them? They know they can’t hear
him…
LAP 10 Vettel’s pit crew are a little anxious: “We are monitoring
the front right at all time, we know exactly where we are at but it’s not
good.”
LAP 9 Nico Hulkenberg is still running well in the Sauber. He dropped
from third to fifth off the line, but has held his position since, a second
clear of Rosberg. Investigation into Di Resta and Grosjean’s firts-lap shunt
will be looked into after the race.
LAP 8 Button is up into 10th, past old team-mate Hamilton. Romain
Grosjean is joining the party in 12th as Vergne concertinas the pack.
LAP 7 Alonso is past Massa – game on. The Spaniard has a 3.6sec
gap to close on Vettel.
LAP 6 Nico Rosberg, running sixth, is being advised to cool the car by
running off the racing line from time to time. A running battle, this
Mercedes. Button is closing on Hamilton as both sit behind Toro Rosso’s
Vergne.
LAP 5 Vettel has some clean air between himself and Massa now. Alonso
still has Webber for company. Lewis Hamilton down in 10th with Button on his
tail, but flying through the first sector – and can’t talk with his pit
crew.
LAP 4 Shame for Paul di Resta, out on the first lap of a grand prix for
the first time after locking up and running into Sergio Perez. Raikkonen has
to take the blame for his shunt on the McLaren as well, who got some serious
pinball action in that first lap.
LAP 3 Alonso is desperate to get past Webber… and goes around the
outside at the chicane after curva grande with a daring move – contact as
well in there. Ferraris will have to work in tandem to catch Vettel.
LAP 2 Vettel’s away out front. In the pack Gutierrez has pulled off an
audacious pass on Maldonado to move up to 14th.
LAP 1 Massa has had a stormer! Past Webber and up to second – where did
that come from? Webber has Alonso all over his gearbox – and Paul di Resta
has gone, lost the front wing and lost in at the second chicane. Riakkonen
pits with a damaged front wing.
1.03 Red, red, red, red, red…LIGHTS OUT. We’re racing at
Monza!
12.58 Formation lap time. For a 22-car race, it’s hard not to bill this
as a showdown between Vettel and Alonso, but there’s plenty more to look out
for. McLaren’s batte with Force India. Lewis Hamilton looking to respond
after yesterday’s disappointment. Last year Sergio Perez rose from 12th to
2nd. Game on.
12.50 “The track looks pretty dry apart from Parabolica, so I
think most people will go for slicks,” Mark Webber tells the Beeb. The
idea of tie-toeing around the fastest u-turn in F1 with hardly any downforce
and greasy white line should up the ante on the entry to the start
finish-straight for a few laps.
12.45 There’s trouble on the home front for Ferrari. Fernando Alonso
reportedly called his pit crew ‘idiots’ after their plan to use Felipe Massa to
tow Alonso around his flying lap in his slipstream backfired. Tensions are
clearly running high in the team, who have struggled in qualifying all year,
which has hamstrung the entire season in spite of his impressive race pace.
Alonso played down the outburst yesterday, insisting he had the car he
needed to challenge for victory: “If we have the great pace we normally
show on Sundays I don’t see any reason why we can’t follow the Red Bulls.”
12.40 Good news for Button – the McLaren crew have worked their magic
and have the car ready to start ninth on the grid. Not much in the way of
umbrellas or damp patches around the circuit, so we’ll be starting on
slicks.
12.35 Half-an hour until light-out. Seeing as it’s the week us normal
people in the UK get our first chance to see Ron Howard’s Rush, the story of
James Hunt and Niki Lauda and the live-fast-die-young racing of days gone
by, I’m after the movie quotes that best capture the essence of F1 drivers
past and present. Starter for ten: There was definitely a bit of the Rhett
Butlers about Michael Schumacher..
12.26 Spots of rain around Monza…
12.24 Jenson Button could end up starting this race from the pit lane.
The McLaren mechanics are in overdrive trying to sort out the fuel injection
on his car. The team’s 50th anniversary really has been an annus horribilis
– but all their thoughts are on the 2014 car. We’ve missed them at the sharp
end this year.
12.18 Here’s your grid in full. No Hamilton on the front row – he “drove
like an idiot” and damaged his car in Q2 – so the Red Bulls have the
front row locked down. Hats off to Nico Hulkenburg for putting his Sauber on
the second row – great timing with the Ferrari big-wigs in the market for a
replacement for the ailing Felipe Massa.
1 S Vettel Red Bull
2 M Webber Red Bull
3 N Hulkenberg Sauber
4 F Massa Ferrari
5 F Alonso Ferrari
6 N Rosberg Mercedes
7 D Ricciardo Toro Rosso
8 S Perez McLaren
9 J Button McLaren
10 J Vergne Toro Rosso
11 K Raikkonen Lotus
12 L Hamilton Mercedes
13 R Grosjean Lotus
14 P Maldonado Williams
15 P Di Resta Force India
16 E Gutierrez Sauber
17 A Sutil Force India
18 V Bottas Williams
19 G van der Garde Caterham
20 C Pic Caterham
21 J Bianchi Marussia
22 M Chilton Marussia
12.10 That said, the omens aren’t particularly good for the ABV club.
Vettel is on pole at the track he won his first ever Grand Prix back in 2008
– seven of the last 10 winners at Monza have gone on to win the race. The
long straights and sweeping corners around Monza leave the drivers keeping
their foot down for 77% of the lap, and no car has proven quicker on race
day in 2013 than the Red Bulls.
12.00 Monza… Even the name sounds fast. The home of the Italian GP
has everything the die-hards could want – storied tradition, delirious
passion and, of course, searing pace.
Not only that, but Monza could be the last stand for Sebastian Vettel’s rivals
in 2013. The reigning world champion is closing in on a fourth driver’s
title, and with just three months of the season remaining someone needs to
step up and close that gap.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is the German’s closest challenger, trailing Vettel
by 46 points in the standings after trailing Vettel (yes, it’s been
something of a theme this season) home to a well-earned second place in Spa
two weeks ago. But The Spaniard has a knack for rising to the big occasion
at tracks where passions run high – and they don’t run mucgh higher than for
a man driving the prancing horse in front of the crimson-clad tifosi.