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.