Formula One: Italian Grand Prix at the Monza racetrack Highlights (Part 1)
Preview:
It is time for the blow by blow feature of the Italian Grand Prix from Monza! – A detailed account of the race that went down this Sunday. It is sincerely hoped, that the write up is able to quench the thirst of those passionate fans that unfortunately missed the race.
Ferrari, thanks to Fernando Alonso, qualified on pole position for their home race! Jenson Button, who missed out on pole by a little over 0.1 second, started the race from P2. Massa started just behind the McLaren Mercedes driver, making it the best grid position for Ferrari this season.
Webber proved to be the quicker of the two Red Bulls, as he started just shy of the podium places. Interestingly, with a sudden turn of events, this was the first race this year that Red Bull failed to qualify on the front row. The silver lining for the Red Bull Racing driver was to start ahead of his closest championship rivals, Hamilton and team mate Sebastian Vettel, who started the race in fifth and sixth spots respectively.
Rosberg was impressive and looked to threaten from P7. The top 10 was rounded off by Hulkenberg, Kubica and Barrichello. What made the race exciting was Ferrari’s apparent dominance in all three practice sessions and qualifiers – The home crowd looked set for a treat. Based on qualifying pace however, McLaren were the only team that appeared to challenge the might of the Ferraris. Curiously, the McLaren drivers opted for different set ups. Button’s car running the higher down force F-duct system while Hamilton decided not to go without it.
The first drama of the Italian Grand Prix came in the form of Kamui Kobayashi encountering a problem with his Sauber and having to start from the pit lane. Petrov too was expected to make good early inroads after incurring a penalty after impeding Timo Glock during qualifying. He started the race in 20th – Nowhere near the credentials of his Renault.
Monza is known for the tight chicane at end of the start-finish line which makes it more than a possibility of seeing a few cars get caught out as early as turn 1. Of course, the clean and dirty side of the track should also be taken into consideration. The odd number cars were starting from the clean side (Alonso, Massa, Hamilton) while Button, Webber and Vettel had to initiate from the dirty side.
The weather forecast confirmed a rain free race, a sunny 25 degree centigrade and a dry track for the entire length of 53 laps – A good omen for Ferrari.
Race:
The five lights illuminated and went out to signal the start of the Italian Grand Prix 2010. Button got on the inside of Alonso and led the race into the first chicane. Alonso effectively second, was having to soak in a lot of pressure from his team mate as he was all over the back of his Ferrari. Starting from the dirty side of the track obviously paid dividends as the amount of rubber laid out from previous runs amounted to increased grip. The highlight of the first lap saw championship leader, Lewis Hamilton out! His car made contact with Massa into the 2nd chicane and his front right suspension gave way.
Mercedes GP driver Rosberg, Renault’s Kubica and Williams’ Hulkenberg made excellent starts. Lap 2 saw them into 4th, 5th and 6th positions respectively after starting from 7th, 9th and 8th on the grid – The reason? A poor start from the Red Bulls, as Vettel fell to seventh and Webber was running in 9th positions.
Schumacher, though not as impressive as his team mate this weekend, made a solid start himself – Ahead of Mark Webber in 8th. Replays concluded Webber getting wheel-spin of the line and losing a lot of places in the process before heading into the first chicane. Importantly, the Australian did not look to make a reckless move following the slow start, passed the first chicane unharmed, and still in contention to score any points that come his way.
To be continued...
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