Planet-F1

Italian GP: Winners and Losers

Sunday 14th September 2008

Hamilton was in awesome form when he finally turned up, but it was Sebastian Vettel who got it right on Saturday and Sunday and proved that nice guys can finish first.

STAR OF THE RACE
Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1st
Ever since Mount Fuji last year, when he ran third in the wet, Sebastian Vettel has signalled that this kind of performance was within him. His trouble this year has mostly been poor getaways and poor opening laps. Given a rolling start, an empty track and a massive visibility advantage in the opening few laps he was able to get the start he wanted and never looked back.

It was an exceptionally mature performance, not faultless, with a few skips across the chicanes, but pretty close. Had the McLaren driver behind him been the one with the yellow helmet, then it could have been a lot closer. Heikki Kovalainen looked like he was never going to trouble Vettel - and didn't.

F1 is all the stronger for having another GP winner on the grid and you couldn't wish it for a nicer bloke.

OVERTAKING MOVE OF THE RACELap 38: Lewis Hamilton on Mark Webber for P7
Coming out of the pits on his new standard wets (or Inters) Hamilton slotted in behind Felipe Massa and could see the Red Bull of Mark Webber approaching fast in his mirrors down the straight. Very sensibly he decided not to contest the first turn and gave the place straight up to Webber.

The perceived wisdom was that it would take a lap for the tyres to warm up properly and for Lewis to adjust to the new braking distances that different tyres brought. Instead, he followed Webber closely down to the second chicane and launched himself up the inside, only just getting the Mclaren stopped and drifted it in to the turn.

The judgement was impeccable. Only one corner's worth of braking and he produced the most brilliant of passes. His earlier move on Raikkonen was also a masterpiece of judgement in extremely tricky conditions. It was a world away from the ham-fisted attempt he made at qualifying the previous day... After which the title of Der Regenmeister was poised to head elsewhere. Sunday was redemption.

To add insult to injury, and add a certain sense of irony, Mark Webber tried to pass him on the outside into the chicane at Turn 1 on Lap 48. After Spa, half the pitlane had gone on record to say that if you attack round the outside on any corner, you leave yourself open to being washed out into the scenery and Lewis had been asking for trouble to make the pass at the Bus Stop chicane.

Hamilton left Webber more room than Raikkonen had left him at the Bus Stop, but still the Aussie couldn't find a way to turn in without bumping wheels.

WINNERS
Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 2nd
Kovalainen helped McLaren close up the battle in the Constructors' Championship, but given the speed that Lewis found in his car there must be questions to answer in the McLaren de-briefing. On Saturday Kovalainen had made Hamilton look not-even-ordinary; in the race Hamilton made him look like the wrong team-mate.

At least one thing he didn't do was shag his tyres once he got onto Inters. Hamilton admitted his guilt in that department afterwards. Monza 08 will have been as big a learning curve for Lewis as Spa 08 was. Post-Spa he learnt the maxim - "leave it out for one corner", post-Monza it's "patience is a virtue".

Robert Kubica, BMW, 3rd
Kubica's third place depended on good timing, but it also relied on Robert having the right strategy and a big enough fuel tank. It was a kind of "Nelson Piquet third place" where the strategy unravels to reveal an unexpected car in P3. Now the Pole is back as a serious contender to the world title, because a DNF from Lewis and Felipe will mean that he is right in there.

Fernando Alonso, Renault, 4th
Pat Symmonds' tactical nous helped Fernando make the best of the conditions. Though David Coulthard had already changed to Inters, it was still a bit of a gamble to be the second runner. DC had nothing to lose when he changed. Any late-race rain could have ruined his day, but now Renault are looking good for P4 in the Constructors Championship.

Nick Heidfeld, BMW, 5th
He did well to keep Massa at bay in the latter stages of the race, having changed to Inters right when it mattered. More good points for the team, but is that going to be enough? You'd think it was likely to be Raikkonen who had the worst weekend at Monza, but it's probably Heidfeld. And not for anything that happened on track.

Kimi Raikkonen's contract extension to 2010 at Ferrari makes Fernando Alonso's choice of team all the more crucial. He's not going to get into a Ferrari till 2011 at the earliest so he needs to make a long-term choice (If you can call two years long-term). And on the balance of it BMW will be a far better bet than Honda, even if they do have Ross Brawn.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 6th
He got one point closer to Lewis Hamilton so that's got to be good hasn't it...but...but he was probably thinking it would be a few more. Having nearly lost control of his Ferrari on the way to the grid Felipe took a long time to get into his stride after the start of the race. What scuppered his afternoon was coming out behind the one-stoppers after an early pit-stop and not making progress.

Still, it could be deemed damage limitation on his part. Because with rain predicted in the latter half of the race and Hamilton ahead on the road, Lewis looked in contention for a podium until the track started to dry out forcing a switch to Inters.

Mark Webber, Red Bull, 8th
There's probably going to be some badly-forced smiles in the 'sister team' tonight. If anyone was going to rack up Red Bull's first ever win, it was likely to be Webbo. Ironically his previous best shot at victory was mullahed when he was taken out of second place at Mount Fuju, by the "****ing kid" that just won the Italian GP.

F1 Driving Skill
No traction control, yet 19 out of 20 cars finished the Italian GP run in less than optimal conditions. They're clearly getting good at this.