Vettel dominates at Monza!
Sebastian Vettel made history this afternoon at the Italian Grand Prix as he dominated the 53-lap event taking the chequered flag 12 seconds ahead of Heikki Kovalainen. In doing so, Vettel becomes the youngest Grand Prix winner in the history of the sport and launches the Toro Rosso Ferrari team ahead of both Williams Toyota and Red Bull Renault in the constructors’ championship.
It was a flawless drive from the young German racer from the pole position in tricky conditions once again. The race started behind the safety car but even at the end of the first racing lap, Vettel had pulled a two second advantage over Kovalainen in the McLaren Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton aside, Vettel never looked like anything other than a race winner.
Heikki Kovalainen was never a contender for the race win which will be a concern for the Finn on a day when he had a great chance of securing his first win on merit. Like Vettel he used a standard two stop strategy switching from full wet tyres to intermediate tyres for his final stint.
Robert Kubica drove a smart race from 11th position to finish third, just eight seconds behind Kovalainen. The BMW Sauber driver made great use of a one stop strategy to vault ahead of those stopping twice and unlike some, had enough fuel to ensure that his one and only stop was at the optimum time for the switch from wet to intermediate tyres.
Fernando Alonso ran a similar strategy to Kubica and was the second driver today to change to the intermediate rubber as the circuit started to dry from the mid-way point.
It was another excellent run from the former champion as he took the chequered flag, less than four seconds behind Kubica.
Nick Heidfeld also has a strong run in the second BMW Sauber, but lost ground to Kubica at the start and then drove a strong race and managed to fend off a sustained attack to finish in fifth position.
Felipe Massa started sixth and finished in the same position on a more traditional two-stop strategy. Massa’s undoing was the timing of his pit stops that dropped him behind the one-stopping Heidfeld, a position he would not be able to recover from. The Brazilian will not be too unhappy with the result however, as he takes another small nibble out of Lewis Hamilton’s championship lead.
Starting 15th, Hamilton had it all to do and the McLaren driver came very close to making it a major upset this afternoon at Monza. Hamilton took enough fuel on board ahead of the race to go the distance with one stop. However he did not take enough fuel to choose the ideal time for that stop. With the circuit drying, Hamilton pitted ahead of some of the other one-stoppers and took a second set of full wet tyres. Had the rain continued, he would have been able to challenge Vettel for the victory. As it was, Hamilton had to make an unscheduled stop to take on the intermediate tyres and he would finish in seventh position.
Hamilton retains the lead in the championship but now the gap to Massa is just one point heading to Singapore in two weeks time.
Mark Webber ran third early in the race in the leading Red Bull Renault, but lost out to the one stopping cars and his race was also hindered by a quick spin exiting the Ascari chicane. Webber took the final point for eighth position but that final point was not enough stop sister team Toro Rosso moving ahead in the constructors’ championship.
Kimi Raikkonen spent much of the race running in the lower mid-field and it was only in the closing laps that the Ferrari driver was able to make progress. Raikkonen took the chequered flag in ninth position after a so-so run and therefore loses further ground to Kubica, Massa and Hamilton in the championship standings.
Nelson Piquet used a one-stop strategy to finish tenth in the second Renault ahead of Timo Glock in the leading Toyota. Glock, like team-mate Jarno Trulli in 13th, paid the price for running two stops.
After much promise in practice and qualifying, it was a poor race day for the Williams Toyota team with Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg finishing a disappointing 12th and 14th ahead of Jenson Button in the leading Honda.
A clash between David Coulthard and Kazuki Nakajima cost the former as he was forced to pit his Red Bull for repairs a few laps from home. Coulthard still managed to finish ahead of the second Honda of Rubens Barrichello.
Sebastien Bourdais could well have secured a podium position this afternoon at Monza, but the Frenchman stalled his Toro Rosso on the dummy grid and then went a lap down before the team could restart the STR3. Bourdais was classified 18th a lap ahead of Adrian Sutil in the surviving Force India Ferrari.
Amazingly, given the conditions, Giancarlo Fisichella was the only driver to retire from the race. Fisichella, battling with Coulthard, clipped the Red Bull at the first chicane and at the end of the lap the front wing on the VJM01 failed sending the Italian veteran into the gravel and retirement.
It was a fantastic day for Sebastian Vettel and Toro Rosso Ferrari on what was a great day for the sport.
Earl ALEXANDER
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