Italian Grand Prix – race

September 4, 2005 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

Yesterday’s qualifying notes and Friday’s practice notes.

Grid:

J.Montoya
F.Alonso
J.Button
T.Sato
J.Trulli
M.Schumacher
R.Barrichello
G.Fisichella
R.Schumacher
D.Coulthard
K.Raikkonen *because of a 10-spot penalty for an engine change
J.Villeneve
C.Klien
M.Webber
F.Massa
A.Pizzonia * standing in for N.Heidfeld
T.Monteiro
R.Doornbos
N.Karthikeyan
C.Albers

Weather: track temperature 45°C; air temp 28°C; wind 0.9m/s; humidity 49%; pressure 1001.5mBar.

Engines are started, ready for the parade lap.
JM leads them away; everyone’s off the grid OK.

Grid: JM, FA, JB, TS, JT, MS, RB, GF, RS, DC, KR*, JV, CK, MW, FM, AP, TM, RD, NK, CA.

01/53: JB smoking on the grid?
Clean through the first chicane .. except at the back – TM
JV ahead of KR

02: JM, FA, JB, TS, JT, RB, MS, GF
DC and MW both pit
CA pits too, as does NK

03: MS cuts the chicane as he tries to pass JT – if he doesn’t let JT past him he should be penalised
JM fastest lap 1:23.166
KR in P11 still behind JV

04: JM, FA, JB, TS, RB, MS, JT, GF
JM f/lap 1:22.929

05: JM f/lap 1:22.829

06: FA f/lap 1:22.740
JT has retaken P6 from MS … but MS should still be penalised for cutting the chicane … or does letting him JT pass (albeit a couple of laps late) let him off?

07: JM, FA, JB, TS, RB, JT, MS, GF; 9=RS; 10=JV; 11=KR; DC=17

08: FA f/lap 1:22.685
FA just 2.2s behind JM

09: JM f/lap 1:22.659

10/53: FA f/lap 1:22.476
JM, FA, JB, TS, RB, JT, MS, GF; 9=RS; 10=JV; 11=KR; DC=17

13: FA f/lap 1:22.376

14: MS pits from P7

15: JM f/lap 1:21.988
RB pits from P5
JV pits too – that should let KR get away

16: JM f/lap 1:21.828

17: TS pits from P4 – problem getting the fuelling hose on
MW pushing DC for P15

18: JB pits from P3
JM f/lap 1:22.771
TS pits again because they couldn’t fuel him first time – ITV-F1 report that the problem is software on the refuelling rig

19: KR now in P6, just 0.5s behind RS

20/53: FA pits from P2 – a slow(ish) stop by the Renault team
KR challenging FA but struggling to pass him

21: JM pits from P1
JT pits too, from P3
KR manages to pass FA a lap after he started trying

22: GF pits from a brief P1
Yet to pit: RS, KR and AP.

23: RS pits from P3
KR now in P2 (but yet to pit) and 5.9s behind JM

24: KR f/lap 1:21.725
AP pits from P4 – only KR to pit now, which means he qualified heavy on fuel and still set the best time!

25: MS now 0.4s behind RB … no team orders boys, remember!
KR f/lap 1:21.629
MW still looking at passing DC (for P13) but still not managing it

26: KR pits from P2 – 11.5s stop – has he swapped to a 1-stop strategy?
KR rejoins in P5, behind JT

27/53: JM, FA, GF, JT, KR,JB, RS, RB; MS=9; JV=12; DC=13; no retirements so far
MW pits from P14, presumably a strategic early 2nd stop because he’s not been able to pass DC

28: McLaren pit team getting ready for …? ITV-F1 report KR’s rear-left is beginning to delaminate!

29: KR pits from P5 – a quick change of the rear-left and he rejoins behind JV again
DC pits from P13

30/53: “Incident involving car 21 (CA) under investigation by the stewards”

31: “Drive through penalty for car 21 – ignoring blue flags”
MW ahead of DC – was that through pit strategy or a real pass?

32: JM’s lead ~9.1s over FA; GF ~18.3s behind FA

34: JM, FA, GF, JT, JB, RS, RB, MS; KR=11
KR must have passed JV off-camera

36: JB pits from P5

37: KR passes FM for P10
MS pits from P8

38: RB pits from P7 – rejoins just ahead of JB

40/53: FA pits from P2 – he had ~20s lead over teammate GF – rejoins behind JT for P4
JV pits from P9

41: JM pits from P1
GF pits too … and so does JT

42: MS now harrying JB for P10
RS (P4) and FM both pit

43: Ferrari mechanics ready with a left-rear tyre … RB pits … slow stop to replace it
CK, TS, MW all pit
MW pulls out right alongside TS; the pit lane is just wide enough for two cars; did TS clip the penalty line?
MW wins the battle and takes P15

44: AP pits from P5(?)

45/53: JM, FA, GF, KR, JT, RS, AP, JB; MS=9; JV=11; RB=12

46: KR spins in the 2nd chicane!! Rejoins but that’s let JT through for P4!

47: KR is right on JT’s tail but can he pass?

48: KR takes JT through the Parabolica

49: JT is fending MS off for P8
KR is easily fastest man on track right now – 1:21.911 whereas GF (~8.4s ahead of KR) is clocking 1:23.081

50/53: JM’s left-rear with the same problem as KR! His lead over FA is only 7.4s and JM’s losing 2s/lap

51: Looks like McLaren are leaving JM out there – he’ll probably lose P1 to FA but should hang on for P2 … if the tyre lasts!

52/53: KR f/lap 1:21.504, now just 4.2s behind GF
FA doesn’t seem to be pushing JM for P1
MS ran wide and rejoined down in P10

53/53: Last lap: JM lead now 3.5s; KR now 3.0s off GF
JM closing in to lap MS – that would amuse the Tifosi (not!) but there’s not time
JM takes the chequered flag with FA just 2.4s behind
GF third with KR 4.8s behind
JT takes P5; RS P6; AP P7; JB hangs on to P8
P9=FM; 10=MS; 11=JV; 12=RB; 13=CK; 14=MW; 15=DC; 16=TS; 17=TM; 18=RD; 19=CA; 20=NK. No retirements.

Provisional Results:

J.Montoya (McLaren)
F.Alonso (Renault)
G.Fisichella (Renault)
K.Raikkonen (McLaren)
J.Trulli (Toyota)
R.Schumacher (Toyota)
A.Pizzonia (Williams)
J.Button (BAR)

Post-race interviews:
JM: “A matter of just maintaining the car”; “never felt comfortable to push hard”; “could see tyre breaking up a bit”.
FA: (at the end) “I push a little more” but “it was too late”. “It’s OK for me”.
GF: “Strategy was perfect”; “no problems in the pit stops”; “quite optimistic” about fuel strategy.

Points:

F.Alonso	103
K.Raikkonen	76
M.Schumacher	55
J.Montoya	50
J.Trulli	43
G.Fisichella	41
R.Schumacher	35
R.Barrichello	31
N.Heidfeld	28
M.Webber	24
J.Button	24
D.Coulthard	21
F.Massa	8
A.Wurz	6
T.Monteiro	6
J.Villeneuve	6
N.Karthikeyan	5
C.Klien	5
P.de la Rosa	4
C.Albers	4
P.Friesacher	3
A.Pizzonia	2
V.Liuzzi	1
T.Sato	1
A.Donaldson	0
R.Doornbos	0