Italian Grand Prix – race

September 10, 2006 by paul
Filed under: Uncategorized

After qualifying the FIA penalised Alonso for not driving a Ferrari. When even the usually clueless TSN & Speed commentators are saying that decision is somewhat questionable.

The revised grid looks like this: KR, MS, NH, FM, JB, RK, PR, RB, GF, FA*, JT, NR, RS, DC, SS, CK, VL, CA, MW, TM, TS, SY

Speed ask Flavio Briattore about Alonso’s penalty – he’s understandably annoyed and he pointed out that FA actually put in a personal fastest time on that lap. It’s a disgrace – the FIA have (yet again) turned the sport in to a joke. The Drivers’ Association should just refuse to race – there’s no point in risking your life and spending all that money if you’re not allowed to win because the officials are so biased.

With 5 minutes to the start of the race, the track temperature is 41°C, air temp 28°C, wind 0.6m/s and humidity 35%

Sato’s Super Aguri is still in the pit lane, but he was only in P21.

KR leads the grid away on the formation lap – everyone is away cleanly, except TS who will start from the pit lane.

01/53: Yellow flag briefly for one of the cars near the back of the grid – was it CA?
NH and RK have a good start, passing FM before Turn 1
MS and NH touch on the exit of T1
RK passes teammate NH
FM passes NH for P5

02: KR, MS, RK, FM, JB, NH, FA, PR
FA cuts the chicane (T1) after he passed NH for P6 – except the stewards to investigate that
NH still struggling

03: KR fastest lap 1:23.762
KR, MS, RK, FM, JB, FA, NH, PR
KR leads MS by 1.4s

04: KR f/lap 1:23.443
MS f/lap 1:23.399
The two Midland drivers (TM & CA) are battling hard

05: KR’s lead still 1.4s over MS

06: KR f/lap 1:23.300
FA closing on JB for P5
FM still right on RK’s tail, which is causing RK to drop back from MS

07: Slower lap for KR – 0.78s slower than his previous lap

08: KR, MS, RK, FM, JB, FA, NH, PR; no retirements so far

09: FM hot in to T1, slides the Ferrari a little, giving RK a chance to breath

10/53: NR’s Williams seems to be limping round

11: KR f/lap 1:23.167
NR makes it back to the pits but he’s coasting
Pit-car radio for NR says he’s lost drive, and he parks it in the garage

12: KR f/lap 1:22.980
FM still harrying RK but the BMW is faster out of the corners

13: KR’s lead 1.5s over MS, who in turn is 12.5s ahead of RK

14: KR f/lap 1:22.559
MS personal f/lap 1:22.737
All the top 8 barring FA set personal fastest laps – first pit stop must be close

15/53: KR, MS, RK, FM, JB, FA, NH, PR; retirements: NR
PdlR from P8 – first to make a scheduled pit stop – 10.1s stop

16: KR pits from P1 – 8.9s stop – rejoins behind NH for P7
Unless MS pits in the next lap or two, it’s looking good for him

17: MS, RK, FM, JB, FA, NH, KR, GF
Ferrari preparing for a pit stop

18: MS pits from P1 – 9.5s stop – rejoins ahead of KR
RK leads the race for his first time

19: RK, FM, JB, FA, NH, MS, KR, GF
The gap between MS and KR is 1.3s, reversing the lead KR had before that stop

20/53: FM pits from P2 – 8.7s stop – rejoins behind RB
FA pits from P4 – 8.1s stop – rejoins behind JT for P10
FM forces JT to run wide in Turn 1

21: JB pits from P3 – Midland release CA almost into the side of JB
JB rejoins just ahead of FA but FA passes him

22: NH pits from P2 – 7.6s – rejoins just ahead of FA
PdlR is off in the gravel – replay shows he pulled the McLaren off track at the exit of Ascari

23: RK pits from P1 – he led the race for 5 laps
Yet to pit are GF, RB, JT from the top 10

24: MS, KR, GF, RK, RB, FM, JT, NH; Retirements: NR, SY, PR

25/53: MS leads KR by 2.2s; GF is 6.6s behind and has yet to pit
SS, DC and RS all arrive in T1 together; SS comes out ahead in P12 and RS locks up

26: NH in for a drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane

(Half-distance for the race)

27: GF pits from P3 – 9.7s stop – that’s a 1-stop strategy for the Renault

28: Still to pit: RB (P5) and JT (P7)
FM runs wide exiting the first Lesmo – kicks up a lot of dirt

29: MS, KR, RK, RB, FM, JT, FA, JB

30/53: MS lead 3.0s; KR 19.5s ahead of RK
JT pits from P7, making RB the only top 8 runner yet to stop

31: RB pits – that’s 10 laps later than teammate JB – 9.5s stop – rejoins behind NH for P10, but most of the front runners will have to make a 2nd stop

32: MS goes in to T1 too hot and runs a bit wide
KR stuck behind RS and SS

33: FA posts personal f/lap 1:23.509

34: Personal f/laps for FM and FA – approaching the 2nd pit stops

35/53: MS, KR, RK, FM, FA, JB, NH, GF; Retirements: NR, SY, PR
Another personal f/lap for FA 1:23.150
Only driver yet to pit is CK in P11

36: MS leads KR by 2.6s, who has a 23.8s cushion to RK
Both MS and KR lapping ~1:22.9
CK pits – 7.2s stop – rejoins behind MW for P12

38: MS and KR dealing with back markers

39: KR pits from P2 – 5.9s stop – rejoins still in P2
FA still stuck behind FM

40/53: MS pits from P1 – 6.8s stop – that’s quick! – rejoins well ahead of KR
FM pits too – 8.1s stop – will he be able to continue to block FA?
NH posts fastest Sector 1 time from P7

41: MS lead is now 3.7s over KR
FA now right on RK’s tail

42: RK and FA pit together … followed by JB – that’s P3, P4 and P5 all pitting
RK & FA exit the pit lane side by side, and FA takes the lead in to T1, taking P3

43: MS, KR, FA, RK, FM, GF, JB, RB
MS lead 4.8s; KR has 23.8s over FA

44: Yellow flag for FA – his engine let go in T1 and he’s out!
TM is fastest in Sector 1, but he’s down in P17

45: FM pits for new tyres after locking up behind FA’s blow up

46: MS, KR, RK, GF, JB, RB, JT, NH
If MS wins, that will reduce FA’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship to just 2 points, with 3 races remaining

47: TM has retired his Midland (soon to be Stryker) MF1 in the pits

48: MS, KR, RK, GF, JB, RB, JT, NH; retirements: NR, SY, PR, FA, TM

49: MS lead now 8.3s over KR, who leads RK by 21.9s
Closest battle is NH chasing JT for P7 and RS 0.4s off SS who is 0.5s behind DC

50/53: Both MS and KR seem to have backed off a little

51: NH pushing JT hard for P7, with FM closing in on them both

52: JB personal f/lap 1:23.518

53/53 [final lap]: MS lead still ~7.6s; he’s lapped everyone up to & including CK in P11

MS takes the chequered flag
KR in P2, 8.0s behind
P3=RK, 18.3s behind KR
P4=GF, 5.6s back, having stopped just once
P5=JB, just 0.6s behind GF
P6=RB, who also only stopped once
P7=JT, P8=NH

Provisional Result:
MS, KR, RK, GF, JB, RB, JT, NH, FM, MW, CK, DC, SS, VL, RS, TS, CA; Retirements: NR, SY, PdlR, FA, TM.

The Tifosi swarm across the circuit as usual. (Didn’t other circuits get penalised for this in the past?)
Kubica on the podium in only his third Grand Prix!

TSN announce that they’ve received a note from Ferrari confirming MS will retire and KR will take over his seat.

Post-race interviews:
MS: confirms his retirement
FA: still very angry at the stewards’ decision – “I hope they sleep well”.

Next race: China in 3 weeks.