Paul Henman formula1 Italian Grand Prix – Race

Italian Grand Prix – Race

After quite an exciting Qualifying session yesterday, and the subsequent penalty for SUT, the provisional grid is: VET, WEB, HUL, MAS, ALO, ROS, RIC, PER, BUT, VER, RAI, HAM, GRO, MAL, DIR, GUT, SUT, BOT, VDG, PIC, BIA, CHI.

Tyre compound choices: prime=hard (orange), option=medium (white)

My GridBids picks: VET, MAS, ALO, BUT, DIR, MAL & RIC

Air temperature 25°C; track 29°C; wind 4.0m/s; humidity 60%; dry but there’s a 30% chance of rain during the race

VET leads everyone away on the formation lap
It’s VET’s 40th pole position; Red Bull’s 50th
Radio for VET reminding him of his warm-up procedure
HAM starting on primes; in fact everyone bar HAM and GUT on options

01/53: VET locks up into Turn 1
MAS past WEB into T1
Lots of people cutting that first chicane
DIR is already out – extensive damage to the front of his Force India

02: VET, MAS, WEB, ALO, HUL,ROS, RIC, PER, VER, HAM
RAI pits for a new nose
More contact in T1
Things are starting to settle down

03: VET fastest lap 1:30.357
DRS enabled
ALO makes a really strong move to pass WEB through the chicane – clips WEB’s front wing

04: VET f/lap 1:29.584
Replay of the start shows RAI rear-end PER into Turn 1
RAI f/lap 1:29.198

05/53: VET, MAS, ALO, WEB, HUL, ROS, RIC, PER, VER, HAM; retirements: DIR

06: Radio for HAM – team cannot hear his radio

07: RAI f/lap 1:29.131
BUT not letting HAM run away with P10

08: VET f/lap 1:29.119
MAS tows the company line and allows ALO to take P2
RAI f/lap 1:29.112
BUT takes P10 from HAM

09: VET f/lap 1:29.101
RAI f/lap 1:29.089

10/53: VET, ALO, MAS, WEB, HUL, ROS, RIC, PER, VER, BUT
VET f/lap 1:29.008
VET has 4.4sec lead over ALO
Incident involving cars 14 (DIR) and 8 (GRO) will be investigated after the race – causing a collision

11: Radio for VET – “we’re monitoring the right front – we know it doesn’t look good”
VET f/lap 1:28.985
RAI f/lap 1:28.953
HAM closing up on BUT again

12: Radio for HAM telling him to box – slow puncture … but he didn’t pit

13: HAM doesn’t pit again – radio from his team urging him again to pit – can he hear his engineer?
RAI f/lap 1:28.845

14: HAM pits from P11 – message board held up for HAM as he stops in the box
HAM swaps to options; rejoins P19, behind RAI

15/53: VET, ALO, MAS, WEB, HUL, ROS, RIC, PER, VER, BUT; retirements: DIR
VER pulls off track – engine failure?

17: VET’s lead now 6.5sec over ALO

18: RAI f/lap 1:28.669
Radio for MAS – “Webber always slow in the middle section”

20/53: VET, ALO, MAS, WEB, HUL, ROS, RIC, PER, BUT, GRO; retirements: VER, DIR
Radio for HUL – “push like ‘ell” 🙂
RAI f/lap 1:28.514

21: GRO pits – first of the scheduled 2-stoppers – bit of a slow stop
RAI f/lap 1:28.396

22: BUT pits from P9 – rejoins P15, between HAM and GRO
HAM f/lap 1:28.195

23: RIC & PER pit

24: VET pits from P1 – clean stop – rejoins P5
WEB pits too – rejoins P9, just ahead of RAI
HAM f/lap 1:28.020

25/53: ALO, ROS, MAS … pits, as does HUL and SUT
HAM f/lap 1:28.016
MAS rejoins behind WEB – total pit stop for MAS was 0.5sec slower than WEB’s

26: HAM looking for a way past BOT
VET f/lap 1:27.599
BOT pits, releasing HAM

27: ALO stays out but ROS pits from P2 – rejoins P8
Don’t understand why ALO staying out – he’s almost 1sec/lap slower than VET

28: ALO pits from P1 – rejoins P2 just ahead of WEB
GUT pits too, so now everyone has stopped once – everyone on options except RAI, HAM and GUT

29: HAM passes his teammate through Turn 1 – takes P7 from ROS

30/53: VET, ALO, WEB, MAS, RAI, HUL, HAM, ROS, RIC, BUT; retirements: VER, DIR
HUL closing on RAI
Radio for RAI – box

31: RAI pits – small delay – rejoins P14
HAM f/lap 1:27.339

33: HAM takes P5 from HUL

34: Radio for HUL – “last lap perfectly on target”

35/53: VET, ALO, WEB, MAS, HAM, HUL, ROS, RIC, BUT, PER
VET’s lead now over 10secs over ALO
HAM f/lap 1:27.301 … but he’ll have to pit once more, the others probably won’t

36: ROS locks up into Turn 1 – takes to the escape road
RAI f/lap 1:27.238

37: Mercedes team getting ready for HAM

38: HAM f/lap 1:27.192
HAM cuts Turn 1
GRO dives down the inside of PER into Turn 1 – steals P10

39: HAM pits – finally got the message – rejoins P14 behind RAI

40/53: VET, ALO, WEB, MAS, HUL, ROS, RIC, BUT, GRO, PER; retirements: VER, DIR
Radio from BUT confirming Plan A – yes, tyres are lasting well
RAI f/lap 1:27.010

42: Radio for WEB – “we have an issue, we have to short shift at Turn 2”
VDG pits but Caterham team aren’t ready

43: Radio for WEB – “gear 2 to 3 short shift”
RAI and HAM scything their way through the field

44: Radio for VET – told to short shift too
HAM past GUT for P13

45/53: VET, ALO, WEB, MAS, HUL, ROS, RIC, BUT, GRO, PER
RAI around the outside of SUT to take P11
GRO passes BUT into Turn 1 for P8
HAM past SUT too

46: Radio for WEB telling him to short shift 2 to 3 “or we won’t finish the race”

47: VET still over 10secs ahead of ALO
WEB under 1sec behind ALO so he’ll have DRS
Radio for RAI telling him not to use KERS
HAM attacking RAI

48: HAM alongside RAI into Turn 1 but HAM has to back off

49 = 5 laps remaining: Radio for MAS encouraging him
PER takes a look at BUT
HAM trying to find a way around RAI and makes it stick this time – takes P11

50/53: VET, ALO, WEB, MAS, HUL, ROS, RIC, GRO, BUT, PER
HAM all over the rear of PER – takes P10 as they enter Turn 1
HAM closing on ex-teammate BUT
Radio for VET telling him to “protect the fronts under braking”

51: ROS f/lap 1:26.500
HAM inside BUT into Turn 1 – takes P9

52: VET easing off – gap down to 7.8sec – still more than enough
RAI takes P11 from PER
HAM f/lap 1:25.849
PER outside RAI but can’t make a pass

53 = final lap: Radio for VET – “bring it home; we’ve got enough issues, just bring it home” – i.e. don’t try to set fastest lap
HAM locks up into Turn 1 as he attacks GRO
SUT pits
HAM locks up again – cuts the 2nd chicane – has to let GRO through

VET takes the chequered flag – Red Bull’s 40th victory
ALO P2
WEB P3
MAS P4
HUL P5
ROS, RIC, GRO, HAM, BUT

WEB and RAI pull over near the pit exit

Provisional result: VET, ALO, WEB, MAS, HUL, ROS, RIC, GRO, HAM, BUT; RAI, PER, GUT, MAL, BOT, SUT, PIC, VDG, BIA, CHI
DNF: VER, DIR

Don’t forget: Incident involving cars 14 (DIR) and 8 (GRO) will be investigated after the race – causing a collision

Next race: Singapore, September 20-22.

3 thoughts on “Italian Grand Prix – Race”

  1. “Force India’s Paul di Resta has been handed a reprimand by the stewards for crashing into the back of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus on the first lap” [source: FIA]

  2. My GridBids picks: VET=P1, MAS=P4, ALO=P2, BUT=P10, DIR=DNF, MAL=P14 & RIC=P7.

    “You scored 62 points for this race and have a total of 651 points this season. You ranked 2 for this race and 13 overall.”

Comments are closed.

Related Post