Formula One 2013: Monza

Well the big surprise is that Hamilton didn’t get out of Q2 ending his run of poles.  Given how little he has converted Grid to Finish I’m not sure if fans should be worried or not.  Sutil was handed a 3 Grid penalty for impeding which is, I’m sure, little consolation.

All Red Bulls at the front which leads one to believe that this will be another of those boring races where Vettel gets out of the Drag Reduction zone before it even opens (active in 3rd lap, must be within 1 second of the car you’re looking to overtake).  Hulkenberg’s Sauber is somewhat unexpected as an interloper in third and Massa outqualified Alonso which may be pure charity.

You see in offtrack news Ricciardo has been confirmed as the Red Bull replacement for Webber.  He’s a reliable back bencher who will pile up constructor’s points while being easy on the machinery and unthreatening to Vettel.  Yawn.  Ferrari wants Raikkonen who’s a legitimate contender in a fast car which, unfortunately for Scuderia Marlboro, they don’t have.  They do have Alonso who is good for .5 seconds a lap regardless of what hunk of junk you strap him in and he’s not threatened by a talented second because in his mind there is no driver who is close to his talent.

And he’s absolutely right.

Raikkonen would be a step up for Ferrari, but loyalty is part of the Scuderia mystique.  Massa has never really recovered from his head injury (not that he was top tier before it) but it was one for the team and with a good performance in front of the Maranello home crowd he might get renewed out of sentiment.

Another contract that will probably get picked up is Pirelli.  They have a hate, hate relationship with Bernie but they’re really the only game in town as Michelin (which was being used to threaten them) has no interest at all in developing tires that degrade on schedule in addition to the fact they got unceremoniously dumped the last time they worked with Formula One.  It was never really a credible alternative, merely a negotiating position and I hope Pirelli jacked Bernie up good for a whole pot of money for screwing with them.  On offer this weekend are Hards and Mediums which are remarkably conservative picks but have shown the most predictability and are favored by the teams.  The main difference between them is not speed but durability and not much at that.  Hards will typically last from 5 to 10 laps longer than Mediums.

And all strategies could go in a cocked hat if the weather deteriorates as predicted (Thunderstorms).  Monza is the fastest track with the least downforce and it’s very straight except when it’s not.  Even so that would favor the Red Bulls who have the most mechanical (as opposed to aerodynamic) grip.

So we shall see how entertaining a race this is.

Pretty tables below.

Starting Grid

Grid Driver Team Q-Time Q-Laps
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:23.755 15
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 1:23.968 18
3 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1:24.065 21
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:24.132 21
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:24.142 15
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.192 26
7 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 1:24.209 24
8 Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.502 17
9 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:24.515 21
10 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 1:28.050 20
11 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:24.610 16
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.803 14
13 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:24.848 14
14 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:25.011 19
15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:25.077 18
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:25.226 13
17 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:24.932 19
18 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:25.291 11
19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1:26.406 9
20 Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1:26.563 10
21 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1:27.085 11
22 Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1:27.480 10

Driver Standings

Rank Driver Team Points
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 197
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 151
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 139
4 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 134
5 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 115
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 96
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 67
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 53
9 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 47
10 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 36
11 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 25
12 Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 18
13 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 13
14 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 12
15 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 7
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1

Constructor Standings

Rank Team Points
1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 312
2 Mercedes 235
3 Ferrari 218
4 Lotus-Renault 187
5 McLaren-Mercedes 65
6 Force India-Mercedes 61
7 STR-Ferrari 25
8 Sauber-Ferrari 7
9 Williams-Renault 1

25 comments

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    • on 09/08/2013 at 13:22
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 13:34
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 13:35
      Author

    but not at the moment.

    • on 09/08/2013 at 13:46
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 13:54
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:04
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:05
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:06
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:06
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:10
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:19
      Author

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Massa

    Webber

    Hulkenberg

    Rosberg

    Ricciardo

    Perez

    Vergne

    Button

    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:34
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:35
      Author

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Massa

    Webber

    Hulkenberg

    Rosberg

    Ricciardo

    Perez

    Button

    Sutil

    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:39
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:40
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:41
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:45
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:49
      Author

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Webber

    Massa

    Raikkonen

    Hulkenberg

    Hamilton

    Rosberg

    Ricciardo

    Button

    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:49
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:57
      Author

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Webber

    Massa

    Hamilton

    Hulkenberg

    Rosberg

    Ricciardo

    Button

    Perez

    • on 09/08/2013 at 14:58
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 15:06
      Author

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Webber

    Massa

    Hulkenberg

    Rosberg

    Ricciardo

    Button

    Grosjean

    Perez

    • on 09/08/2013 at 15:13
      Author

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Webber

    Massa

    Hulkenberg

    Rosberg

    Ricciardo

    Grosjean

    Button

    Perez

    • on 09/08/2013 at 15:14
      Author
    • on 09/08/2013 at 15:24
      Author

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Webber

    Massa

    Hulkenberg

    Rosberg

    Ricciardo

    Grosjean

    Hamilton

    Button

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