F1 2012: Autodromo Nazionale Monza

A couple of stories emerged during Qualifying.  The first is Alonso who marched steadily backwards in the time charts due to what they are calling swaybar problems.  Monza is a bad place to screw up if you’re wearing red because it’s Maronello’s home track and the boys at Marlboro UPC are watching quite closely.  This is why Qualifying high was good news for Massa who is reportedly hanging onto his job by a thread.

The other is track condition.  There have been an unexpected incidents of mechanical problems, some minor and others (gearbox, engine) not so minor.  Speculation is the uneven new paving is stressing the components.

Grosjean was suspended for a race because he caused that 4 car pile up in Turn 1 last week with Alonso, Hamilton, Kobayashi, and Perez.  Some observers consider this harsh, me not so much.  Starts are the most dangerous time in the race and he plowed into Hamilton as if he wasn’t even there.  He’s being replaced in the Lotus by d’Ambrosio.  Maldonado jumped the start at Spa and has suffered a 10 grid penalty.  di Resta didn’t use his gearbox 5 races in a row and has suffered a 5 grid penalty.

Pirelli is offering Hards and Mediums and is predicting 1 stop racing which will minimize pit advantage.  These are not the same Hards and Mediums that started the season.  At Spa and now here Pirelli has gone with narrower tires and a different compound that doesn’t degrade quite as quickly.  This is tempting teams to push them harder which is creating a situation where they could drive the wheels right off and suffer blow outs.

Speed coverage starts at 8 am.  Repeat at 12:30 am.  Pretty tables below.

Starting Grid

Grid Driver Team Q-Time Q-Laps
1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 01:24.010 15
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 01:24.133 15
3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:24.247 16
4 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 01:24.540 14
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 01:24.802 22
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 01:24.833 15
7 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 01:24.855 18
8 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 01:25.109 18
9 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 01:24.304 17
10 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:25.678 16
11 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 01:24.809 21
12 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 01:24.901 14
13 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 01:25.042 16
14 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 01:25.312 20
15 Jerome d’Ambrosio Lotus-Renault 01:25.408 19
16 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 01:25.441 18
17 Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 01:26.382 11
18 Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 01:26.887 11
19 Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 01:27.039 10
20 Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 01:27.073 9
21 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 01:27.441 9
22 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 01:24.820 17
23 Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 01:27.629 10
24 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 2

Driver Standings

Rank Driver Team Points
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 164
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 140
3 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault 132
4 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 131
5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 117
6 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 101
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 77
8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 76
9 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 47
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 35
11 Felipe Massa Ferrari 35
12 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 33
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 31
14 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 29
15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 28
16 Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 24
17 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari 8
18 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari 4

Constructor Standings

Rank Team Points
1 Red Bull 272
2 McLaren 218
3 Lotus 207
4 Ferrari 199
5 Mercedes 112
6 Sauber 80
7 Force India 59
8 Williams 53
9 Toro Rosso 12

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  1. McLaren/Ferrari

    Hot, hot, hot

    Turn 1

  2. Hamilton

    Massa

    Button

    Vettel

    Shumacher

    Alonso

    Raikkonen

    Kobayashi

    di Resta

    Perez

  3. Hamilton

    Massa

    Button

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Schumacher

    Raikkonen

    Perez

    Kobayashi

    Webber

  4. was on Hards.

  5. Hamilton

    Massa

    Button

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Raikkonen

    Perez

    Kobayashi

    Webber

    di Resta

  6. Hamlton

    Button

    Massa

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Perez

    Webber

    Kobayashi

    di Resta

    Massa

    Senna

  7. Perez

    Hamilton

    Button

    Massa

    Vettel

    Alonso

    Schumacher

    Raikkonen

    Hulkenberg

    Rosberg

  8. Hamilton

    Button

    Massa

    Alonso

    Vettel

    Schumacher

    Raikkonen

    Perez

    Rosberg

    Webber

  9. Hamilton

    Massa

    Alonso

    Schumacher

    Raikkonen

    Perez

    Rosberg

    Webber

    Perez

    Vettel

    di Resta

  10. Hamilton

    Alonso

    Massa

    Perez

    Raikkonen

    Vettel

    Webber

    di Resta

    Kobayashi

    Schumacher

  11. Hamilton

    Perez

    Alonso

    Massa

    Riakonen

    Vettel

    Webber

    di Resta

    Schumacher

    Kobayashi

  12. Local yellow in DRS zone, so no DRS for the rest of the race.

  13. Hamilton

    Perez

    Alonso

    Massa

    Riakonen

    Shumacher

    di Resta

    Kobayashi

    Ricciardo

  14. Hamilton

    Perez

    Alonso

    Massa

    Riakkonen

    Shumacher

    Rosberg

    di Resta

    Kobayashi

    Ricciardo

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