Sep 12 2010

F1: Monza

Ferrari on the front row.  Well, first and third.  Good for them as the hometown team I suppose.

In fact Ferrari is a team in trouble and has threatened to concentrate on next year’s development if they don’t get a good result.  Frankly no result is going to move them beyond an eventual 3rd place because they’re just too far behind.  Also, that’s what they did last year and look where it’s got them.

It’s not only that the car isn’t fast, their engine is not reliable and almost every team that uses it, including Ferrari, is on their last one with 6 races to go (including this one).  If you use any above the allotted 8 for the season there’s a 10 spot Grid penalty and starting position is very important in Formula One.

They’re not the only ones with engine problems, for some inexplicable reason Mark Webber from Red Bull has elected to race a used engine when almost every other team has switched to a new one.  Not just that, but this engine has had 2 problems during the practice sessions and inexplicable because he has 2 spares.  The reason this is significant is because Webber and Hamilton are the only ones with a realistic shot at the Drivers’ Championship and Red Bull and McLaren are only 1 point apart in the Team Championship.

The other technically interesting point is the dueling aero setups.  Some drivers and teams have opted for a larger wing and are relying on F-Ducts to spoil the airflow over it to reduce drag on the parts of the track where you don’t need so much downforce.  Everyone else is just going for a smaller wing all the way around which has the additional advantage of being lighter.  You can see this play out on the McLaren team where Button, using the F-Duct, is starting 2nd and Hamilton, using the small wing, is starting 5th.  Hamilton was a little squirrely during Qualifying.

All of the top ten are starting on Option (Soft) Tires that only have 2 or 3 laps on them, but they won’t last and because the field is so closely matched it’s unlikely that anyone is going to be able to gain enough of a lead to pit without losing position.  This is somewhat of an advantage for Button who has shown an uncanny ability to tread (heh, heh, get it?) lightly on his tires, but were I a back marker like Schumacher or Petrov I’d start Primes and drive them into the ground.

My Qualifying Commentary, Speed Channel Racecast, Formula One Official Website.

Starting Grid and Standings below.

Starting Grid

Grid Driver Team Q Time Laps
1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:21.962 23
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 01:22.084 21
3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:22.293 25
4 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 01:22.433 26
5 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 01:22.623 17
6 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 01:22.675 23
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:23.027 23
8 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 01:23.037 23
9 Robert Kubica Renault 01:23.039 18
10 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 01:23.328 26
11 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 01:23.199 16
12 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 01:23.388 19
13 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 01:23.659 17
14 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 01:23.681 19
15 Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:23.819 17
16 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 01:23.919 19
17 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 01:24.044 16
18 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 01:25.540 10
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 01:25.742 11
20 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 01:25.774 3
21 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 01:25.934 11
22 Lucas Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 01:25.974 10
23 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 01:26.847 11
24 Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 01:27.020 10

Driver Standings

Rank Driver Team Points
1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 182
2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 179
3 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 151
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 147
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 141
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 109
7 Robert Kubica Renault 104
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 102
9 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 45
10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 44
11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 30
12 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 21
13 Vitaly Petrov Renault 19
14 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 13
15 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 10
16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 7
17 Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 6
18 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 3
19 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 0
20 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 0
21 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 0
22 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 0
23 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 0
24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 0
25 Sakon Yamamoto HRT-Cosworth 0

Team Standings

Rank Team Points
1 RBR-Renault 330
2 McLaren-Mercedes 329
3 Ferrari 250
4 Mercedes GP 146
5 Renault 123
6 Force India-Mercedes 58
7 Williams-Cosworth 40
8 BMW Sauber-Ferrari 27
9 STR-Ferrari 10
10 Lotus-Cosworth 0
11 HRT-Cosworth 0
12 Virgin-Cosworth 0

rustymancuso581

18 comments

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  2. Me I mean.

    But Hamilton got punted by Massa and is parked on the first lap.

  3. Button leading.

  4. Button

    Alonso

    Massa

    Rosberg

    Kubica

    Hulkenberg

    Vettel

    Webber

    Schumacher

    Buemi

    Barrichello

    Liuzzi

    Delarosa

    Alguasuari

    Petrov

    Trulli

    Glock

    Kovalienen

    diGrassi

    Yamamoto

    Senna

    Sutil

    Kobayashi is also retired.

    Lap 14 of 53

  5. Sutil has put on the hard shoes.

  8. Alguersuari twice.

    Also Glock.

    Lap 26 of 53.

  9. Liuzzi in now (lap 33).

  11. Rosber and Webber in 7th and 8th.

  15. Alonso

    Button

    Massa

    Vettel (yet to pit)

    Rosberg

    Hulkenberg

    Webber

    Kubica

    Schumacher

    Petrov

    Lap 41

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