I have just enjoyed an entertaining Italian GP while sitting in a bar in Salt Lake City airport on a Sunday. Which to be clear, is not a sentence I’d ever have thought I’d relay.
I asked for one of the TV’s to be turned over to catch the last half of the GP before catching my next flight. By the time the GP ended there were maybe a dozen people enjoying the race between flights.
Fernando Alonso said winning the Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari “It’s something only really to compare with the Spanish Grand Prix victory in 2006.” Surly an understatement, drivers I’ve ever met has felt that winning at Monza in a Ferrari would be the absolute highlight of their career.
This was Alonso’s first season with Marinello team and his third win of the year. With Vettel finishing fourth, Weber in sixth and Hamilton DNF’ing the title race has been thrown wide open once more after being given a little clarity in Spa.
Button claimed second (just under three seconds behind Alonso) after a great drive. He led a significant part of the race from the start. Alonso took over the lead with a quicker stop for tires and better in lap.
Massa was a comfortable third just behind Button. He was close, but never quite quick enough to worry the McLaren driver.
Vettel was fourth and Weber sixth, the two Red Bull drivers were unable to keep up with the top three. They looked closer in qualifying than they did in race trim.
In between the two RB was Rosberg in the first of the Mercedes. Schumacher was well beaten once again this weekend by his teammate and finished ninth. I’m surprised by Schumacher’s lack of pace throughout the season. Over the last few outings he’s typically been a lot close to Rosberg than this weekend.
Schumacher has publicly written off 2010 as a learning year. With Ross Brawn running things and both drivers under contract for next year it will be interesting how the off season goes for the team. I don’t imagine Schumacher will tolerate a repeat of this year where both the package and the driver were not quite there.
Williams had another good weekend as the best of the real privateers, both cars finished in the points with Niko Hulkenberg showing why he so sought after over the closed season. He took part in a great battle for sixth between Weber, Kubica and himself.
Now the circus heads off to Singapore in two weeks. Conventional thinking says this is a track the favors the Red Bull cars over the Ferraris and McLarens, but all three teams have been working hard to find something extra for the remaining races that are all over “slower”, more technical tracks.
Ferrari had an awful showing two weeks ago on a track that should have suited them rather well. Today they did very well, Hamilton retiring after tangling with Massa early on helped. If Alonso wants the chance to really take this championship the team has to be consistent.
The result today has significantly tightened up the points championship. There are 24 points between the top five drivers in the championship. With five races and a maximum of 125 points available it really is as good as I’d hoped it would be. Lot’s of opportunity for both drivers and teams to make this their year.
Final word to Alonso “In 2007 [when he won for McLaren at Monza] there were not very nice words because I was in McLaren fighting Ferrari. But here now it is very different, this welcome and support by everyone is great and Felipe (Massa) and me. We had a fantastic weekend.”