Grand Prix 2013 Italian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Sebastian Vettel is unstoppable.
He is leading Alonso by 46 points in the championship, with some of his most successful circuits to come.
After convincingly winning at Spa (supposedly one of his weaker circuits) we move on to Monza (another of his supposedly weak circuits) for the 12th round of the season, the Italian Grand Prix. The Monza circuit, set in a royal park, has hosted the Italian Grand Prix every year except for 1980. It is vastly different from every other circuit in the calendar, requiring minimum downforce, minimum drag and a lot of horses in the engine. As it is Fewwawi's home circuit, they will be under immense pressure from the Tifosi to perform well, and, judging by their Alonso's performance at Spa, the team may as well be in a good position going into the race.

Monza is steeped in tradition, with the traditional cantilever grandstands, the traditionally vocal fans and the traditional surroundings. It is usually a place where many major driver announcements are traditionally made, as it is traditionally the last European race of the season. Of course, Ferrari & McLaren traditionally do well here, and Red Bull traditionally do not.

Last year, Lewis Hamilton strolled through the race weekend, winning convincingly, and Sergio Perez took a quite brilliant second place in his Sauber, with the Fewwawi's third and fourth. Red Bull did not score.

The weather is usually a predictable affair - there have only been three wet/varied races since 1950 (1981, 2004 & 2008) so expect it to be warm and sunny. The tight first chicane, however, leaves potential for first lap incident.

Remember, the race is live on both the BBC and Sky in two weeks, so British fans - no excuse for missing it!!!

All that remains for me to say is Ready, Steady, Discuss!!!
 
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Button is in trouble and may not make it to the grid, possibly not even able to start at all. His car is currently undergoing a fuel system change. It's a lengthy job that is usually done overnight but they have just minutes remaining.
 
Ted Kravitz said earlier that Red Bulls could have gear box problems during the race, both cars having seals broken & work done on several gears...FIA ok with this.
Red Bull going to Barcelona next week to do a 1,000km Pirelli tyre test with this years & next years tyres...using a 2011 car...drivers Ricciardo & Buemi?....
 
Alonso is in the prime place.........if SV has a gear box prob...
Ted said there was no penalty for Bulls breaking seals....
LH has a slow puncture....no radio...PIT BOARD|....
 
Can someone explain a few things to me

1) When someone has a damaged gear box and they change it they get a 5 place grid penalty - unless if the damage is done to a Red-Bull gearbox and then its fine?

2) Why was Hamilton made to pit while setting fastest laps?
 
downforce
I can only say they must have seen the tyre pressure deflating slowly for a puncture to call Lewis in although he did some impressive laps


Did the Bulls get their gearbox changed because that would incur a grid penalty


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I think they need to change the distance of Italian GP and add more laps to it because the race is over in 1 hr 20 and get it closer to 200 miles distance
 
Hamilton was only 13 laps from the finish and a stop costs you around 25 seconds, he would have had a better result if he stayed out I think, especially as he'd just set a few fastest laps and overtaken Rosberg and Hulkenberg shrortly before.
 
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Vettel - like any other day in the office not Grand Chelem but a simple stroll to victory once he gets his customary clean getaway. 4th title is almost there unless some freak collapse

Alonso - another battling drive but how much more can he take of this starting further down and wasting his efforts fighting past others

Massa - a good reminder today he can do a decent job

Hulkenberg - the man who has just put himself on the most wanted list and the real winner today

Ricciardo - clearly kept faster cars behind him but at least he did not go backwards


The losers

Alonso - reaching boiling point with the inability of Ferrari to challenge Vettel/ Red Bull

Di Resta - sorry Paul another year at Force India beckons from this weekend. Another frustrating performance with a possible penalty for doing a Grosjean

JEV - see his twitter comment about watching races from the sidelines than in his car and to see Ricciardo suddenly get praised by Helmut won't help either

Raikkonen - got his revenge on Perez but unfortunately cost his own race as well. I am amazed the Iceman is not peeved that it could be a case of 2009 again where he has not got decent drives elsewhere than his current team

Perez - started ahead of his teammate and ended up behind the podium from last year is a distant memory

Hamilton - in clear air the fastest man on track but messed up quali put to pay his race
 
...which he got! :snigger:

Well, it was worth getting my hedges trimmed & lawns mowed instead of watching it live- lots of lovely fresh air & sunshine, and fast-forwarding through all the Sky guff beforehand, and Horner's piffle afterwards. Reckon I'll do the same for the rest of the year8-)
 
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