Out of Ten - 2013 Italian Grand Prix

[Mephistopheles]

2, Bloody awful race..

 

[jez101]

5 for Lewis' breathtaking drive. 1 for everything else therefore a 6 from me.

I'm totally with Galahad on this one: this is what you get when there is no tyre deg. A procession, with one or two amazing moves. By and large though, you couldn't overtake, even with the dreaded DRS... Be careful what you wish for next time!

 

[Slyboogy]

No idea why Pirelli went really conservative at a track where tyre wear is at it's minimum.

5 from me.

 

[Mephistopheles]

Well they should have at least put a couple of steps between tyres say soft/hard or supersoft/medium or even supersoft/hard, so that we could have some kind of strategic play...

 

[Fenderman]

• Mixed up grid behind the although predictably done deal for Red Bull/Seb combo' promised midfield action if the FOM TV producer cared to show it - no deductions therefore my starter for 10
• Fell asleep for a period that was, coincidentally, much the same as the chunks chopped out in the Beeb's highlights that I had to suffer later before scoring this race - scrub 10 and start again.
  
• Woke up in time to catch all of the Hamilton/Raikkonen duel +2
  
• and most of the on screen overtaking it seems - won't be mean +2
• What about DRS? Not too negative this time out but questionable as ever. A number of notable overtakes in the race showed that cars can now run close to each other through fast corners with only the Mickey Mouse passes on the straights coming off (i.e. those where overtaken driver no allowed to deploy DRS to defend) ... nil points either way
  
• ... but some truly great moves round the outside and through the "chickens". I'll give those a 2
  
• Good to see decent finishes for The Hulk and Dan The Grin - a fanpeep +1

Before totting up the score there's one more element to think about: Excitement. In spite of all the above there wasn't a lot. Not to me anyway. Monza is another of my favourite tracks and races but (ignoring the fact I fell asleep) it always seems too short for a complete story of a race to pan out. Until this new age of reliability rules and mile wide run-offs, Monza was a car killer. Now all we get are radio glitches and minor KERS issues that promise some tension yet serve only only to preserve a procession. The second half of the race was quite exciting with Hamilton and Raikkonen hunting down everyone in front of them. Another potential story might have been an Alonso push to pressure Vettel and his motor into a mistake or failure. Unfortunately the pattern, as with this whole season, was that post final pit-stop the front end of the race was "look after the cars and cruise to the line". Truth be told I never recovered from my sleep and no matter how hard I try to rig the numbers I have to knock off two points for that.

Total score: (consulting fingers ...) = 5

 

[Boyle]

I hate races that threaten to be good but then are just disappointing. More so than just dull ones. 3

 

[Mephistopheles]

Two RedBulls on the front row, Vettel gets a decent start (As always.) Webber goes backwards (As always.) Vettel trots off to win. (As always.)

That's my complete summary of the race...

I reckon I should be a sports writer/editor for The Daily Mirror...

 

[racecub]

I quite enjoyed this race. More so than Spa. But it wasn't exceptional by any means. Lewis and Kimi made it. Some great overtakes from Lewis and I enjoyed Alonso's on Webber near the beginning. A shame they switched the McLarens, I thought Perez looked the faster driver, but I knew they would, just as I knew they'd switch the Ferraris and just as I knew Vettel would sail off into the distance. But some racing, some good racing. So since I gave spa a 6, I give this one a 7. I think that's a bit generous, 6 and a half would be about right.

 

[snowy]

Some tension, some overtaking, some threat of gearbox failure (if only the Mercs were up there to put the pressure on). Lewis was very quick throughout the entire race and was called into the pits repeatedly whilst he was setting purple sectors. Had they left him out there until he felt he needed a new set, they'd have had an even better result. They should analyse the data and conclude that for the next race he should just drive flat out and forget about conserving fuel and tyres.

6+

 

[KekeTheKing]

5. Pretty sure that's my lowest grade of the year.

Just an overall mediocre meeting.

 

[Fenderman]

Indeed, KekeTheKing . I'm actually wondering if I cheated in trying to give it a reasonable score! Your comment reminded me that, when I woke up, I didn't have my usual knee jerk "Oh fuck! I've been missing it!" jumping up and cursing the gods tantrum routine. That was unusual enough, but after seeing the albeit interesting (in parts) second half of the race I nearly watched Stargate Atlantis in preference to the Beeb's highlights .

Having taken my temperature and having had a bowl of soup I have reassured myself that I'm not ill. F1 2013 is, I think.

 

[LifeW12]

The result was known as soon at the apex of T1 was found. Pathetic race from that point onwards.

2

 

[Greenlantern101]

Redbulls return to total dominance (on tracks they are not good at) has now killed off the championship and the likelihood of any races for the lead in the remaining races. Coupled with very limited overtaking other than the start and so-so fights in the midfield I really didn't enjoy that one. It would of been a zero but for a half decent recovery by hammy. My mood turned very dark during that race.

1.

 

[Titch]

I give it 5. It was a dull race after the first corner, until the end, when we saw some racing from Hamilton and Raikkonen, so it gets a five for that.

 

[sushifiesta]

It's early days yet in this poll but it seems like two poorly rated races and the summer break have damaged visits to the forum and, I assume, general interest in F1. If another 10 people vote in the next week and a half that won't be true but usually the vast majority of the votes come in a couple of days and we're quite a way short of 50 at the moment.

Time for you all to prove me wrong!

 

[Fenderman]

It's early days yet in this poll but it seems like two poorly rated races and the summer break have damaged visits to the forum and, I assume, general interest in F1. If another 10 people vote in the next week and a half that won't be true but usually the vast majority of the votes come in a couple of days and we're quite a way short of 50 at the moment.

Time for you all to prove me wrong!

I hid a spoof "Clip The Apex health Barometer" item about that in one of my Rooting Today pieces Rooting-Today but I'm hoping a lot of peeps have been on holiday.

 

[Dizzi]

5 for me.
Disappointing but not as disappointing as Spa hence more points.
Knowing the winner before the end of the first lap makes for dull 'racing', thank goodness for some decent passes further down the field.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Oh! Uh! What?

I just woke up, and it seems that I've been in a deep sleep for two days or so. I wonder what I was doing...

 

[Incubus]

As Galahad and jez101 have pointed out this is what you get when Pirelli are being pressured by a wave of public opinion into seemingly bringing the hardest compounds at pretty much every race these days.
The first third of this season was open with wins for Red Bull Lotus Ferrari and Mercedes. Some cars were faster but others were less tyre-hungry. Some circuits suited other teams better than others.

Now that the tyre variable element which all teams were faced with during pre-season testing has gone, the fastest car is just free to remain the fastest car and the semblance of a more even playing field is gone.

A clear case of "be-careful-what-you-wish-for".

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

7 ... only for the train of cars from about 7th to 14th ... which thankfully we got some coverage of rather than the follow the leader 2nd through 4th ...