- 13 Sep 10, 03:51#215033Overall this was a great race to watch. I really enjoyed it.
My first comment is that the real stars of the day, for me, were the Tifosi. I've seen it so many times, but the Tifosi at Monza, well, there's just nothing like it in the world, the after race celebrations, the giant "prancing horse" flag on the track, stupendous!
Next, Monza, what a circuit. I won't get into a is it the best in the world, I'll just leave it that it is unique and produces great races and everyone wants to win there.
Obviously a great day for Ferrari, the team and their drivers. They have been under a lot of media pressure recently, they soaked it all up and channeled that into positive energy. Superb strategy backed by an excellent pit stop gave Ferrari the win. For Fernando an excellent drive, clearly the fastest driver on the track and thoroughly deserved the win. Felipe again proved to be a match for Fernando on the soft tyres, they traded fastest laps, and, on the softs Jenson was also trading times with them. But on the hards, Fernando proved to be clearly faster than both Felipe and Jenson. All fastest laps were done on the prime tyre and Fernando was nearly half a second faster than both Felipe and Jenson on that tyre.
2 other winners on the day were the FiA Championships - both invigorated by this Monza result.
McLaren, I think the team suffered from indecisiveness. They definitely had the fastest car coming to Monza this year and most would have penciled in a 1-2 for the team. I really think their F-Duct non-decision was their downfall. Hindsight (always makes it easier) says they should have done what Ferrari and RB did, create a special, Monza-only rear wing/F-Duct solution. Ferrari and RB both made small F-Ducts with flatter rear wings (but not as flat as the normal Monza rear wing would be). Jenson was decisive and reaped the rewards. It could so easily have been a win to him. His strategy from the start was perfectly executed, he knew he had the best entry to turn one and he knew that once he hit speed he'd get added traction from the high downforce setup. He planned it and it worked perfectly. Nothing more needs to be said about Lewis's crash, another mistake and he gets punished for it this time. Lots of people have said that McLaren had to really perform at Spa and Monza, because the rest of the circuits will suit the RB and Ferrari's F10s more. There might be a small amount of truth in this, but, I'm sure it won't be that significant. baring development break-throughs, the Maccas will definitely be at the pointy end of qualifying and race day for the rest of the season.
RB came to Monza in a "damage control" mindset. Mark just wanted points and to stay in touch, Seb wasn't quite as in sync with the team plan because he wanted to turn his season around. If Mark doesn't win the WDC this year, he will look to his race starts. What is going on here? I know he works hard on the RB simulator and, its supposed to be pretty good, but I just wonder if there is some significant difference between the car and the sim that is could be contributing here, ie the sim is practicing him the "wrong" way? It's only been this season it has been such a problem for him. They need to iron this out asap to give him his best chance at winning the WDC. Seb drove a good race and the team strategy proved really clever. This makes twice this year running super long stints (to nearly the race end) has paid off - Kobayashi and Seb.
Lap times are really interesting. Fernando (fastest) and Mark were in a class of their own just a little over a tenth between them. Rosberg continues to make his car outperform its apparent capabilities and, he returned the 3rd fastest lap although his was already a third of a second behind Fernando. Seb was next but just a few thousandths behind. Then we get a gaggle of four in this order Kubica, Massa, Hulkenburg then Button. Although they are only separated by a few hundredths, they are all nearly half a second a lap off the leader. Another race where Fernando is doing times much faster than Felipe, but, I still believe Felipe is not back to his best after his accident.
Lastly I'd like to comment on Hulkenburg holding up Mark. Some people have said that the rule needs refining. I tend to disagree. The rule is fine, it is just its selective implementation that is the problem. The rule clearly state a driver cannot benefit (gain or maintain a position) by going off track. No need to clarify or change that. The question is, why wasn't it used? Although the media in the UK doesn't seem to be giving Charlie Whiting's performances much coverage, it is a very different story in the rest of Europe and Asia. Now, with the WMSC waging into the debate and backing Ferrari's claim that team orders have been used by other teams but ignored by the officials there is probably good reason to review the position of race director and stewards to raise their performance to at least acceptable and gain some consistency here. Drivers have to go through a lot to get their super licenses, perhaps it's time the officials have to train, study and be tested. At the same time, just as was done in cricket, we could get a better spread of representation. I know some will say that Lewis will have benefited the most by Hulkenburg not being penalized (being allowed to hold Mark up), I would really feel for Mark if he ended up loosing the title by a point having seen this obvious penalty go begging.
Last edited by spankyham on 13 Sep 10, 04:19, edited 1 time in total.
"He was the fastest driver I ever saw - faster even than Fangio"
________________________- Mike Hawthorn on Alberto Ascari 
