2009 Italian Grand Prix

[niky]

DAMN!!!!! HAMILTOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNN!!!!! And on the last lap, too!!!!!!!!!!

Crap... he parks it into the wall... agh.

Replay shows the rear end gets loose over the kerbs... terrible shunt.

-

I think this race sews up the championship for Brawn... Webber out, Vettel too far behind... it's between Rubens and Jenson now, but Rubens has to hope Jenson doesn't finish the next few races to have a chance to win.

 

[Peter]

Oh crap, Hamilton retired on the last lap running 3rd, that's really horrible.

 

[crazytortise]

Ego got the better of him. Well done to the Brawns 👍

 

[niky]

And he still finishes 12th, first of the "lapped" runners.

 

[Peter]

Another 1-2, good work, to Ross Brawn for being such a good race strategist, they owe the 1-2 all to his amazing skill in that field. Why didn't any of the front runners think of a 1 stop? If they did, they probably would be on the podium now.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Another 1-2, good work, to Ross Brawn for being such a good race strategist, they owe the 1-2 all to his amazing skill in that field. Why didn't any of the front runners think of a 1 stop? If they did, they probably would be on the podium now.

It did seem to work at the first stages of the race, but after half of their first stint they weren't quick enough to build up a gap large enough to keep them behind.

 

[Prince.M5]

Great one from both the Brawns... Also good one for the FI and Kimi. What a dissapoinment for Hamilton!!! Last lap shunt and it really looked hard!!! BMW manage to salvage the 7th place with Vettel 8th... Unfortunate failure for the FI of Liuzzi but that really shows that he got the pace to be at the front.

Anyway, what happened to Kubica's front wing?? Didn't see that he hit anything on the left side of the car. Possibly from his overtaking with Vettel but I think there were no contact. Barrichello, just a very very sweet moment to win at Monza.

 

[niky]

The Brawns simply had the pace. Normally, a one-stopper car will be slower, but they managed to keep in touch with the two-stoppers on the first stint, and managed to keep that pace all the way to their single stop. Lewis Hamilton was faster, note, than the Brawns, but a few tenths per lap still couldn't overcome the 38 second deficit of the second stop.

I think they were all hoping the Brawns would be slower than they were... but they weren't... so they won.

Fantastic result for Brawn... the team is showing now that it can keep up with a fast-developing field... and will likely still be a force to be reckoned with next season.

 

[Greycap]

Anyway, what happened to Kubica's front wing?? Didn't see that he hit anything on the left side of the car. Possibly from his overtaking with Vettel but I think there were no contact.

He took Webber out on the first lap in the second chicane and damaged the wing.

 

[zed300]

I think LH got the left rear on the astro turf for a little too long.
Kimi picks up another podium, whats that 4 in a row.
Sutil drove really well, Force India has done a great job. Unlucky for Luizzi.
RB needs to beat his teammate by 3 points a race to win. Doesn't seem likely.
Singapore, and Sao Paulo should suit the Red Bull, but that's what they said about Spa.
Fuji may suit as well if it rains which is on the cards with Japan.
Abu Dhabi, well not much chance of rain but a definite unknown.
Congrats to Ruebens.
Jenson to take the championship, is looking very probable. Lets hope it comes down to the final round .

 

[Prince.M5]

He took Webber out on the first lap in the second chicane and damaged the wing.

Well he took Webber out but it's on the right side of the car... The damaged endplate was on the left... That's awed but it must be somewhere...

Anyway, Webber took the chicane really tight!!! Nearly block Kubica, Vettel, Fisichella and Heidfeld and possibly a major pile up behind him...

 

[BMfan]

Ego got the better of him.

You know i agree with you totally,a racing driver pushes the whole race and his ego is way to big for racing.

 

[mipuumal]

Great result for Rubens and Kimi. The championship fight still has some life in it, but with Rubens' possible gearbox troubles coming up it all looks to still be in Jenson's hands.

Why didn't any of the front runners think of a 1 stop? If they did, they probably would be on the podium now.

They did. 17 of the cars were on 1 stop, the only reason the top 3 in quali got there in the first place was because they were on a lighter fuel load.

Fuji may suit as well if it rains which is on the cards with Japan.

The Japanese GP is in Suzuka.

 

[zed300]

Well he took Webber out but it's on the right side of the car... The damaged endplate was on the left... That's awed but it must be somewhere...

...

After the initial contact, MW was then on the left of RK, who was turning left, and the wing touched the left rear of MW car.

The Japanese GP is in Suzuka.

Ha, So it is. I read Fuji and not the next word which is Television.

 

[Prince.M5]

After the initial contact, MW was then on the left of RK, who was turning left, and the wing touched the left rear of MW car.

Yeah after watching the race analysis... I'm curious too that MW's rear wing left endplate got bended... So yeah possibly he hit MW's rear wing...

 

[crazytortise]

You know i agree with you totally,a racing driver pushes the whole race and his ego is way to big for racing.

Instead of sitting comfy in 3rd and secure some well needed points why push and crash like he did. Hard for us to sit here and criticize but surely the he could have thought ok 3rd is good enough for the weekend. But no he didnt and look how it ended. Maybe next time he will remember what the end result was and settle for where he is

Nice to see another South African amoung the forums 👍

 

[sejtur]

Yay, Kimi still got hold of 3rd. Tifosi have at least one thing to smile about.

Bit stupid error by Hamilton, he went too early on the gas while still too much on a kerb in Lesmo 1. Wasn't used to that he makes this kind of errors.

Brawns had the winning strategy, very good thinking by Ross.

 

[Lee]

*Ahem*

Bee's Super Duper Awesome Predictions

1st: Barrichello
2nd: Hamilton
3rd: Button
4th: Vettel
5th: Kovalainen
6th: Raikkonen
7th: Webber
8th: Sutil

Fastest Lap: Hamilton

Pole: Vettel on a stupid fuel load.

Red Bull dissapointed me and Hamilton was on the podium for 52 laps. Otherwise, I don't think I did 'alf bad.

Told ya'll KERS wouldn't be the force people were expecting.

 

[niky]

Instead of sitting comfy in 3rd and secure some well needed points why push and crash like he did. Hard for us to sit here and criticize but surely the he could have thought ok 3rd is good enough for the weekend. But no he didnt and look how it ended. Maybe next time he will remember what the end result was and settle for where he is

Nice to see another South African amoung the forums 👍

If you're not in it to win it, you're not racing.

LH could have sat back and preserved the podium, but:

1. He's not in the championship race, anyway.

and

2. He felt he actually had a chance of catching Button... so he was still in "push" mode at the time.

-

If LH were actually a contender this year, he may have backed off to preserve the place, but he was on a scorcher of a run, reeling off fast lap after fast lap.

If anything, I admire his guts and determination. And the spectacle of that hard push will sit in your head longer than the "safe" drive of Jenson to second on the podium.

Or Kimi... but then, Kimi's having a fantastic back-half to the season. It's nice to see his nearly expressionless face up on the podium again as the season winds down...

Actually, most of the excitement in this race was well behind the front runners... the rubbing, bumping, the trading of positions... the Toyota drivers racing each other raw... ...too bad the STAR telecast only showed snippets of that action, but what was there was kinda fun.

 

[Ardius]

Wow, a great race, action throughout even if it wasn't really much battling on track at the front, it was interesting to watch and at least Toyota put on a show for us.

I felt for Liuzzi who was onto a good result and may well have been with Sutil and Raikkonen at the end of the race.
I also feel for Hamilton because he is no doubt going to be heavily criticised for this race, but its refreshing to see a driver who pushes to the last possible moment. 👍 This is why he was in 3rd at the end of the race and Kovalainen was back in 7th.

Speaking of which, Kovy must surely be in danger of losing his seat now, rubbish performance for no good reason. 👎
Sutil did the opposite, finally proving he can hold it together all weekend and keep his consistencey in a dry race with a competitive car. He worried Ferrari and thats all he needs to do.

Red Bull were already in trouble with their engine situation and still trailing in points, they must surely be considered out of the title running now? Not only do Brawn have some form currently, but they have to battle McLaren, Ferrari and whoever else is strong that paricular weekend. Its all against them anyway.

 

[Greycap]

Speaking of which, Kovy must surely be in danger of losing his seat now, rubbish performance for no good reason. 👎

Lots of fuel in the beginning of the race combined to hard tyres, "bad" is nowhere near to describe the tactic choice and that's the main reason his race went as it went. Another reason why he's no threat for Hamilton is that every time there are new parts for the car there's no guessing who gets them first and then people wonder why Kovalainen can't keep up.

But seriously, I actually would like to see him being kicked out of McLaren. For several reasons.

 

[Ardius]

Even with that consideration, he was still badly off the pace, there is no excuse for that, his race pace is just not good enough. He's still a decent F1 driver but he isn't doing the job for a team like McLaren.

I think he would be a good driver for what was BMW Sauber or for a new team. But he isn't front-running material judging by his performances this year and last year. He did well in the awful Renault in 2007 so he seems to work best making the most of midfield running. He can qualify well but always seems to go backwards in races even with KERS! He gets bullied too easily by other drivers it seems too.
It could be argued he lost the constructors championship for McLaren last year.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Barrichello had the harder tyres at the start with his fuel load. A better car of course but not that much better.

I honestly thought that Kovalainen was going to win this one. Perhaps the pressure got to him.

 

[BMfan]

If you're not in it to win it, you're not racing.

LH could have sat back and preserved the podium, but:

1. He's not in the championship race, anyway.

and

2. He felt he actually had a chance of catching Button... so he was still in "push" mode at the time.

-

If LH were actually a contender this year, he may have backed off to preserve the place, but he was on a scorcher of a run, reeling off fast lap after fast lap.

If anything, I admire his guts and determination.

So true,i am tired of watching racers playing it safe,it's a race not a trackday and if it means their cars break then the teams should make their cars stronger.

 

[Lee]

Kovalainen is pretty much Heidfeld Jr. Really, he'll have a fair amount of time in F1, but won't do much decent with it.

 

[Ardius]

I think thats harsh on Heidfeld actually, at least Quick Nick is consistent and reliable. I wouldn't call Heikki's performace either.

 

[tibiquera]

What a great race, probably the best of the season so far. Also it's good to see that the championship is still open. And for the second year in a row the championship will be decided between an English and a Brazilian driver.

 

[Lee]

I think thats harsh on Heidfeld actually, at least Quick Nick is consistent and reliable. I wouldn't call Heikki's performace either.

Well, you can rely on Kovalainen to muck thing's up I 'spose. I dunno, I just get the feeling he'll fall to a midfield team and remain there for the rest of his career.

 

[sejtur]

*Ahem*



Red Bull dissapointed me and Hamilton was on the podium for 52 laps. Otherwise, I don't think I did 'alf bad.

Told ya'll KERS wouldn't be the force people were expecting.

Good prediction. 👍

I didn't expect brawn to do this good, so where's your glass ball?

 

[daan]

Why didn't any of the front runners think of a 1 stop? If they did, they probably would be on the podium now.

If they had went for 1 stop, they would have needed more fuel, which they have to carry through Q3, so they wouldn't have been in the top 3 on the grid. 💡

2 stops is marginally quicker, but you need to do 53 qual laps, and to not get held up by others on a 1 stop.