Fernando Alonso admits he was hard on Sebastian Vettel in their Monza dice
Fernando Alonso admitted he was particularly hard on Sebastian Vettel when the runaway points leader was attacking him in the opening stages of the Italian Grand Prix as he felt Vettel would not want to risk too much given his position in the standings.
Alonso had taken the race lead at the start, but was only able to hang on for just over a lap following the early restart before Vettel got through. The Red Bull ended up partially on the grass at Curva Grande at one point as Alonso tried to maintain his place.
«We have nothing to lose in the battles with Sebastian,» said Alonso, who ultimately finished third. «He is leading the championship by 100 points so when we have to defend we will be a little bit harder with him.»
The start had seen Alonso move from fourth to first, taking to the grass as he went three-abreast with Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.
«We have been doing some good starts in last couple of grands prix but when starting fifth or sixth there was not enough room to overtake,» Alonso said. «Here in Monza we knew if the car was in the same feeling of good starts then we have enough space and enough of a run to the first corner to overtake people.»
Vettel edges closer with Monza win
Sebastian Vettel now has an iron-like grip on his second Formula One world title following his eighth victory of an emphatic season.
Vettel took the chequered flag at the Italian Grand Prix by almost 10 seconds to McLaren’s Jenson Button, who was forced to settle for second at Monza for the third consecutive year.
With Vettel’s Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber crashing out, the 24-year-old has a 112-point cushion in the championship over his nearest challenger, now Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso after he claimed the final podium place half a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
It means in F1 history only two drivers have scored more wins in a season – Michael Schumacher, whose record of 13 may be challenged, and Nigel Mansell.
On a track where Red Bull were not supposed to be strong, this was a crushing victory, rendering the title race a battle between the also-rans.
Vettel edges closer with Monza win
Behind Alonso, Button and Webber are now 117 points adrift, whilst Hamilton is 126 off the pace, and there is now every chance Vettel could wrap up back-to-back crowns in Singapore in two weeks’ time.
For the main part, it was at least another captivating race, with the start one of the most enjoyable this season, primarily due to a first-corner accident that wiped out three cars.
To the roars of approval from the ‘tifosi’ in the packed grandstand along the main straight, and from fourth on the grid, Alonso made a perfect getaway.
Three abreast with Vettel and Hamilton on the long run down to the first chicane, the double world champion passed both on the inside to claim the lead.
Behind the leaders, though, chaos ensued, with the architect the unlikely figure of Hispania Racing’s Vitantonio Liuzzi.
The Italian, starting from the back of the grid, managed to put a wheel on the grass around 200 metres from the opening chicane.
Unable to control his momentum, Liuzzi ploughed into Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg in the middle of the pack snaking its way through the initial two turns.
The damage to all three cars forced them into immediate retirement, and with it the deployment of the safety car.
By the end of the first lap the field had been reduced to 19 cars as the second Hispania of Daniel Ricciardo and Virgin Racing’s Jerome D’Ambrosio exited with technical issues.
Sebastian Vettel on pole for Italian GP
Sebastian Vettel made it 10 poles for the season as he continues to close in on Nigel Mansell’s Formula One record.
On a circuit supposed to be Red Bull’s worst over the closing seven races of a one-sided campaign, the reigning champion smashed his rivals to grab top spot on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix.
Vettel blitzed the Monza track with a time of one minute 22.275secs to finish a full half second clear of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton who lines up second for the fourth consecutive race.
The German is now just four short of Mansell’s mark of 14 set in 1992, cementing Red Bull’s unblemished record of claiming pole in every race this season.
In his career, Vettel now has 25 poles, eighth in F1 history, with only Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Jim Clark, Alain Prost, Mansell, Juan Manuel Fangio and Mika Hakkinen ahead of him.
Behind the front row, Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate Jenson Button lines up third alongside the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, with Mark Webber fifth and a staggering 0.7secs adrift of team-mate Vettel.
Felipe Massa starts sixth in his Ferrari, followed by the Renault of Vitaly Petrov and Mercedes duo Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.
Bruno Senna scraped into the top 10 with a stunning lap at the end of Q2, however, did not venture out in the last 10 minutes.
Paul di Resta was the unlucky recipient of Senna’s flying lap, the Force India driver missing out on a place in the top 10 by a mere 0.006secs.
At least the Scot had the satisfaction of finishing ahead of team-mate Adrian Sutil, with the duo lining up 11th and 12th, the margin between them just 0.046secs.
The Williams pair of Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado start 13th and 14th, the latter doing well to even make it into Q2.
The Venezuelan was involved in the only incident of the session as he hit a barrier coming out of Parabolica, swiping off his front wing.
Maldonado was fortunate the accident occurred close to the entry of the pitlane, and that he ended up facing in the right direction after his spin.
It enabled his team to work quickly on fitting a new nose and tyres and sending him back out again in time to get through Q1.
The Sauber duo of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi start 15th and 17th, sandwiching Sebastien Buemi in his Toro Rosso in 16th.
On a power circuit such as Monza, the bottom seven to drop out in the wake of the opening 20-minute Q1 were no surprise.
Jaime Alguersuari lost out to team-mate Buemi by 0.170secs and will start 18th, with Lotus duo Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen behind him, the Italian almost half-a-second clear of the Finn.
Virgin pair Timo Glock and Jerome D’Ambrosio occupy the 11th row of the grid in 21st and 22nd places, the former 0.4secs off Kovalainen and only 0.018secs ahead of his team-mate.
Despite a troubled weekend so far, Daniel Ricciardo at least out-qualified more experienced partner Vitantonio Liuzzi, with the duo 23rd and 24th.
«I didn’t expect to be on pole by that big a margin on a track that in the last two years has not suited us,» said Vettel.
«As you can imagine I’m very happy, also that we have quite a racy approach. The balance is good and the car is great.
«We’ve been working hard as we’ve known this is not the best track for us when it’s dry.
«All in all I’m very pleased with the result. I got everything out of the car.»
Hamilton dismissed suggestions this was a pole that got away as he said: «I don’t think so. I didn’t have a half a second in the bag.
«It’s a great step Jenson and I are up there, but Sebastian was mega quick, with his last lap untouchable.»
As for Button, he said: «I totally agree with Lewis. Even if we had got a bit more out of the car, we didn’t have enough to challenge Seb.
«Fortunately, it’s not so important to be on pole here as we have DRS (drag reduction system) to aid overtaking.»