Fastest in qualifying and ultimately fastest on the track, the Ferrari driver chased McLaren’s Jenson Button for the first half of the race, then took the lead with an amazingly fast 3.3-second pit stop. McLaren’s relatively leisurely 4.2 second stop, left Button second.
Once in front, Alonso opened a gap of three seconds by the end of the race. Button finished second, and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa finished third.
[This is] something only we can compare with the feeling I had in 2006 winning in Barcelona my home Grand Prix,” Alonso told the post-race press conference. “It was a very special moment, that one, and this is a very special moment this one as well.
“The team did a fantastic job again with a fantastic pit stop and thanks to them we are sitting here. We made the overtake in the garage.”
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton ruined his race with some reckless driving on the first lap.
Then Hamilton, overeager, tried to squeeze inside Massa at the Variante della Roggia chicane, ramming the Ferrari with the his right front wheel, terminally damaging the suspension.
When asked if the incident was his fault, Hamilton responded, “Absolutely.
“It’s one of those days. Just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I got a good start—I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Hamilton had held the points lead coming into the race. His bad judgment dropped him to second, five points behind Red Bull’s Mark Webber.
Technology played its part in Alonso’s win. Ferrari opted not to run its F-ducts at Monza, and the red cars were fastest through the high-speed portions of the track. McLaren split their options, running the F-duct on Button’s car but not on Hamilton’s. Button’s car, with its greater downforce, was the fastest on the course by dint of great pace through the tighter middle sector—at least on the softer tires.
After the pit stop, Button had one chance to retake the lead, when Alonso rejoined just inches if front of the McLaren, but on the hard tires, Button didn’t have enough grip to make the pass. Finally, McLaren told Button to back off his engine settings, to save the car and save second place, realizing they had no chance at the lead.
Button told the post-race press conference, “When I exited the pits I had very little grip on the prime tire. Lots of shuddering, which means the tire isn’t working, so a little bit disappointing to find myself in that position and have Fernando coming out of the pits in front.”
Vettel’s Mystery Engine Ailment
After World Motor Sports Council decided not to penalize Ferrari for ordering Massa to let Alonso by at Spa, Red Bull team principle Christian Horner said he might issue team orders.
On Lap 21 with Vettel ahead of Webber but slower, Vettel suddenly radioed, “Problem with the engine, problem with the engine—engine dying on me.” Vettel slowed abruptly, letting Webber by, and then went on to set his personal fastest lap of the race.
Team orders? Vettel went on to finish fourth two spots ahead of Webber—apparently his engine problems made him faster.
Hulkenberg Balks Webber
Both Red Bulls made bad starts, but ran well enough in the race, though never as fast as the leaders. Webber lost one spot when he pitted on Lap 36, but immediately attacked Renault’s Robert Kubica for seventh. The pair sparred for a few turns before the Red Bull driver got by and went after Williams’s Nico Hulkenberg.
Hulkenberg was a much harder prospect, once cutting the chicane to stay ahead of Webber. For some reason, the race stewards refused to tell Hulkenberg to give up the spot, though defending a position by cutting the chicane is expressly forbidden.
Webber complained to his team, who spoke with Williams and with the stewards, but got no satisfaction. Meanwhile Hulkenberg was swerving across the track blocking Webber, obviously holding up the faster Red Bull.
Finally on Lap 49, Webber forced his way by, but he had lost a dozen laps by then, and had also lost his chance to catch Rosberg or Vettel, who had opened a greater than 20-second lead over the Mercedes driver.
Vettel, despite his “dying” engine, drove a fine race, lasting until the final lap on the soft tires. Vettel had enough of a gap of Rosberg that he pitted on the last lap and rejoined the race still in fourth place.
Webber Takes Points Lead
Red Bull’s Mark Webber moved into the championship lead with 187 points, leading Lewis Hamilton by 5 points. Fernando Alonso is now third with 166 points, one ahead of Jenson Button and three ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
With five races left, any of the top five have a real shot at the championship, but it would take some pretty fantastic series of wins and retirements for Alonso, Button, or Vettel to catch Webber or Hamilton.
But, as Monza showed, odd things can happen. If Button’s contact with Alonso had been a bit harder, if Hamilton had been more patient, or if Hulkenberg had been ordered to let Webber by, the final results could have been very different.
Formula 1 heads east next, for the Singapore Grand Prix, on September 26, 2010. Ticket and travel packages are available through the Formula1.com Tickets and Travel web page.
