Sebastian Vettel continued to build his own legend by winning the Grand Prix of Italy from Monza in dominant fashion again, after being passed by Fernando Alonso before the first turn at the start. Alonso, who had started from 4th place, pulled out a stunning move right off the grid, powering right by Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and pole sitter Vettel on the inside edge of the front straight. But in the end, it was Vettel breezing to yet another slick, professional victory, with Jenson Button also driving a impressive race to get revenge against Alonso, who settled for a podium finish in 3rd.
High Tide for the Red Sea
The Ferrari crowd in the stands lining the front straight witnessed the absolute finest start by any driver in 2011, the launch made by Alonso was that impressive and surely beyond the wildest expectations of the rabid Tifosi in attendance. The first 10 laps were filled with thrilling moments, especially since the Alonso blast off was punctuated by the spectacular crash caused by the last car on the grid, the HRT-Cosworth of Vitantonio Liuzzi. When Liuzzi tried the incredibly dumb move of passing Heikki Kovalainen on the inside in a sea of traffic, he ended up on the grass and went careening into the cars in front of him at the first chicane, completely blindsiding Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov, and taking all 3 racecars right out of the race, bringing out the safety car.
No Quarter
So in a way, the crash ended up a bit of a break for Vettel, since he now would have another shot at the lead, after losing out to Fernando's surprise run to the front. Sebastian was not expecting to see a red Ferrari flash by him at the end of the straight, “The start was not that good, Fernando was suddenly there and I didn't know where he was coming from - it took me a while to see we were three going into Turn 1. I kept second place and then after the restart, I was able to pass Alonso. He didn't give me much room there, but it was just enough, so it was very enjoyable.”
At the press conference, Alonso joked to Vettel that he did not really feel like giving him any room to let him past, since the guy with an over 100 point lead should not be risking a crash by fighting for the lead. It was really nice to see the two drivers showing big grins and great humor about a battle that just took place at over 190 MPH.
Can't Touch Vettel
But for Alonso, to thrill the hometown Ferrari red clad masses was really quite special, even as he realized the speed of Vettel in the RB7 was impossible to deal with, “The start was really a magical moment, like in Barcelona, although we knew this was not our true position and that sooner or later we would have been passed...There was nothing we could do about Vettel, he was much quicker than us and passed me easily. The situation was better up against the McLarens: with the Softs, we could defend well, but on the Mediums they still have a significant advantage and I think that if the race had gone on a few more laps, I would have been off the podium.”
Fernando was well aware of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren in his mirrors as the race laps dwindled. Lewis had quite a mixed day, after starting on the front row and dropping to 4th, he spent quite a few laps battling behind Michael Schumacher for 4th spot. It looked liked Michael may have made 2 moves to block Lewis at one point, which Hamilton pointed out to his team on his radio. But when the Michael/Lewis duet continued later on, Jenson Button pounced on a slide on to the grass by Lewis, after Michael forced him off track.
Button Fights Through
Jenson used the slip up to slice by Hamilton ,and a bit later just flew by Schumi in one of the finer over -taking moves of the race, "It's nice to have fought my way back through to second - but it's frustrating to have had a problem at the start with the clutch, because it cost me dearly ...(later after problems on the restart and getting slowed up by a Webber/Massa incident) I was able to get my head down and passed Lewis and Michael [Schumacher] within the space of about five corners, which was really satisfying. After that, I set about closing down Fernando [Alonso], it was great to be able to secure second because we got some good points for the team.”
McLaren did get some good points, but in the end really, the points don't amount to all that much, since Red Bull is now a full 126 points ahead in the Constructor's title race. Alonso also jumped into second place in the Driver's title run, with 172 points. Mark Webber , who crashed out today, and Jenson Button are now tied for 3rd with 167 points and Hamilton is in 4th with 158 points. Clearly the only battle left in the 2011 Formula One season is the race for second place, which is completely up for grabs. Could be any of the 3 drivers left who have any chance at all of knocking Sebastian off his now customary position on the top step of the podium in any of the remaining races. Vettel has now won 8 races out of 13. If he wins the next race in Singapore he will clinch the title and officially make the race for second the only game in town in 2011 F1.
King of Victory
Vettel has now proved that he will still race like a true champion, every outing another opportunity to carve his name among the legendary drivers in Formula One history. No one involved in the sport has any question that a new legend has arrived and his name is becoming just another name for victory - Vettel.
Italian Grand Prix Results - 11 September 2011 - 53 Laps
POS DRIVER NATIONALITY ENTRANT LAPS TIME/RETIRE
1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 53 1h20m46.172
2. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 53 9.590
3. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari 53 16.909
4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 53 17.417
5. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP 53 32.677
6. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 53 42.993
7. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 52 1 Lap
8. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 52 1 Lap
9. Bruno Senna Brazil Renault 52 1 Lap
10. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 52 1 Lap
11. Pastor Moldonado Venezuela Williams-Cosworth 52 1 Lap
12. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 52 1 Lap
13. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Renault 51 2 Laps
14. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Renault 51 2 Laps
15. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth 51 2 Laps
Daniel Ricciardo Australia HRT-Cosworth 39
R Sergio Perez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 32 Gearbox
R Kamui Kobayashi Japan Sauber-Ferrari 32
R Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 9
R Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 4 Accident
R Jerome d'Ambrosio Belgium Virgin-Cosworth 1
R Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault 0 Accident
R Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP 0 Accident
R Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy HRT-Cosworth 0 Accident
FASTEST LAP:
Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 52 1:26.187
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