2010 Italian Grand Prix - Forza Ferrari Rule At Monza

On his maiden outing driving for Ferrari at the Italian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso breathed new life into his faltering championship bid with a faultless drive to victory at Monza infront of a passionate Tifosi.  Alonso’s success was the first for the Italian team on home soil since Michael Schumacher’s triumph in 2006 and threw open the world championship title battle once again.  Just one win covers five drivers as the F1 circus leaves Europe for another season.

After a stunning lap on Saturday afternoon which seized pole position, Alonso was always going to be the favourite to win at Monza, but he made heavy weather of it with a poor start.  This allowed world champion Jenson Button, who started on the front row with Alonso, and badly needing a result himself to stay in the championship hunt to overhaul the Spaniard on the run down to the tricky first chicane.  Alonso tapped Button’s rear end on the exit of the first chicane, damaging the McLaren’s diffuser and compromising the Brit’s handling for the rest of the afternoon.  Just behind them, a frustrated Lewis Hamilton stuck his left-front wheel into trouble at the second chicane, and tagged the rear of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari.  The damage was enough to break the steering arm on Hamilton’s McLaren and send the incumbent world championship leader into the gravel at the Lesmos and out of the race on the first lap.  This rare error of judgement by Hamilton could well cost him the shot at a second world championship.

Although Massa kept the front two honest all afternoon, the scrap for the race victory was between previous championship outsiders Button and Alonso.  The McLaren had more downforce on its car, meaning it was mighty under braking and consequently, nullifying the advantage that the Ferrari had down the long straights with its lower-wing spec.  It was going to take the pitstops to change the order and it did, with Button coming in first on Lap 35.  Alonso put the pedal down, put in a red-hot lap, dived into the pits and managed to jump Jenson in the pits.  The rest is history. 

Behind Massa, Nico Rosberg had another strong afternoon for Mercedes and looked set for a surprising 4^th spot.  However, despite early engine woes and a scruffy first lap, Sebastian Vettel made a very long first stint work and by pitting for the required option rubber with just two laps to go, the German leaped up from 7^th to 4^th in the final classification order.  Rosberg was 5^th, whilst Mark Webber may have regained the championship lead from Hamilton, but the Aussie will be frustrated at having not taken full advantage of Hamilton’s gift.  For the second successive race, Webber was too cautious at the start, and got relegated to 9^th place from 4^th on the grid.  He managed to drive aggressively and fightback past Michael Schumacher, Robert Kubica and after a tense scrap, Williams rookie Nico Hulkenberg.  Sixth place at least earned him some valuable points, but Webber’s expression at the end of the race told its own story.

Hulkenberg recorded an impressive 7^th place finish, though some of his defensive tactics were robust against Webber, including cutting chicanes on at least three occasions.  Kubica was a disappointing 8^th, as the Renault team failed to build on their impressive Spa form with the f-duct.  However, the Pole managed to maximise all he could from his car yet again.  Schumacher was a lonely 9^th and the final championship point went to the second Williams of Rubens Barrichello, which helped the Grove’s team fight with Force India for sixth in the constructors championship. 

There are five flyaway races remaining, with the final journey beginning under the lights in Singapore, in just two weeks time.  With just twenty-four points covering Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Button and Vettel, it is anyone’s title up for grabs.  However, any more errors from any of the contenders, and it could well be the final curtain for 2010.  This championship is getting to the squeeze-your-bum time!