italiangp – The Fastest Sector

Race weekend report

The home of the passionate Tifosi welcomed back Ferrari at Monza, where Ferrari celebrated it’s 75th anniversary of the company car. The team sported a splash of yellow on their livery.

Source: Scuderrifans.com

Once again many drivers were taking grid penalties because of additional components, by the time qualifying had come around we learned that a grand total of nine drivers would take different penalties. Among the larger penalties were Hamilton and Sainz, while Verstappen would only take a five place penalty.

Practice

In FP1, Ferrari got off to a good start, leading the pack with the fastest times set with Leclerc and Sainz, followed by Russell. Hamilton was to take his back of the grid penalty was fourth, while Verstappen was fifth. Nyck De Vries took Sebastian Vettel’s place in FP1 for Aston Martin and found himself in P19, while Antonio Giovinazzi returned to an F1 car for Haas in Mick Schumacher and ended the session in P18.

Carlos Sainz displayed his pace in the second practice session when he finished it ahead of Verstappen and Leclerc. This pace was encouraging as it was a positive sign he could make his way through the field on race day. Norris also impressed with his P4 in front of Russell who was the fastest Mercedes car as Hamilton was P7.

Source: Motorsport.com

On Saturday morning, Williams announced that Alex Albon was to miss the rest of the race weekend as he had been diagnosed with appendicitis. Nyck De Vries, Williams reserve driver replaced him and earned himself P14 in FP3. Verstappen was back on top in the final session ahead of Leclerc and Perez. Mick Schumacher found himself with even more problems- a clutch issue. He barely had running all weekend and was set to take a grid penalty.

Qualifying

With all of the grid penalties applied, qualifying would be very interesting to see where all the drivers landed. Verstappen lead the pack as he set the fastest time in Q1 ahead of both Ferraris. Nyck De Vries impressed again, snatching himself P14 and making it into Q2 and outqualifying his teammate Latifi who was not as fortunate in P16. Also out were the Aston Martin duo who were having a disappointing weekend in 17th and 18th; while the Haas duo were equally as disappointing in 19th and 20th.

Q2 saw Sainz sit at the top of the table ahead of his teammate and both Red Bulls. Both teams only did one run, sitting out the chance to go out again. Rescuing a snap of oversteer on his final flying lap saw DeVries attempts to improve his time hampered, leaving him sitting in P13 at the end of the session. Also following him out of qualifying was Ocon, Bottas (who were both to serve penalties), Zhou and Tsunoda.

The fight for the number one spot was intense. Again Sainz (who had his penalty to serve) would sit at the top of the table ahead of Leclerc and the two Red Bulls after the first set of runs. On his final run, Leclerc went fastest and took pole position at Ferrari’s home GP. The crowd full of tifosi roared in delight in Leclerc’s success. Verstappen was about a tenth behind Leclerc in P2 but would drop to P2 with his penalty. Sainz and Perez who were 3rd and 4th would drop further down for the starting grid.

Starting grid top 10 after all penalties has been applied: Leclerc, Russell, Norris, Ricciardo, Gasly, Alonso, Verstappen, De Vries, Zhou, Latifi

Source: F1chronicle.com

Race Report

It was an Italian Grand Prix like no other this weekend, and as always we saw chaos ensue. Max Verstappen took victory at a race which unfortunately ended under safety car conditions, although it remained exciting throughout. It was Charles Leclerc for Ferrari in second place in front of the adoring home crowd, and George Russell in third place rounding off the podium with Mercedes.

Source: Insidesport.in

While Verstappen had yet another incredible weekend, it was clear to see a different situation for his teammate Sergio Perez, who spent time battling his way up the field, while battling with his own car in the process.

However, it was the exact opposite for Carlos Sainz in the second Ferrari – after starting in eighteenth place, the Spanish driver showed his skill fighting for position, finishing the race in an entirely deserved fourth place. Lewis Hamilton remained on Sainz’s heels all day, finishing in fifth place after starting nineteenth (both starting positions a result of power unit penalties).

We can’t talk about Monza without recognising one of the most incredible achievements of the weekend – Nyck De Vries, who had no idea he would be racing a Formula One car this weekend, stepping in at the last moment for Alex Albon, and scoring points on debut. It was an incredible sight to see and well deserving of the Driver of the Day award. Nicholas Latifi in the second Williams car finished in fifteenth place.

Another good day for McLaren’s Lando Norris saw the British driver finish in seventh place, despite an awful start which caused him to lose places. Unfortunately it was a DNF for Daniel Ricciardo in the second McLaren, who brought out the late safety car at the end of the race.

It was wonderful to see Pierre Gasly back in the points at the track in which he took his first win, in what has been a difficult season for the French driver. We can only hope that we see him back up there a few more times this year. His teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, finished in fourteenth place, and I’m sure Alpha Tauri will be happy to leave their home race with points.

It was, however, strange to see the Alpine team without a points finish this weekend, particularly since they have been so strong this season. It was an eleventh place finish for Esteban Ocon, but teammate Fernando Alonso retired from the race before the end, meaning the French team leave Italy points-less.

Source: Sportskeeda.com

Another unfortunate event this weekend saw Sebastian Vettel out of the race early on due to an issue with the car. In what could well be Seb’s last visit to Monza, it was heartbreaking not to see the German driver make it to the finish at the track where he took his first win. His teammate, Lance Stroll, also retired from the race, resulting in a bad day all round for Aston Martin.

A three week break for the F1 community is here and now we wait for Singapore where Verstappen has the opportunity to seal the deal and win the title.

Make sure to keep an eye on the blog and our social media for more news and updates!

For this week’s Flashback Friday we take a look at Monza, Ferrari and Michael Schumacher in 2006, what some might call a mighty mix.

We remember some popular names on the grid at the time, Heidfield, Fisichella, Barrichello etc. Racing in Monza was one of the most exciting times of the season (as it still is now!) Back in the day, the bottom six teams from the 2005 constructors championship and Super Aguri could run a third car in free practice but these cars could not run in qualifying or the race. (This included drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Anthony Davidson)

Qualifying

In Q1 the following drivers were eliminated: Yamamoto, Sato, Webber (who was driving for Williams-Cosworth at the time), Albers and Liuzzi. In Q2, the familiar names of Nico Rosberg, Ralf Schumacher, David Coulthard accompanied Trulli, Klien and Speed out of the second stage of qualifying. An intense battle for pole with Schumacher and Raikkonen took centre stage at the end of Q3, with the future 2007 world champion pipping the seven time world champion to the top spot at Ferrari’s home circuit. Heidfield, Massa, Button, Kubica, De la Rosa, Barrichello, Fisichella and Alonso completed the top 10. Alonso had qualified in 5th place but was later penalised for impeding Massa which then brought him down to 10th.

Race

On September 10, 2006, 53 laps of racing awaited the 22 drivers on the grid in the sunny weather of Italy. Kimi Raikkonen would lead the other 21 drivers off the grid for an exciting afternoon.

Raikkonen got a good start, pulling away from Schumacher and Heidfield who were battling for second place. Alonso had gained places, moving up the field to sixth. The leading two cars of Raikkonen and Schumacher had built a gap between themselves and the rest of the pack. Rosberg had power issues with his car, with the German ending his race earlier than the rest for the fourth time in a row.

By the time pit windows were open the teams had formed their strategies based on what they believed would beat their opponent, and Ferrari got it right. Raikkonen went into the pits two laps before Schumacher, who, in that time had picked up the pace to give him enough time to come out ahead of the McLaren. During the pitstops for the top two, Kubica lead the race, coming in at a later stage.

Schumacher and Raikkonen had very similar paces and the leading car could not build up a significant gap. Even after the second round of pitstops, things did not change; although, Raikkonen allowed for a little gap to form to preserve his tyres.

An engine failure on lap 44 meant Alonso lost the last spot on the podium. This caused an issue for Massa who, from this incident locked up, went wide and had to change tyres in the pit. This ultimately handed Kubica third place for his first ever podium.

Credit: Motorsportmagazine.com

Schumacher crossed the line for his 90th win and for Ferrari’s 190th win, followed by Raikkonen and Kubica. It was during his victory lap that Schumacher announced he would retire at the end of the season, leaving the F1 community with a very bitter-sweet feeling. Nevertheless, with three races to go, Schumacher would battle it out with Alonso for the title of driver’s champion 2006.

We hope you enjoyed this week’s #FlashbackFriday. Make sure you like and share it with others so they can relive such sweet memories. Also, don’t forget to follow all of our social media and tag us when you share your predictions!