Italian Grand Prix: The best man won, in Monza!

It was a bit of an anti-climax, in terms of the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. However, I think one thing became clear today, and that was the difference in quality between the two drivers. In conclusion, I believe that Lewis is the better driver. They are very different racers, but Hamilton has consistently salvaged success from a troubled start, this season, and today was another example of that. He had a poor start, dropping back to fourth, but characteristically fought his way back in to contention. Nico, on the other hand, made not one but two unforced errors, which unquestionably cost him the race win. Many will feel that this result was karma for Rosberg's underhand move in Belgium, but either way Hamilton was the deserving winner.

Most of the action occurred further down the order, much like many of the other races this season. The battle for sixth place, in the closing stages of the Grand Prix, was on fire. It began with the two ex-teammates, Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, in the McLaren and Force India, respectively. They had a breathtaking period of racing, through the beginning of lap forty, in which they were side by side for an unbelievable stretch of the lap. That heated battle drew Daniel Ricciardo in to the fight and he proceeded to dispatch both of them with skill beyond his years. He went on to catch and pass Magnussen and then Vettel, with the same efficiency, albeit on fresher tyres than his team mate. He still deserves a huge amount of credit, for the fashion in which he took the positions.

It is for this stage of the race that Daniel Ricciardo receives my coveted Driver of the Day award. The moves he made on Button, Perez and especially Magnussen were magnificent. The dummy he sold Magnussen in to the second chicane, was very special and stuck in my mind as the move of the race. He made a similar move on Sebastian Vettel and the reigning world champion must have wondered where the hell the Aussie, driving the exact same car as him, had come from. It wasn't a bad race for a team who were supposed to be well off the pace at this high speed circuit.

The biggest moment came on lap fifty-two, when Kimi Raikonnen, closely followed by Kvyat, had caught up to the back of the Button and Perez battle. On the approach to the first chicane Kvyat had some sort of issue with his brakes, whether they were damaged or he just forgot how to use them, and almost ploughed heavily in to the back of the Ferrari. Instead he was able to avoid the impact and hurtled on through the run off area, taking out one of the temporary bollards. He was fine, but his car and his race were effectively ruined, on the penultimate lap.

With the Italian Grand Prix over, the Mercedes rivalry is still very much alive and the gap between Lewis and Nico has shrunk rather than grown. Roll on Singapore, as the season enters its final stages and, despite the Mercedes dominance, an unprecedented climax.


Check out The Italian GP podcast and listen to The F1 Spectator himself.

The Result:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:19:10.236	1	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	53	+3.1 secs	2	18
3	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	53	+25.0 secs	4	15
4	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	53	+40.7 secs	3	12
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	53	+50.3 secs	9	10
6	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	53	+59.9 secs	8	8
7	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	53	+62.5 secs	10	6
8	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+63.0 secs	6	4
9	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+63.5 secs	11	2
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+66.1 secs	5	1
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	53	+71.1 secs	21
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	53	+72.6 secs	13
13	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	53	+73.0 secs	12
14	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	52	+1 Lap	16
15	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	14
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	52	+1 Lap	17
17	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	52	+1 Lap	18
18	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	52	+1 Lap	19
19	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	51	+2 Laps	15
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	51	+2 Laps	22
Ret	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	28	+25 Laps	7
Ret	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	5	Accident	20

Italian Qualifying: tension at the top...

Going in to qualifying, for the Italian Grand Prix, there was a real sense that we wouldn't be watching Mercedes simply attempting to secure the front row of the grid. Rosberg needed to assert himself, after a week of ridicule and scolding, from the media, fans and his team. Hamilton, on the other hand, went in to this weekend needing to prove that he is no push over or quitter. With the point difference between the two Mercedes drivers being so large now, Hamilton needed to display his mental strength. It's fair to say he has done exactly that in Monza, so far.

Hamilton dominated from Q1 and was consistently quicker than Rosberg through all three sessions. Lewis failed to put in a final fast lap and yet Nico was still unable to match his teammate, rival and childhood friend. Many fans will feel that pole position is the least that Hamilton deserves after the underhand move Rosberg made on him at Spa. If he keeps the lead, away from the line and in to the first few corners, Lewis will be nervously looking in his mirrors, for a looming, wild German. Their newly established relationship certainly gives Mercedes' dominance an edge of excitement.

As the session went on, it became clear that Williams are creeping nearer and nearer to Mercedes. Disappointingly, it will be impossible for them to challenge Mercedes, but as we all know, Formula One is regularly about the the next move, the next Grand Prix or the next season. Williams are progressing nicely towards being a serious title contender for 2015. Amazingly, whilst Williams are back near the top, a couple of the big hitters, McLaren and Ferrari, have struggled all season. This time it was Kimi Raikonnen's turn to fall by the wayside, hanging up his boots before the top ten shootout. There seems to be a shift in power and speed, out on the circuit.

The Grid:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:25.363	1:24.560	1:24.109	20
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:25.493	1:24.600	1:24.383	19
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:26.012	1:24.858	1:24.697	16
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:25.528	1:25.046	1:24.865	17
5	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.337	1:25.973	1:25.314	18
6	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:26.328	1:25.630	1:25.379	18
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:26.514	1:25.525	1:25.430	17
8	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:26.631	1:25.769	1:25.436	18
9	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:26.721	1:25.946	1:25.709	17
10	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:26.569	1:25.863	1:25.944	23
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:26.261	1:26.070		16
12	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:26.689	1:26.110		13
13	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:26.140	1:26.157		15
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:26.371	1:26.279		18
15	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:27.034	1:26.588		17
16	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:26.999	1:26.692		17
17	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1:27.520			8
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:27.632			5
19	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	1:27.671			9
20	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	1:27.738			8
21	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	1:28.247			8
22	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	1:28.562			9

Belgian Grand Prix: Foul play in Spa...

I was in no doubt, as Nico Rosberg drove in to Lewis Hamilton and broke his front wing against Lewis' left rear tyre, that the collision was deliberate. Formula One drivers race wheel to wheel, two and three cars abreast, weaving and making split second decisions, and yet Nico was unable to avoid such an avoidable incident. If there was any doubt about Nico's intentions, then they were instantly quashed, after the podium celebrations, when the Executive Director of the Mercedes Formula One Team, Toto Wolff, was interviewed by the BBC. It was clear what his opinion was and the anger was evident in his demeanour. It wasn't only Wolff who made his feelings known on the subject. Niki Lauda, usually a big supporter of Nico Rosberg, was furious with the driver as well and both of them alluded to the fact that Nico is in deep trouble.

I still believe that this isn't the first time Nico has cheated, to help himself or Mercedes. He did it in China, when he spun in the final minute of Q3, on the start/finish straight, preventing anybody from putting in competitive times. He did it in Monaco, in a similar incident, when he feigned incompetence, had a big lock up in the final minute, and wrecking everybody's final fast laps. And now, today, he has done it again by blatantly destroying Hamilton's race. People tip toe around it and defend the German, race after race, but these drivers work to an incomprehensible level of precision and to claim that one of the men fighting for the Championship can make this many 'convenient' errors, implies a level of incompetency that is laughable.

To get back to the fair racing, it appeared that we were going to be treated to another last lap climax, and it came, just not where we expected. It looked like Nico Rosberg would catch up to Daniel Ricciardo just before the end, however Nico was simply unable to close the gap and the Aussie smiler was on the top step again. Ricciardo is becoming a real fan favourite and he takes Red Bull Racing's total win tally up to fifty. The Climactic finish came further down the order, where the battle for fifth was taking place, between Magnussen, Alonso, Button and Vettel. The action through the last three laps, for these four drivers, was the most confusing edge-of-the-seat racing I've ever seen. It would take about fifteen minutes to describe all of the position changes, but essentially Sebastian Vettel ended up at the front of that pack in fifth, whilst Fernando Alonso dropped off at the end with a problem and finished eighth. Driver of the Day is a difficult one this week but I would have to say that I think Vettel's success in that final fifth place battle earns him the accolade.

It was a thrilling race, with a fair amount of controversy and one big story that has been brewing and simmering for the last few months. I predict there will be plenty more twists and turns in the story of Hamilton and Rosberg's rocky relationship, before the end of the season.


Check out The F1 Spectator podcast and listen to The F1 Spectator himself.

The Result:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	44	1:24:36.556	5	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	44	+3.3 secs	1	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	44	+28.0 secs	6	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	44	+36.8 secs	8	12
5	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	44	+52.1 secs	3	10
6	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	44	+54.5 secs	10	8
7	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	44	+61.1 secs	4	6
8	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	44	+64.2 secs	13	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	44	+65.3 secs	11	2
10	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	44	+65.6 secs	18	1
11	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	44	+71.9 secs	12
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	44	+74.2 secs	7
13	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	44	+75.9 secs	9
14	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	44	+82.4 secs	14
15	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	44	+90.8 secs	20
16	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	43	+1 Lap	19
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	43	+1 Lap	22
18	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	39	Gearbox	16
Ret	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	38	Damage	2
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	33	Damage	15
Ret	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1	Exhaust	17
Ret	45	Andre Lotterer	Caterham-Renault	1	Power unit	21