F1 Monza Race

Flawless Barrichello takes the Italian Grand Prix

A thrilling Italian Grand Prix saw Rubens Barrichello take his second victory of the season from Brawn Mercedes team-mate Jenson Button after making best of a one stop strategy to edge ahead of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton with his two stop strategy. The cat and mouse game continued throughout much of the race with the Brazilian veteran eventually taking the position, leaving Hamilton to chase down Button before the defending champion crashed out on the very final lap.

The start saw Hamilton quickly establish a lead at the front of the field but the McLaren star was only able to pull out 17 seconds on the one stopping – fourth placed - Barrichello by his first stop. Barrichello made best of his lightening fuel load following Hamilton’s stop to extend his advantage and that was enough to ensure he took the lead once he made his one and only pitstop and Hamilton took his second.

It was a flawless drive from Barrichello as he took the chequered flag ahead of championship leader and Brawn team-mate Button by three seconds, but it was the battle for second that dominated the closing stages of the race.

Button had the pace to stay with race leader Barrichello but had Hamilton closing fast behind. The final laps saw Hamilton pushing hard to get close to the rear of the Brawn but the final lap saw him run a little wide through the first Lesmo. The McLaren snapped right and crashed heavily into the retaining tyre wall on the inside. Hamilton, set for third, was finally classified in 12th.

Barrichello’s win closes the gap in the championship to Button down to 14 points with four races remaining while Red Bull Renault drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber are now effectively out of the championship running .

Kimi Raikkonen took third in his Ferrari as he picked up the final podium position courtesy of Hamilton’s demise. The Ferrari driver made a good start from third on the grid to pass Adrian Sutil’s Force India Mercedes. He was unable to run at Hamilton’s pace at the front however and while he was able to fend off Sutil, he lost position to both Brawn racer’s with his two stop strategy.

Sutil challenged Raikkonen throughout the race but was never able to get close enough to challenge for the position. The German racer finished in fourth position, just four-tenths of a second behind Raikkonen and in doing so records his - fully deserved - first points of the season.

Fernando Alonso made best of Renault KERS at the start and the errors of Heikki Kovalainen to finish fifth ahead of the second McLaren driver.
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Kovalainen started in fourth position but the first lap saw him passed first by Barrichello and Button mid-lap and then Alonso. Significantly, he was unable to replicate the form of Barrichello on a similar strategy and sixth position was a disappointing result.

While McLaren will be frustrated with Kovalainen’s opening stint, they will also be unhappy to see Hamilton crash out whilst running third. The consolation for the Woking-based team is that at least the British racer was giving it his all – something the conservative Kovalainen seems unable to replicate in race conditions.

Nick Heidfeld took advantage of an error from Sebastian Vettel to claim seventh position in his BMW Sauber while team-mate Robert Kubica was an early retirement with an oil leak on his F1.09. For Red Bull Renault, the race started badly with Mark Webber and Kubica getting together at the second chicane forcing Webber into retirement. Vettel looked set to hold off Heidfeld in the closing stages before running wide at the second Lesmo and dropping behind. Vettel is now 26 points behind Button and all but out of the championship running.

Giancarlo Fisichella had a low key debut with Ferrari to finish in ninth ahead of Kazuki Nakajima in the leading Williams Toyota. Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and Nakajima all battled hard in the closing stages before the Toyota duo got a little too close with Trulli taking an off-track excursion and dropping behind Sebastien Buemi at the chequered flag. Romain Grosjean and Nico Rosberg brought up the rear for Renault and Williams.

There were four retirements other than Hamilton’s last lap incident with Webber and Kubica early victims. Alguersuari ran at the back in the second Toro Rosso after starting from the pit lane before retiring, but Tonio Liuzzi made a strong impression on his return to the sport as he ran as high as fourth before a gearbox problem saw the Force India stop on circuit.

The action resumes under the artificial lights in Singapore and it seems we now have a straight Brawn-battle for championship honours.

Earl ALEXANDER
© CAPSIS International

Fastest lap: Another first for Sutil

It may not be the podium finish he was after, but Adrian Sutil still wrote his name in the F1 record books by claiming his maiden fastest lap during the Italian Grand Prix.

The German snatched the fastest lap away from Kimi Raikkonen on lap 36, the same lap on which the Finn posted his best time. Sutil's time of 1:24.739 was just two-hundredths of a second quicker than that of the man who he chased most of the afternoon.

Lewis Hamilton, who crashed out of the race on the final lap was third fastest with 1:24.802, meaning the top three quickest men around Monza were those who were on two-stop strategies.

They were followed by the Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. Both drivers posted their best times in the closing stages of the race.

Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was only sixth quickest with a 1:25.109 while Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel followed him in seventh place.

Times

01 A. Sutil Force India 1:24.739
02 K. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:24.761
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:24.802
04 J. Button Brawn GP 1:24.935
05 R. Barrichello Brawn GP 1:24.967
06 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:25.109
07 S. Vettel Red Bull 1:25.194
08 F. Alonso Renault 1:25.199
09 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:25.488
10 G. Fisichella Ferrari 1:25.498
11 S. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:25.564
12 R. Grosjean Renault 1:25.609
13 J. Trulli Toyota 1:25.700
14 T. Glock Toyota 1:25.751
15 N. Rosberg Williams 1:25.901
16 K. Nakajima Williams 1:25.976
17 V. Liuzzi Force India 1:26.041
18 R. Kubica BMW 1:27.819
19 J. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:27.846
20 M. Webber Red Bull - no time


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