SS454
12th September 2021, 22:58
The always anticipated Italian Grand Prix lost much of it's excitement when it was realized that it was a Sprint Race weekend. How anyone can think the Sprint Race is as exciting as the normal qualifying which is awards pole to the far more deserving driver. Whether you love it or hate it, it is likely here to stay as Ross Brawn made comments about being happy with the TV views that come on Sprint Race weekends. Corporate mentality - listen to what a piece of paper tells you.
McLaren had a dream weekend. They were fast in Friday's "qualifying" and showed their great starts and ability to hold position once ahead of their competitors in the sprint race. What we learned in the sprint race showed again in the Grand Prix, once ahead they were able to stay ahead with the powerful Mercedes engine. They certainly didn't have the fastest car, but track position was key, and the drivers and team made no mistakes. It's heart warming to see Ricciardo finally have a result this season, and who would have thought it'd be a win. Lando a deserving 2nd place and very mature for him to fully enjoy the team's celebrations with a magical 1-2 finish. Huge points day in their fight with Ferrari too.
Mercedes probably could have won the race. Hamilton in Saturday's practice hit 331 kph with no DRS and no tow, so the Mercedes did have top end speed and all the power necessary if they used their deployment right. Unfortunately the McLaren's have the same engine and can defend extremely well. Hamilton really didn't have a great weekend, his own mistakes in the sprint race and in the grand prix probably cost him a victory. I'll make a separate comment about the crash at the end. Bottas was the fastest guy all weekend and he showed his car was strong enough to make passes, sometimes very easily. Once he got near the McLaren's and Perez, his progress stalled. Plus he probably chose not to take a risk passing Perez given he was assured a podium with Perez getting a penalty. Great drive from him.
Ferrari couldn't have asked for more. It is well known their achilles heal is their Power Unit and on a track like Monza, it takes away most of their offense. Ferrari did something right and shocked a lot of people with their pace as they were able to stay in sight of McLaren. To be fair, if Verstappen and Hamilton finished as they should have, and if Gasly was in his usual position, Ferrari could have easily finished 9th and 10th. So a 4-6 result is a great great result.
Red Bull had a lot more race pace than they did single lap pace. In Friday's qualifying they looked genuinely slow. It appeared they brought the slimmest rear wing of any team which might have been a good strategy. Perez was sacrificed to give Max a tow every time which was critical to Max's starting position. Perez was having a solid race but threw it away by cutting a chicane while passing the Ferrari. It looked clear to everyone that he should have gave the position back and completely deserved the 5 second penalty which resulted in being demoted 2 places. It would have been interesting to see if Verstappen could have challenged for win. An uncharacteristic pitstop disaster was the beginning of the end for him.
Aston Martin had a strong result with Stroll finishing 7th but it should be said Stroll's pass on his teammate Vettel was awful. Not only did he contact Vettel which damaged his front wing, but it also immediately cost Vettel 4 places. His 7th place finish should be somewhat bitter sweet.
Alpine didn't seem to be anywhere this weekend. Points were going to be difficult and it was, so Alonso finishing 8th has be satisfying. Ocon's slight contact on Vettel was a bit unfair and should be noted by the Stewards, but I don't think it deserved a penalty. Neither driver really gained or lost anything from it and both were able to continue to fight on.
Williams had a solid afternoon. The Mercedes engine was easily the strongest and that certainly helped Williams. Surprisingly they weren't all that fast in Friday's qualifying, and George Russell honestly is never that impressive in the races. Latifi did an amazing job for the first half of the race, and it is unclear how Russell ended up ahead of him. Credit to be in a position to scoop up good points. 8th place is now likely completely out of reach for Alfa Romeo and Haas at this point.
Alfa Romeo may have wasted an opportunity, but scoring points would have been very difficult. Giovinazzi has been driving extremely well to save his job in F1. Unfortunately his own mistake caused the crash that dropped to the back of the grid. I again felt it didn't warrant a penalty. There was no real damage to Sainz and Giovinazzi already paid an enormous price by crashing. Taking a 5 second penalty was unnecessary salt on the wound. All things considering, I think Kubica drove a good race.
Haas spent most of the day literally tripping over each other. Mazepin actually looked to be the faster driver overall, but the tension between teammates keeps building as he clipped Schumacher which resulted in a penalty. He locked up and drove through some foam and then had to retire with some sort of mechanical failure. The feud for last place is actually somewhat entertaining.
AphaTauri had a nightmare of a weekend. The sillyness of the Sprint Race cost Gasly his usual 6th place starting position. Very shocked that the team couldn't fix the car properly and Gasly reportedly couldn't drive the car. A shame that Tsunoda didn't even start the race due to a brake fluid leak. It's a team sport, but the AphaTauri team didn't come through in Italy, which is a huge race for them.
Verstappen - Hamilton CRASH: Who's at fault? Originally I thought Max Verstappen was at fault. He was pushing around the outside and wasn't moving and it looked like he shoved his nose in a spot where there was no room. Upon watching the replays it was clear that Lewis Hamilton was not going to give any room, instead he was pushing his car right to the white line and beyond, regardless if Max was there or not. Martin Brundle and Paul Di Resta felt Max was in the right and in fact Lewis was in the wrong, while Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert went as far as to claim Max forced a crash on purpose. The truth is Max went for a pass around the outside where the gap was there, this is 100% okay and should be encouraged as we like to see racing. Max absolutely had the option to bail out and cut through the chicane, but he made the choice to hold position and let Lewis dictate if there was to be contact or not. Lewis Hamilton 100% was ahead going into turn 1, and in turn 2 but that doesn't default the right that he gets the racing line when a car is right along side him. Lewis made the choice to squeeze Max and caused the collision. Each driver made a choice that caused the collision, and each driver could have made a choice to avoid the collision. This defines 50/50 blame and was a racing incident. No penalty ever should have been passed out for this incident. A 3 place grid penalty is appointing blame to Max which is frankly unjustified.
Driver of the Day: Valtteri Bottas. Normally I don't give a lot of credit for when a driver in the best car works his way up from the back of the grid, but Bottas really was the best driver all weekend. Monza proved to be a difficult track to pass on and he pretty much was the only driver to really advance. He had the confidence to shoot for a podium and regardless of circumstances, he got it. Ricciardo would be the other candidate, but his one and only move of the race was the start. Once he got through turn 2 in the lead, all he had to do was control the pace. He did that perfectly, but never had any fights to defend his position. His biggest challenge took themselves out of the race. With that, Bottas deserves DOTD.
McLaren had a dream weekend. They were fast in Friday's "qualifying" and showed their great starts and ability to hold position once ahead of their competitors in the sprint race. What we learned in the sprint race showed again in the Grand Prix, once ahead they were able to stay ahead with the powerful Mercedes engine. They certainly didn't have the fastest car, but track position was key, and the drivers and team made no mistakes. It's heart warming to see Ricciardo finally have a result this season, and who would have thought it'd be a win. Lando a deserving 2nd place and very mature for him to fully enjoy the team's celebrations with a magical 1-2 finish. Huge points day in their fight with Ferrari too.
Mercedes probably could have won the race. Hamilton in Saturday's practice hit 331 kph with no DRS and no tow, so the Mercedes did have top end speed and all the power necessary if they used their deployment right. Unfortunately the McLaren's have the same engine and can defend extremely well. Hamilton really didn't have a great weekend, his own mistakes in the sprint race and in the grand prix probably cost him a victory. I'll make a separate comment about the crash at the end. Bottas was the fastest guy all weekend and he showed his car was strong enough to make passes, sometimes very easily. Once he got near the McLaren's and Perez, his progress stalled. Plus he probably chose not to take a risk passing Perez given he was assured a podium with Perez getting a penalty. Great drive from him.
Ferrari couldn't have asked for more. It is well known their achilles heal is their Power Unit and on a track like Monza, it takes away most of their offense. Ferrari did something right and shocked a lot of people with their pace as they were able to stay in sight of McLaren. To be fair, if Verstappen and Hamilton finished as they should have, and if Gasly was in his usual position, Ferrari could have easily finished 9th and 10th. So a 4-6 result is a great great result.
Red Bull had a lot more race pace than they did single lap pace. In Friday's qualifying they looked genuinely slow. It appeared they brought the slimmest rear wing of any team which might have been a good strategy. Perez was sacrificed to give Max a tow every time which was critical to Max's starting position. Perez was having a solid race but threw it away by cutting a chicane while passing the Ferrari. It looked clear to everyone that he should have gave the position back and completely deserved the 5 second penalty which resulted in being demoted 2 places. It would have been interesting to see if Verstappen could have challenged for win. An uncharacteristic pitstop disaster was the beginning of the end for him.
Aston Martin had a strong result with Stroll finishing 7th but it should be said Stroll's pass on his teammate Vettel was awful. Not only did he contact Vettel which damaged his front wing, but it also immediately cost Vettel 4 places. His 7th place finish should be somewhat bitter sweet.
Alpine didn't seem to be anywhere this weekend. Points were going to be difficult and it was, so Alonso finishing 8th has be satisfying. Ocon's slight contact on Vettel was a bit unfair and should be noted by the Stewards, but I don't think it deserved a penalty. Neither driver really gained or lost anything from it and both were able to continue to fight on.
Williams had a solid afternoon. The Mercedes engine was easily the strongest and that certainly helped Williams. Surprisingly they weren't all that fast in Friday's qualifying, and George Russell honestly is never that impressive in the races. Latifi did an amazing job for the first half of the race, and it is unclear how Russell ended up ahead of him. Credit to be in a position to scoop up good points. 8th place is now likely completely out of reach for Alfa Romeo and Haas at this point.
Alfa Romeo may have wasted an opportunity, but scoring points would have been very difficult. Giovinazzi has been driving extremely well to save his job in F1. Unfortunately his own mistake caused the crash that dropped to the back of the grid. I again felt it didn't warrant a penalty. There was no real damage to Sainz and Giovinazzi already paid an enormous price by crashing. Taking a 5 second penalty was unnecessary salt on the wound. All things considering, I think Kubica drove a good race.
Haas spent most of the day literally tripping over each other. Mazepin actually looked to be the faster driver overall, but the tension between teammates keeps building as he clipped Schumacher which resulted in a penalty. He locked up and drove through some foam and then had to retire with some sort of mechanical failure. The feud for last place is actually somewhat entertaining.
AphaTauri had a nightmare of a weekend. The sillyness of the Sprint Race cost Gasly his usual 6th place starting position. Very shocked that the team couldn't fix the car properly and Gasly reportedly couldn't drive the car. A shame that Tsunoda didn't even start the race due to a brake fluid leak. It's a team sport, but the AphaTauri team didn't come through in Italy, which is a huge race for them.
Verstappen - Hamilton CRASH: Who's at fault? Originally I thought Max Verstappen was at fault. He was pushing around the outside and wasn't moving and it looked like he shoved his nose in a spot where there was no room. Upon watching the replays it was clear that Lewis Hamilton was not going to give any room, instead he was pushing his car right to the white line and beyond, regardless if Max was there or not. Martin Brundle and Paul Di Resta felt Max was in the right and in fact Lewis was in the wrong, while Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert went as far as to claim Max forced a crash on purpose. The truth is Max went for a pass around the outside where the gap was there, this is 100% okay and should be encouraged as we like to see racing. Max absolutely had the option to bail out and cut through the chicane, but he made the choice to hold position and let Lewis dictate if there was to be contact or not. Lewis Hamilton 100% was ahead going into turn 1, and in turn 2 but that doesn't default the right that he gets the racing line when a car is right along side him. Lewis made the choice to squeeze Max and caused the collision. Each driver made a choice that caused the collision, and each driver could have made a choice to avoid the collision. This defines 50/50 blame and was a racing incident. No penalty ever should have been passed out for this incident. A 3 place grid penalty is appointing blame to Max which is frankly unjustified.
Driver of the Day: Valtteri Bottas. Normally I don't give a lot of credit for when a driver in the best car works his way up from the back of the grid, but Bottas really was the best driver all weekend. Monza proved to be a difficult track to pass on and he pretty much was the only driver to really advance. He had the confidence to shoot for a podium and regardless of circumstances, he got it. Ricciardo would be the other candidate, but his one and only move of the race was the start. Once he got through turn 2 in the lead, all he had to do was control the pace. He did that perfectly, but never had any fights to defend his position. His biggest challenge took themselves out of the race. With that, Bottas deserves DOTD.