2007 Formula One Italian Grand Prix

[Jack_Bauer]

The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is the setting for the next round of the Formula One World Championship, taking place against a backdrop of controversy and speculation surrounding the sport's two leading teams. While the media whipped itself into frenzy over the latest development in the so-called 'spying scandal' it was business as usual for the teams out on the black stuff.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso ended the day at the top of the timesheets, beating his teammate in Practice Two by a full eight tenths of a second. Ferrari finished with both cars outside of the top five in front of the Tifosi, but will not be too disheartened after they had shown their real pace in first practice with a one-two finish.

Practice One

01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:22.446 20 laps
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:22.590 17 laps
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:22.618 18 laps
04 F. Alonso McLaren 1:22.840 12 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:23.472 21 laps
06 J. Button Honda 1:23.668 21 laps
07 G. Fisichella Renault 1:23.671 22 laps
08 R. Kubica BMW 1:23.703 22 laps
09 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:23.886 17 laps
10 J. Trulli Toyota 1:23.965 29 laps
11 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:24.076 21 laps
12 R. Barrichello Honda 1:24.564 19 laps
13 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:24.587 15 laps
14 M. Webber Red Bull 1:24.595 22 laps
15 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:24.660 20 laps
16 A. Wurz Williams 1:24.689 29 laps
17 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:24.694 17 laps
18 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:24.810 19 laps
19 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:25.130 24 laps
20 S. Vettel Toro Rosso 1:25.439 25 laps
21 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:25.448 25 laps
22 V. Liuzzi Toro Rosso 1:25.762 25 laps

Practice Two

01 F. Alonso McLaren 1:22.386 30 laps
02 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:23.209 33 laps
03 G. Fisichella Renault 1:23.584 38 laps
04 R. Kubica BMW 1:23.599 44 laps
05 N. Rosberg Williams 1:23.679 33 laps
06 F. Massa Ferrari 1:23.722 27 laps
07 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:23.821 38 laps
08 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:23.833 12 laps
09 H. Kovalainen Renault 1:23.848 32 laps
10 A. Wurz Williams 1:23.881 32 laps
11 J. Trulli Toyota 1:23.919 39 laps
12 R. Schumacher Toyota 1:23.922 29 laps
13 J. Button Honda 1:24.137 36 laps
14 M. Webber Red Bull 1:24.328 31 laps
15 R. Barrichello Honda 1:24.462 40 laps
16 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:24.605 31 laps
17 T. Sato Super Aguri 1:25.328 27 laps
18 S. Vettel Toro Rosso 1:25.459 36 laps
19 A. Sutil Spyker F1 1:25.531 24 laps
20 V. Liuzzi Toro Rosso 1:25.567 26 laps
21 S. Yamamoto Spyker F1 1:25.863 40 laps
22 A. Davidson Super Aguri 1:26.021 6 laps

[henk4]

how interesting these listings might be, the core of the attention will be on the "espionage scandal" which no doubt will deepen the rift between the McLaren and the Ferrari fans on this site

[Ferrer]

how interesting these listings might be, the core of the attention will be on the "espionage scandal" which no doubt will deepen the rift between the McLaren and the Ferrari fans on this site

Exactly. And it actually will be a lot more interesting than the race itself.

[Zytek_Fan]

McLaren, Ferrari, Renault, and BMW are all really close so this one could be anyone's race.

[fpv_gtho]

Not really, BMW and especially Renault wont be near McLaren. Its just that each team is only a few tenths behind the other

[Dino Scuderia]

Ralf hasn't lost his consistency.

[Jack_Bauer]

McLaren's Fernando Alonso will start tomorrow's Italian Grand Prix from Pole Position after an imperious performance from the reigning world champion in today's qualifying session. The Spaniard was easily the fastest man in the final two practice sessions and he carried that dominance through to the session that really mattered. He will start alongside teammate Lewis Hamilton on the front row as McLaren put their off-track woes behind them with a faultless performance from the whole team.

It wasn't the greatest of days for their great rivals Ferrari in front of their partisan home supporters. Massa got the best out of the car but third was really the best he could have hoped for, the McLaren's one-lap pace was just too hot for them. Raikkonen salvaged fifth place in the spare car after his race car was trashed in a huge accident in final practice. It seems to have been a high speed suspension failure which spat Kimi off the track at close to 200mph. His final lap of qualy wasn't really up to scratch, and it allowed BMW's Nick Heidfeld to split the Ferraris with an impressive fourth place.

Next came three of F1's youngsters, Kubica, Kovalainen and Rosberg, followed by one of F1's most experienced men in Jarno Trulli. Jenson Button was able to highlight Honda's noticeable improvement over the testing break with a rare top-ten finish for the Japanese squad. Those missing out in Q2 were Webber, Barrichello, Wurz, Davidson, Fisichella and Vettel. Davidson in particular put in a stellar performance for Super Aguri, and Vettel seems to have found his feet at STR after a difficult start. Fisichella can count himself very unlucky after having his final hot-lap ruined by Barrichello going rally driving in front of him in the Lesmo corners, meaning he had to back right out of the throttle. He was visibly upset and angry with the circumstances in what is obviously an emotional home Grand Prix for Fisi. Of the other drivers Ralf Schumacher disappointed for the umpteenth time this season and David Coulthard will start from right down in 20th after something in the RB3 drive train ceased up under breaking for turn one and he spun out. Aside from that it will be the usual suspects starting from the tail-end of the grid.


Provisional Starting Grid

1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Massa
4. Heidfeld
5. Raikkonen
6. Kubica
7. Kovalainen
8. Rosberg
9. Trulli
10. Button
11. Webber
12. Barrichello
13. Wurz
14. Davidson
15. Fisichella
16. Vettel
17. Sato
18. Schumacher
19. Liuzzi
20. Coulthard
21. Sutil
22. Yamamoto

[Jack_Bauer]

World Champion Fernando Alonso today closed the gap to Lewis Hamilton in the WDC standings after an imperious drive at the Italian Grand Prix. After claiming pole position yesterday he was able to steam away at the front of the pack to an absolutely brilliant, faultless drive. It was a great boost for McLaren's WCC ambitions to be able to take a dominant 1-2 finish on Ferrari's home territory, especially as the unlucky Felipe Massa was forced to retire his Ferrari with a mechanical failure of some description.

In a typically frenetic opening lap Alonso got a clean getaway which enabled him to keep out of all the action behind him. Felipe Massa got the jump on Lewis Hamilton from the start line and had second place entering the Turn 1 braking zone. Hamilton however was his typical aggressive self and threw is McLaren around the outside of the Ferrari. He was forced to cut the apex in Turn 2 which was put under investigation by the race stewards. The replays showed that he had made contact with Massa's front tyre which meant he had to take evasive action to keep pointing in the right direction, no penalty was forthcoming. For the remainder of the lap Massa fought doggedly to try and get the second place back, but Hamilton defended resolutely through the Lesmo corners and through Ascari. Behind them Raikkonen had made a good start on the softer tyres and had got past the BMW of Heidfeld easily.

At the back of the grid Coulthard had a fantastic opening lap, claiming five places to reach P15. However, going into Turn 1 on the second lap he tried one too many moves and came into contact with the rear of Fisichella's Renault. The veteran Scot's front wing gave way at high speed in the Curva Grande and he understeered off across the gravel trap and had a heavy impact with the tyre barriers. The safety car came out for a few laps while the debris was cleared, and the restart gave Hamilton a rare opportunity to have a go at Alonso's race lead. The Spaniard was having none of it though and defended his line well through the chicane. In the coming laps Massa came in for an unscheduled stop, he was clearly unhappy with the Ferrari. They put new boots on and filled him up with fuel, but the problem remained when he rejoined the circuit and he was forced to cruise round into the pits to retire. The Ferrari mechanics peered around the rear end of the stricken Ferrari in the garage indicating a problem with the handling at the rear, possibly to do with the rear suspension or differential perhaps.

Raikkonen was dropping further behind the McLarens as it emerged that he was very heavy on fuel and was going for a one-stop strategy, possibly putting the cat amongst the pigeons for the front two. With this threat from the Ferrari the McLarens both had to be flat out to maintain a healthy gap. Ferrari's master plan appeared to have worked when Hamilton emerged from his second stop a couple of seconds behind Kimi. The Tifosi went wild with delight along with the Ferrari garage, but their joy was to be short-lived. After a couple of laps Hamilton had closed the gap on his fresh, soft tyres and launched a brilliant and brave move into the Turn 1 chicane. Raikkonen appeared not to see him coming from so far back. Both cars went into the turn-in point with locked brakes; Hamilton's rear end stepped out briefly, but he was able to gather it and emerge from Turn 2 ahead of the Ferrari. It was the McLaren mechanics' turn to jump for joy as the Ferrari supporters sat with their heads in their hands. Hamilton was then able to simply drive away from the Ferrari as Raikkonen knew he had no answer for the McLaren's pace.

The battle for the lower points paying positions was a fascinating one, particularly the battle between Rosberg and Button during the first stint. The Honda was clearly way down on straight line pace, so was always vulnerable to attack from the Williams. Button defended brilliantly for lap after lap until finally Rosberg was able to squeeze through with a stunning late-braking move around the outside into the second chicane. Rosberg managed to get ahead of Kovalainen and also Kubica in the pit stops with a one-stop strategy, but Kubica recovered well after a calamitous stop and took fifth with an excellent final stint. Webber, Barrichello and Trulli were the only other cars to finish on the lead lap, ahead of Fisichella who had a dismal weekend and struggled to get past the dogged Antony Davidson's Super Aguri for the first half of the race, Davidson eventually finishing a creditable 14th.

So Fernando Alonso is now breathing down the neck of Lewis Hamilton in the race for the Championship as the Ferraris slip further and further behind. This weekend has been a crushing blow to Ferrari's aspirations, and as it stands it looks as though it will be a third consecutive trophy-less season for the Scuderia. It now seems Ferrari's only hope is in the courtroom, and all eyes will now turn to Paris this coming Thursday for the outcome of the sport's governing body's investigation into the Ferrari-McLaren 'spying scandal'...



Race Result

1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Raikkonen
4. Heidfeld
5. Kubica
6. Rosberg
7. Kovalainen
8. Button
9. Webber
10. Barrichello
11. Trulli
12. Fisichella
13. Wurz
14. Davidson
15. Schumacher
16. Sato
17. Liuzzi
18. Vettel
19. Sutil
20. Yamamoto
ret Massa
ret Coulthard

[Ferrer]

Quite boring, if not as bad as the last one.

[faksta]

By the way, what did it mean - don't remember exactly, but something like 'Push the Charlie, Jarno'? Does anyone know?

[Dino Scuderia]

He wanted Charlie Whiting to review what may have been a move which gave another driver a position or advantage. I don't remember who it was.

[faksta]

He wanted Charlie Whiting to review what may have been a move which gave another driver a position or advantage. I don't remember who it was.

Oh, thanks! Cause our commentator assumed that Charlie is an accelerator and Trulli was asked to push up lol

[Zytek_Fan]

Quite boring, if not as bad as the last one.

I'm sure the FIA GT race at Adria was more entertaining.

[charged]

Race was fairly uneventful except for Hamiltions tyres on fire pass on Kimi, I actually watched the Speed TV coverage courtesy of TVU. I thought it was quite good, didnt have the british commentators in raptures about Hamilton. The race was on a 2.30am here in Aust was good watching it at 8.30pm on a Sunday night

[kigango123]

so how many constructor points does mclaren stand to lose beacuse of the scandal