2011 Italian GP **SPOILERS** + Race Statistics

It was pretty funny! It's a shame the 5live commentary will only be for a short period on Sunday!

I think the Fp3 results were case of Vettel simply nailing a brilliant lap again, and possibly less fuel than Mclaren.

Ferrari and Mercedes seemed to liven up abit, but again I think thats more to do with Mclaren and possibly RedBull having more fuel at that point.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Eddie Jordan - Tyre expert

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Vettel, AWESOME slide!!!! Amazing stuff!! People can say car all they like but he is miles ahead over one lap over anyone! Amazing display of car control.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Every time Vettel is making a good lap they say he has KERS problem and then ... half a second less than Hamilton! This is clearly a psychological war!

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Anyone know about Button?

Lost time in S1, but gained alot in S2 in relation to his previous lap. My initial thought he was he wanted P3 due to clean side.

Either way. Vettel owns over lap. Lewis, Alonso could not do this IMO.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

Mindblowing from Vettel, just amazing. Incredible performance all through quali.

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Button looking good.. expect Alonso to get in there too

Button was weird. I didn't see any post-show so apologies if it was explained, but he was up on the then pole time and didn't appear to have any issues in Parabolica. All I can think is that the team called him in, not expecting him to beat Vettel, knowing Hamilton had cocked up and wanting one less lap on the tyres (even though it would only have been at slow speed).

Strange one.

gav Wrote:
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> Button was weird. I didn't see any post-show so
> apologies if it was explained, but he was up on
> the then pole time and didn't appear to have any
> issues in Parabolica. All I can think is that the
> team called him in, not expecting him to beat
> Vettel, knowing Hamilton had cocked up and wanting
> one less lap on the tyres (even though it would
> only have been at slow speed).
>
> Strange one.


it was weird, but maybe the team informed him about Vettel destroying all split times, or as Chet says, maybe he wanted 3rd place to start...

he was going for a guaranteed 2nd place start, but saving tyres is weird because he was pushing until Parabolica, so i think chet theory makes a lot of sense...

i think the guy is finally flying, it took him more than i first taught, but Lewis is probably the hardest teammate he ever had, but he's almost on par, this season is probably the best i've seen from him, and i can see him tomorrow fighting with Vettel and Lewis with no problems.. it's really going to be a great race

JB pitting can only have been to save the tyres, even though it must've been minimal. Nothing else makes any sense.
Talking about tyres, Lewis might have compromised his opening stint with that lock-up going into Roggia. We'll have to wait and see.

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Button was not fully on it through Parabolica it seemed. He certainly did not use all of the track so either he made a mistake going in, or he decided before the corner. Very strange and honestly clean side or not im disappointed because how often on a 100% dry track has he out qualified Lewis? Not very, and once again he was pushing the limits without going over like Lewis did.

Button's gone from being 5-7 tenths of Lewis on Friday to being as quick today! Ive got high hopes for tomorrow. I think he will let Lewis and Vettel duke it out to begin with but later on I think he will be in contention. It all depends though how quick the Ferrari's are and how quick Webber can get up there.

Will be a cracking race I think, just a shame its likely to be the shortest this year

Still, Silverstone 1000km will still be going on after !

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

I've said it before and I'll say it again - Moving to McLaren has been the making of Jenson as a driver, because of how he's dealt with the situation of having Lewis as his teammate. He's proved himself against one of the best drivers on the grid, and he's proved himself in a particularly mature and intelligent way. He's shown, time after time, how you can beat a supposedly much faster teammate surprisingly often through racecraft and by having a calm, switched-on mind.
I'm reminded of Lauda and Prost.

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I thought the same about the Button lap, he was up on the old pole time and would have got 2nd on the grid but pitted was a trance one.

I am also really angry with Ferrari, they should have given Alosno one lap behind Massa and then changed them round, but whatever

Also just read that Vettel has really set his car up for pole and to make a break at the start going with short gear ratios but he is slow on the straights. If either Lewis or Button get him off the line or get a tow he has had it.

Actually its was the Brawn season that made JB the better driver that he is now as he learnt how to deal with being at the front and what difference it makes to how they have to approach things.

It should be an interesting race. The first few laps will be interesting as Vettel's top speed is lower than those behind him. If he can survive that, he should be very hard to beat.

marcl Wrote:
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> I am also really angry with Ferrari, they should
> have given Alosno one lap behind Massa and then
> changed them round, but whatever

Yes I agree, I find it frustrating they play those sort of games with the current championship situation.

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X (@ed24f1)

Yup. Alonso's got no chance of the title. Just play the team game and try to catch Red Bull in the constructors championship. It really goes to show how little confidence they've got in Massa in the long-run.

Quote
EC83
Talking about tyres, Lewis might have compromised his opening stint with that lock-up going into Roggia.

Nah, they start on the tyres they did their best lap on, and Hamilton's was done on the previous set, so he'll be fine.

Going further about tyres, I was surprised more drivers didn't do more than one lap on a set of tyres. Even the softer tyres were taking 2 or 3 laps to get the best out of them in the morning session, so I just assumed a few would do the same in Q3. Clearly they all have concerns over how long these tyres will last in the race and an extra 2 laps would kill the strategy. Monza has always been a track where the further you go in a stint, the better. Even during the refuelling years, teams went 2/3 of the way into the race before stopping.

Do you think the difference between a fresh set of rubber will then be minimal here?

If so Button will likely target a 1 stopper and leave Lewis to mirror what Vettel does.

Going by Friday, the worst Button could finish is 3rd so might aswell risk it?

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

If the pace really is in the Red Bull, rather than just Vettel, then Webber is going to be a factor, so I wouldn't say Button's got a nailed on podium quite yet.

It'll be interesting what Alonso does. Ferrari will be awful on the medium tyre as normal, so might they do what Vettel did last season and pit on the last lap?

People are saying three stops with the temperature there is in Monza today, but I just can't see it. Three stops at Monza is unheard of to me, and with cars going 200mph past the pit lane... I think they'll just try to battle on or switch to the medium tyres.

If the tyre wear is that bad, then Rosberg could be interesting to watch later in the race for some strong points. I presume he'll pit for softs 10-15 laps from the end.

Understandably Brundle was quick to want to end that convo about Williams in 1993! Imagine how different his career would have been!

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

What a start from Alonso! Perfect in every possible way.

Schumacher is going to ruin Button's race. He needs to get passed Massa nad Schumacher QUICK!

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

This race is epic.