2006 Gran Premio Vodafone d'Italia - Race DayHello and welcome to coverage of the 2006 Italian GP from Monza. Yesterday we saw Adrian Sutil make history by becoming only the fourth driver in history to take pole position on his debut and will no doubt be looking to become the first driver since Giancarlo Baghetti in 1961 to win his debut race. However, in order to do that the young German must first beat both the consistent Cristiano Da Matta and fellow debutant Ryan Briscoe to the checkered flag first. SO without further adieu, all five lights are on…
And we’re away!
And Da Matta has a superb start as he challenges Sutil for lead at turn 1
And he’s through!
But Sutil’s coming back at him as they approach the second chicane
And he retakes the lead! Superb stuff from the Honda man
Behind them however Heidfeld’s made a brilliant start, making the jump from 8th to 3rd, demoting Kimi back to 4th in the process
But there’s disaster further down the field as Montoya and Villeneuve come together
Both emerge unscathed, but they’re both right at the back of the field
Back at the front, Briscoe is looking for revenge
He forces Kimi up onto the kerb at Ascari
And Briscoe takes the position
But as a result, the Aussie is slow off the exit, giving Kimi an easy run down the back straight
And he comes straight back through
And in the confusion on the entrance of Parabolica, Webber manages to slide his way past the Ferrari of Massa
But they’re all still squabbling down the main straight
Briscoe’s back ahead of Kimi
And Massa retakes his position from Webber
Up at the front, Sutil is starting to make a break for it after his early scare
Whilst Massa is immediately challenging Raikkonen for 5th
And he’s through! That’s two positions in two corners for Felipe
His team mate is also on the move as he challenges Verstappen for 9th
And he outbreaks the Frenchman under braking for Ascari
But just as Briscoe the lap before, he’s slow off the exit as they all line up behind
And Verstappen is back in front as the brake for Parabolica whilst Trulli is having a sniff at Montagny as well
But he can’t make it work as Alonso looks to take advantage as well
And the Spaniard’s through!
But he has to throw on the anchors sharpish as Davidson slides across the track up ahead!
But it’s too late as he slams into the Honda, losing his front wing in the process and taking Davidson out of the race
And Briscoe’s also facing the wrong way as well, just what happened there?!
That’ll explain it, a look at the replay shows Briscoe running wide on the exit of Parabolica
Which leaves the McLaren tester stationary on track
Leaving Davidson with nowhere to go as the Brit loses his right rear wheel as he swerves to avoid the McLaren
And Montagny is also caught up in the accident, losing his front wing as Davidson's wheel makes a break for it
And whilst Briscoe does have all four wheels on his wagon, it seems the Aussie has stalled his engine
Think it’s fair to say this was not how Briscoe had thought his F1 debut would go
Back in the pack, Lotterer and Paffett are going toe to toe over 11th
And Lotterer makes it stick
DC’s also on the move as he chucks it up the inside of Schumi going into the first Lesmo
Job done
Meanwhile Paffett is just going backwards as Vettel passes the Brit on the run down to Ascari
Glock looks like he’s got a run on Villeneuve as the pair exit Parabolica
But whilst that’s going on, Frentzen does a Briscoe as he too spins on the exit of the final corner
And there’s even more drama down at turn 1 as Glock runs into the back of Villeneuve!
Glock somehow manages to keep everything pointing in the right direction, whilst Villeneuve is forced across the astro
He rejoins behind Montoya in 18th
Back with the leader, Sutil is still flying out in front
But Massa is looking equally as threatening as he chases down Da Matta for 2nd
We’ve got another spinner out there! This time it’s Button
He rejoins right at the back of the field
After a couple of chaotic opening laps, let’s take a look at the current standings
Perfectly on cue, Verstappen brings back the chaos as he spins at Ascari
He’s back underway in 13th
Back with Lotterer, the German is currently chasing down returning veteran Jarno Trulli in the Toyota
And he’s up the inside into the second chicane and into 7th
Onboard with Massa who’s wasted little time catching up to Da Matta
And he’s through and into 2nd place
And he immediately sets to work catching Sutil up front
Button’s wide through Parabolica again
Luckily for him however, he’s able to keep everything in check
Meanwhile Frentzen’s not going to give up that easily as he lobs it up the inside of the Williams under braking for turn 3 to retake his position
Back up the field, Vettel’s on a charge as he pulls out of DC’s slipstream on the run down to turn 1
And he’s through into 10th
Back with the battle for the lead, the gap is now down to just seven tenths
But Massa heads to the pitlane before he can get too close to Sutil ahead
He’s also joined by Paffett in the pit lane
Massa’s back out in 8th
Whilst Paffett is down in 18th
Webber’s next in from 4th, he’ll rejoin in 12th
Montoya’s on the move again as he goes up against Glock over 13th
And he’s through
Heidfeld’s now in 3rd
Glock’s just going backwards at the point as Frentzen also makes his way past the Super Aguri
Heidfeld meanwhile is back out in 8th
Massa looks like he’s struggling on his new set of tyres as Coulthard easily coasts up to the back of the Ferrari
They’re side by side down the back straight
And he makes it stick
But he’s not ahead for long as DC dives into the pits
He’s joined by Lotterer
And Webber! Bad news for the Red Bull man as he’s forced to pit again with an electrical problem
Lotterer and DC rejoin in 13th and 15th, whilst Webber is now well down the field
Our leader is now in, has he done enough to stay ahead of Massa?
But whilst we wait to find out, Kimi becomes the latest driver to go adventuring around Parabolica
Luckily he manages to keep everything in check
Sutil’s back out, and by the length of that stop it looks like he’s not planning to pit again this afternoon
And he rejoins well ahead of Massa in 4th place, it’s looking good so far for the debutant so far
Back with Montoya as he plans to make Heidfeld his next victim
And he does so with ease
But whilst on BMW is flying, the other is struggling as Webber encounters a very slow moving Coulthard on the exit of Ascari
But Webber gets a bit carried away with his recent gains as he goes offroading at Parabolica
And there’s almost a three car pile up as he dives back onto the track with the slowing Coulthard and Button
Luckily however they all continue, although Coulthard is forced to pit from what we are hearing is a brake issue
And Paffett’s car is not looking much better as he pulls of the road just before the final corner with suspension failure
As we approach the halfway mark, let’s have a quick reminder of the current standings
Kimi’s the next of the one-stoppers in as he pits from 2nd
But as he enters the pit, Trulli becomes the latest driver to retire as his transmission gives up the ghost. Such a shame for Jarno as he had looked good for a strong result
Wait! What’s this?! Sutil is back in the pits!
And that puts Massa in the net lead of this race, but he’ll have to get the hammer down if he wants to stay ahead of the one-stoppers
Kimi’s back out in 7th
Whilst Sutil is now 9th
Da Matta is in from the lead next time round
And he rejoins just behind Massa, at the moment Da Matta does look like the favourite to take this race
Montoya’s the next driver in
He’s back out in 11th
Back with Massa, there’s trouble ahead as Button spins in front of our leader!
Luckily for the Tifosi Massa manages to avoid the pirouetting Renault but that was certainly a little close for comfort
Button meanwhile rejoins in 18th, and last, place
The other Ferrari of Verstappen is now in from 4th
As is Montagny from 7th
The Dutchman is back out in 9th
With Montagny now in 14th
Schumacher looks to be one of the last of the one stoppers as he pits from 3rd
And he rejoins ahead of Vettel in 7th
And with the second round of stops now done let’s take another look at the standings
Vettel’s wasting no time in his first race back in the cockpit as he relives Schumacher of 7th place
Button’s wide through the Parabolica again, he’s really struggling out there today
But he’s not the only one struggling as Verstappen also runs wide
But he can’t hold on and ends up arse over tit on the runoff after Parabolica
He rejoins 13th
Which becomes 12th as Lotterer emerges from the pits having made his final stop
And now Sutil’s gone wide at Parabolica as well!
He manages to hold onto 5th, but he has certainly lost valuable time
Heidfeld’s in for his final stop
He’s back out in 6th
And our leader is in, where will he emerge?
But that won’t be of any concern to Da Matta as he looks set to take back to back victories for the first time in his Formula One career
Whilst Massa is back out in 3rd behind the one stopping McLaren of Raikkonen
Sutil makes his third stop of the afternoon as he pits from 4th
He does rejoin in the pits, but that excursion has certainly not helped
Disaster for Lotterer as his engine gives up the ghost
And he sensibly pulls off the road
Massa’s starting to pull in Raikkonen, taking 2 tenths out of the Finn in sector 1
That’s an engine failure if I’ve ever seen one
And it’s Montoya!
That is cruel, he had not put a foot wrong all afternoon
Massa is now visibly closer to Raikkonen now. Da Matta may be out of reach, but the battle for second is still going strong
Two to go, and Massa is still charging, but he’s running out of time
Meanwhile Da Matta is now on his final lap
But Massa is not close enough to have a go down into turn 1, he’s quickly running out of chances
The gap is just 8 tenths under braking for turn 3
And it’s just 6 tenths as the pair arrive at Ascari, it looks like Kimi’s going to be safe
Meanwhile Crisitano Da Matta brilliantly wins the Italian GP!
Kimi just holds onto 2nd, winning McLaren the constructors championship in the process
Massa and the Tifosi will have to make do with 3rd
Heidfeld comes home 4th
Schumacher is 5th
Sutil brings it home in 6th and will no doubt be thinking what could have been
Verstappen makes it a double points finish for Ferrari in Italy
Whilst Montagny’s 8th place means both Italian teams on the grid leave Monza with both of their cars in the points
But we’re not quite done here as Glock pulls off the road just meters from the checkered flag, such a shame!
Full Results to follow:
DOTD:Today's winner is Cristiano Da matta who put in a faultless drive to win with ease. Commiserations however also go out to Adrian Sutil who, without his technical gremlins, would have certainly been on the podium and maybe had a chance of taking victory.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2013 03:07PM by F1_Manager.