Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Race Analysis. Raikkonen mistake costs Ferrari win at Monza.

The Italian Grand Prix was run yesterday over 53 laps and it saw pole sitter Lewis Hamilton once again take top spot on the podium. It was a relatively boring race compared to the likes of Hungary and Silverstone, but still a classic Monza race that we won't forget. It saw everything from first lap incidents, last lap retirements and all the chaos in between.

The Ferrari fans had lined the stands cheering on Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen who had qualified very highly and looked strong contenders for a win. But it turned out it wasn't there day as when the lights went green Kimi Raikkonen failed to get off the grid and remained stationary for a few seconds before pulling away. The damage had been done though and Raikkonen dropped to 20th by turn 1.

The Ferrari fans showed there amazing support for there local heros.

The cars piled into the first chicane and Lotus continued to have there knack for first lap incidents as Grosjean was tapped and his rear suspension broken forcing him to retire, whilst Maldonado didn't make the corner and went over the rumble strip which snapped the floor of his car in two also forcing him to retire. The double DNF was made worst because it allowed Force India to have an easy shot at regaining 5th back in the constructors.

Lotus scored 0 points as both cars retired on Lap 1

By the end of the first lap Hamilton had pulled away from Vettel followed by Massa, Bottas, Rosberg and Perez.

Except for Kimi Raikkonen making his way through the field the order changed little till the first pit stops which started around lap 19 as most teams opted for the one stop strategy. The biggest change in position was Nico Rosberg who tried the undercut on the Williams of Massa and Bottas. Williams reacted by boxing Massa the next lap but the damage was done and Rosberg jumped both drivers in the process.

Hamilton continued to pull away from Vettel and was looking like making a 20 second gap. Rosberg began to slowly close down Vettel in 2nd.

Toward the end of the race things got much more exciting. Firstly about 15 laps from the end Nico Hulkenberg was in 7th and was complaining of lack of rear grip and traction. He was under pressure from Marcus Ericcson and Daniel Ricciardo and Force India considered a two stop but ultimately decided against it and it didn't lose anything as Hulkenberg held off both drivers till the end.

Then about 5 laps from the end Lewis Hamilton's engineer (Peter Bonnington) came on the radio and asked Lewis to "push really hard,  and don't ask why". It perplexed all the viewers and the only thing Martin Brundle could think of in the com box was a potential slow puncture and Mercedes wanted the 25 second gap to make a pit stop. It wasn't explained to the end of the race when it was discovered the tire pressure had dipped below optimal and Mercedes were considering a precautionary pit stop to stop the chance of a puncture. Mercedes (as well as Ferrari) were summoned to the stewards after the race concerning low tire pressure but no further action was taken.

Then in the other Mercedes just a few laps from the end, Nico Rosberg's engine gave a cough, and another cough and then caught fire as he pulled off to the side of the second chicane. He retired from the race and lost 25 points in the championship to Lewis Hamilton and now only a 21 point gap between himself and Sebastian Vettel in third. This retirement promoted Felipe Massa back to 3rd and Valtteri Bottas was still right behind him in 4th. A good battle for the last spot on the podium began and team orders didn't intervene.

Nico Rosberg retired from the race with just a few laps left.

Lastly it was more bad luck for McLaren as they lost Fernando Alonso just a few laps from the end, especially after a good battle between himself and Button was brewing up, it was disappointing. But McLaren should be pleased they managed to run most of the Grand Prix without problem.

This was the ending race order:

1) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari + 25.042s
3) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes + 47.635s
4) Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes + 47.996s
5) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari + 68.860s
6) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes + 72.783s
7) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes + 1 LAP
8) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull-Renault + 1 LAP
9) Marcus Ericcson - Sauber-Ferrari + 1 LAP
10) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull-Renault + 1 LAP
11) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault + 1 LAP
12) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault + 1 LAP
13) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari + 1 LAP
14) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda + 1 LAP
15) Will Stevens - Manor-Marussia + 2 LAPS
16) Roberto Merhi - Manor-Marussia + 2 LAPS
17) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes DNF
18) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda DNF
19) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes DNF
20) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes DNF

The next race on the calender is the much loved Singapore Grand Prix which is held under lights on a tight and twisty street circuit. It saw last years turning point in the season where Hamilton gained the lead in the championship. The Singapore Grand Prix will take place from 18th of September to 20th of September. See you then!

Round 13 heads to Singapore!

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Qualifying Analysis. Raikkonen and Vettel split Mercedes dominance.

Qualifying for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix took place yesterday and Ferrari proved that they could rise to the occasion and pressure of the Tifosi at Monza. Ferrari took there best qualifying of the season with Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively behind a very dominant Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes.

Tensions were high heading into qualifying as Nico Rosberg took an engine change which saw him use a fairly worn engine instead of the new prototype Mercedes were testing this weekend. Due to the engine being an older one Rosberg will not incur any grid penalties. Lewis Hamilton will continue to run the prototype engine.

Polesitter Lewis Hamilton

As Q1 rolled around all cars took there first runs on the white striped medium (Prime) tires except for both McLaren's and Manor-Marussia's. At the session started work was still being done on the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull. They looked unlikely to post times.

There was an early frustration for Nico Hulkenberg as he was twice held up by Marcus Ericcson on a flying lap (at Parabolica and the 2nd chicane). Towards the end of the session it looked as though 1 McLaren-Honda would make Q2, but Daniel Ricciardo spoiled the party as he managed to get out of the garage and set a lap time good enough for 15th pushing Button down into the cut off zone. Max Verstappen also managed to get out of the garage, albeit with 20 seconds to go. It proved though they had rushed the decision because as he went through Turn 3 the rear bodywork of his car flew off due to it not being sealed down tight enough. The FIA later have said Verstappen will have a drive through penalty which must be served in the first 3 laps of the race. So at the end of Q1 both McLarens were gone with Button leading Alonso, and both Manor's with Stevens leading Merhi, whilst Max Verstappen didn't set a lap time and finished 20th

Felipe Nasr of Sauber

Q2 started and it was to be a terrible session for Red Bull. There Renault power unit worries continued to grow because for the first time since 2008 a Red Bull didn't make Q3. Daniil Kvyat was 14th whilst Ricciardo choose not to set a lap time and finished 15th. Grid drops will see them start from further back. The other 3 unlucky people to be knocked out were Pastor Maldonado who missed Q3 by under a tenth and will start 11th, Felipe Nasr in the Sauber and the Toro Rosso of Sainz who finished 13th. However he will be dropped down the grid due to engine penalties.



So Q3 started and it was 7 Mercedes powered cars and 3 Ferrari powered. It was a phenomenal session as Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel both put in 2 of there strongest qualifying laps of the season to see them qualify 2nd and 3rd respectively. Ferrari have worked very hard since Q1 where the gap to the Mercedes was over a second and now Lewis Hamilton could only grab the pole by under a quarter of a second. Nico Rosberg couldn't match his team mates efforts as he could only manage a very low 4th on the grid.

Sebastian Vettel (L) and Kimi Raikkonen (R) line up 3rd and 2nd respectively.

Williams opted to give Massa a tow on his laps by sending Bottas out just ahead of him, giving Massa extra slipstream on the straight. This saw him get the better of Bottas in qualifying and they line 5th and 6th respectively. The race will be interesting for Williams as Massa definitely wouldn't have been 5th without the tow. It will be interesting to see in Bottas will have the race pace to overtake him.

Felipe Massa of Williams lines up 5th

Sergio Perez managed 7th for Force India as they look for some strong points on Sunday. He achieved his main objective of out-qualifying Lotus and a good race could see Force India regain 5th in the Constructors Championship. On the other side of the garage it wasn't good news as Nico Hulkenberg's car lost all power on his in-lap and we are unsure yet if the problem promotes a grid drop or not. Hulkenberg finished the session in 9th as he did manage to set one lap.

Nico Hulkenberg will start 9th after problems in Q3

Lotus take 8th as Superman Romain Grosjean continues his good form and he once again outqualified his team mate Pastor Maldonado.

The last spot in the top 10 goes to Marcus Ericsson who managed to get into Q3. If he can hold his own on Sunday he could bring home some much needed points for Sauber.

The grid (including confirmed grid penalties) will look like this:

1) Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
2) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
3) Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
4) Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
5) Felipe Massa - Williams-Mercedes
6) Valterri Bottas - Williams-Mercedes
7) Sergio Perez - Force India-Mercedes
8) Romain Grosjean - Lotus-Mercedes
9) Nico Hulkenberg - Force India-Mercedes
10) Marcus Ericsson - Sauber-Ferrari
11) Pastor Maldonado - Lotus-Mercedes
12) Felipe Nasr - Sauber-Ferrari
13) Will Stevens - Manor-Ferrari
14) Roberto Merhi - Manor-Ferrari
15) Jenson Button - McLaren-Honda (Grid Penalty)
16) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Honda (Grid Penalty)
17) Carlos Sainz - Toro Rosso-Renault (Grid Penalty)
18) Daniil Kvyat - Red Bull Racing-Renault (Grid Penalty)
19) Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull Racing-Renault (Grid Penalty)
20) Max Verstappen - Toro Rosso-Renault (Grid Penalty)

The Italian Grand Prix gets underway in just under 10 hours. It will be constested over 53 laps and is expected to be a 1 stop race. There will be an interesting battle up front, can Ferrari win at Monza for the first time since 2010? Will Raikkonen take the lead into Turn 1? Can Force India find some of the FP1 and FP2 pace they had? and can Red Bull still score points? Find out later today!

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 3 Analysis. Vettel splits Mercedes as morning rain disrupts running.

In the last practice session for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton again secures P1 but the gap to Ferrari closes down to 0.264 seconds.

The running in the session was mainly disrupted by a big early morning downpour which saw the first times set on the intermediate tires. The teams managed to have a qualifying simulation in the last 10 minutes of the session in which good was shown by Vettel, both Williams and even the two Saubers. Whereas Force India opted for a race simulation which saw them finish in 8th and 12th.

Rain disrupted a lot of running in FP3.

The biggest moment of the session was definitely Daniel Ricciardo who stopped on the outside of the Turn 4 chicane. "It's something terminal on the engine, it unfortunately looks like an engine change" said Red Bulls Christian Horner. The engine was brand new and it is going to promote more penalties and waste a fresh engine. This deepens the cut that Red Bull already have this weekend and they will definitely be struggling on Sunday.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo had a session ending engine failure

Williams finally began to show the pace they are capable of with Bottas leading Massa by 2 tenths in 4th in 5th. Williams will be hoping to get a car onto the 2nd row of the grid and spoil the party of Ferrari with Kimi Raikkonen clearly under performing after he only managed 7th behind Pastor Maldonado.

Williams are looking like a strong prospect for qualifying.

It was a positive day for Sauber as there Ferrari power unit is beginning to work well with Ericsson finishing 9th and Nasr in 11th. The Swiss outfit will be looking for more points to take a fight to the struggling Toro Rosso in the constructors championship for 7th place. A good race is the most crucial part of the weekend for Sauber as they will instantly out qualify the two Toro Rosso's which are set for big grid drops.

Nico Rosberg will have work to do in qualifying as Sebastian Vettel managed to creep into the P2 slot. However Mercedes may have been running heavier fuel which would ultimately make there pace slower.

Qualifying is now just under 2 hours away. Lets not kid ourselves as we know that Lewis Hamilton will be on pole position. The real question is who is going to take P2? Can Sebastian Vettel mount that challenge? Can Williams get a car on the front row? Could Force India spoil the party after strong Friday pace?

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 2 Analysis. Front runners close the gap to Mercedes

Todays 2nd practice session at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix was again dominated by both Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg with the Brit beating his team mate by 2 hundredths of a second to P1. It was again a relatively quiet session with no red flags with the only real excitement coming from a few people who went through the gravel at the Ascari Chicane.

Sebastian Vettel again finished in third for the Scuderia but he was 7 tenths off Lewis Hamilton's time. In a post session interview Vettel told the media: "We can and we have to improve for tomorrow (Saturday)". Ferrari will be under huge pressure from the Italian public at there home Grand Prix this weekend and will be expected to close the gap to Mercedes. The other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen finished in 6th and again behind two very competitive Force India's.

Speaking of Force India it was again another strong session from them which proves that they have some pure pace in there car. This time there drivers switched with Hulkenberg following home Perez in 4th and 5th. The team is in a very good position to gain some strong points on Sunday and they have proved they have the quickest car in a straight line which ultimately means they won't be easy to overtake in the race. Williams and Ferrari will definitely be worried about the threat they pose.

Force India's Nico Hulkenberg is looking very good for strong points.

Lotus had a better session this time around and Romain "The Superman" Grosjean led home Pastor Maldonado in 7th and 8th. This was by far a better performance from the team than FP1. There main competitors this weekend will be Force India due to the 1 point gap they have in the constructors championship, Lotus do need to find more pace to be at Force India's level.

Williams had another typical Williams session as they again opted not to show there true pace in 9th and 10th. This time Valterri Bottas led Felipe Massa with a gap of just over 2 tenths.

Williams Valterri Bottas goes through Turn 11 of Parabolica.

Sauber had a positive session as Felipe Nasr finished 11th and Ericsson 12th, perhaps putting Sauber in with a chance for some points on Sunday.

It was a very difficult day for the Renault powered teams of Red Bull and Toro Rosso as they struggled to find pace and grip. Max Verstappen provided a heart in your mouth moment when he went through the gravel at the Ascari Chicane and came to a stop just centimeters from the barrier which would have ended his session. The Red Bull's had a really bad day in the office with Daniel Ricciardo finishing in 12th and Dany Kvyat in 20th place. Ricciardo missed a good chunk of running with a software problem that was affecting his gearbox which if damaged would promote a 5 place grid drop. Toro Rosso weren't much better with 13th and 14th, Max Verstappen getting the edge over Carlos Sainz.

Daniel Ricciardo lost valuable time with a software problem affecting the gearbox.

It was another bad day for McLaren with only 3 laps of running for Jenson Button down in 19th place. Fernando Alonso had a trouble free session in 16th with 31 laps of running under his belt.
A really good day for Manor Marussia saw Will Stevens lead Roberto Merhi home in 17th and 18th place.

Overall the strong competitors heading into Practice 3 and Qualifying are definitely Force India after finishing both Friday sessions in 4th and 5th. Can they realistically mount a fight against Vettel for the 3rd position on the grid and on Sunday? Can Lotus find more pace and repeat the great race pace they had in Spa? and can Red Bull realistically even be in the Top 10 of the grid (not counting penalties)?

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Italian Grand Prix 2015 - Practice 1 Analysis, Force India strong as FP1 comes to an end.

Free Practice 1 for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix has ended with another Mercedes 1, 2 with Lewis Hamilton leading home team mate Nico Rosberg. The main point gained from FP1 is that Mercedes are completely on another level compared to Sebastian Vettel who finished 1.5 seconds off the pace in third.

The most positive session came from Force India. Nico Hulkenberg led Sergio Perez in 4th and 5th in what seems to be a true representation of pace. An interesting battle to see on Saturday will be where Williams slot in, can they leap frog Force India or will they be stuck behind them? Force India had a relatviely trouble free session with only a slight wobble when Nico Hulkenberg reported that there was a small amount of fluid in the cockpit that smelt of fuel.

Force India had a strong session finishing P4 and P5.

Kimi Raikkonen had a mediocre session in the Ferrari only managing sixth place, 5 tenths behind Vettel in 3rd place.

One of the bigger moments in FP1 was a spin that ended the session for Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso. As the Spainard jumped on the brakes going into Parabolica the rear slipped from and he slid straight into the gravel and was beached. The worst part was due to him being stuck on the outside of the track, the car couldn't be returned to the pits, therefore ending his session prematurely.
Sauber and Red Bull were both quiet during the session with the Swiss outfit finishing in 11th and 13th, whilst the Milton-Keynes unit were 7th and 12th.

Monza is the home race of Scuderia Ferrari

Williams were off the pace as they ran larger fuel loads again in practice, but by there standards had a very good sessions. The previous races they find themselves out the top 10 whereas today Massa led Bottas in 8th and 9th.

It was an odd an quiet session for Lotus as they only managed 10th and 15th. They were without there superman Romain Grosjean as Jolyon Palmer took part in his 8th FP1 session of the season.

McLaren once again found themsleves struggling finsihing in 17th and 18th with Alonso leading Jenson Button. Will Stevens also got the better of his team mate at Manor-Marussia.

Lewis Hamilton takes photos with fans before FP1

So what is going to happen in FP2? I think the team to watch is again Force India. After the strong showing in Practice 1 they'll want to back it up. But can Lotus get back on the pace and challenge the Silverstone based outfit? Will Williams challenge them or run there own agenda? and can Ferrari realistically close the gap to the Mercedes at the top?

Practice 2 commences in just under a few hours.

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Italian GP Preview: Every corner just gives you the feeling that you are doing something special - Kvyat

Its only 5 days to the Italian Grand Prix at the famous Speed Temple of Monza. A 5.79km track which it made up mainly of straights split by tight chicanes it will provide an advantage for the Mercedes powered teams.

The weekend will mark the last race of the European season and the 12th of 19th rounds of the Formula 1 season.

As the home race of Ferrari, many fans turn up and huge pressure is on the team to perform. It will be Sebastian Vettel's first race at Monza whilst racing under the prancing horse and we expect a direct fight with the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Lewis Hamilton (Left) and Nico Rosberg (Right)

Teams to watch are again the Mercedes powered, so Lotus and Force India will be a very strong prospect for points in Monza as the Renault powered Red Bulls and Toro Rosso's will be fighting an uphill battle.

Lotus are coming off a strong Belgium Grand Prix as they scored there first podium of the season with Romain Grosjean finishing 3rd. It was Lotus's first podium since USA in 2013. Theoretically Monza should suit the E23 chassis more than what Spa did, so Lotus are definitely the team to watch. With reliability issues plaguing Maldonado again in Spa, Lotus will know the first key to a successful weekend is a trouble free weekend. In an interview Formula1.com Lotus's deputy team principal Fredrico Gastaldi stated “Monza is a fantastic race track. As in Spa, we have good chances to perform well in Italy with the E23 and bring back home a haul of points".

Lotus deputy Team Principal Fredrico Gastaldi.

Force India were a few steps behind Lotus in Spa in terms of experience and race craft. After a good start to the race which saw Sergio Perez into 2nd, Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo managed to pressure Perez to the point where Force India weren't aggressive enough with strategy compared to Lotus. The team would probably have been disappointed to only finish Perez in 5th after starting 4th. Monza should hopefully give them another shot at strong points, and Team Principal Vijay Mallya Force India will definately be looking for strong points and Vijay Mallya has stated on Force India's official Facebook: “Monza is a track where we expect to be competitive. We go there aiming to get both our cars in Q3 on Saturday and in the points on Sunday – that must be our target for all the races to come.”.

Force India race driver Sergio Perez

As usual Mercedes will be strong in Monza but don't fully discount Ferrari. Even though they were off the pace in Spa, this is Monza, this is the home of Ferrari. If theres any a time that Ferrari can pull something out of the bag, its Monza.

The Italian Grand Prix begins tommorow with FP1 starting at usual European times.