Als vanouds ging Vettel van pole van start. Zijn 25e pole. Naast hem stond Hamilton en op de tweede rij Button en Alonso.
Alonso en Schumacher hadden een superstart. Alonso pakte bij de eerste bocht de leiding en Schumacher, als 8e gestart, stootte door naar de derde plaats. Maar daarna ging het mis. De als laatste gestarte Liuzzi verremde zich voor de eerste bocht. Hij kwam op het gras en was meteen de controle over zijn auto volledig kwijt. Hij gleed langs het halve veld en kwam bij de eerste bocht de baan weer op. Petrov en Rosberg konden geen kant meer op en werden uit de race getikt. In de chaos liepen verschillende coureurs schade op, wat in eerder dan geplande pitstops resulteerde.
Reden ook om de safety car te laten uitrukken.
Al snel nadat de race weer van start ging nam Vettel de leiding in de race weer over van Alonso en vanaf dat moment zou zijn leidende positie ook niet meer in gevaar komen. Spannender was het dan ook achter hem. En met name rond de derde plaats, waar nog steeds Schumacher reed.
Zowat de eerste helft van de race kon Schumacher, door zich enorm breed te maken, de snellere Hamilton van zich afhouden. Keer op keer probeerde Hamilton om hem voorbij te steken, maar steeds kwam hij net wat te kort. Hoewel, het lukte hem wel een keer om Schumacher voorbij te gaan, maar Schumacher maakte dat snel ongedaan.
Button was de lachende derde. Nadat Hamilton zich verslikte bij een inhaalpoging kon Button hem voorbij. Button had vervolgens weinig moeite met Schumacher en nam in een knappe inhaalactie de derde plaats van hem over.
Hamilton sloot weer aan achter Schumacher, die zijn positie wederom met hand en tand verdedigde. Pas halverwege de race wist Hamilton een gaatje te vinden om er voorbij te gaan.
Webber had alweer een slechte start. Als 5e gestart viel hij terug tot de 7e plaats. Gretig om plaatsen goed te maken reed hij echter zijn neus kapot op de achterkant van de auto van Massa. In de laatste bocht voor de pits stuiterde hij van de baan af. De eerste keer dit seizoen, dat een Red Bull zou uitvallen.
Nadat Button Schumacher voorbij was gegaan begon hij het gat naar Alonso dicht te rijden. Snel nadat ze beiden hun tweede stop hadden gemaakt en gewisseld waren naar de harde band kon Button de tweede plaats van Alonso overnemen.
In de slotfase had Hamilton het gat naar Alonso nog wel dichtgereden, maar het was te laat om er nog voorbij te gaan. Hamilton moest daarom genoegen nemen met de 4e plaats.
Schumacher werd na een mooie race 5e.
Het kampioenschap kan Vettel niet meer ontgaan. Hij zou zelfs al in de volgende race kampioen kunnen worden.
Alonso staat nu 2e in het kampioenschap, gevolgd door Webber, Button en Hamilton. De strijd om de 2e plaats gaat tussen deze vier.
Lotus Renault
In zijn tweede race voor Lotus Renault heeft Senna zijn eerste punten gescoord.
Bruno Senna, P9
"I’m happy to score my first F1 points today, especially as it was only my second race for the team. Although I started 10th, it was not been an easy job to finish ninth. We suffered some bad luck in the first corner; everybody was cutting the chicane which forced me to drive on the outside, and in the process I lost all the places I had fought so hard for in qualifying. It makes me very happy to know that I am able to put myself in the position of scoring points, and also to fight with the guys who have been doing this for a long time. The pace of the car was clear for all to see, but I wish the race was just one lap longer because I may have been able to pass Paul (Di Resta) for eighth. The team chose a great strategy, the tyre was fast enough where I needed it to be and I am very happy to get my name on the points board. The team did a great job and I am really looking forward to Singapore.
Vitaly Petrov, DNF
“Naturally I am very disappointed with what happened today. I had a reasonable start and, as I was heading into the first chicane, Vitantonio’s HRT came from nowhere and hit me big time, which brought my race to an end. There’s nothing I could have done to avoid this. First of all, I’m happy not to be injured, as the impact was quite strong and it could have been a nasty accident. We have put in so much effort since Spa, at the track, Enstone and Viry, so I’m sorry that wasn’t translated into points today. This is part of racing, but I can’t help thinking that we could have secured a good result. We must now concentrate on Singapore, which will be a real test for us. We will be bringing another technical upgrade with us, before going on to quicker tracks like Japan and Korea, which should suit our car better. On the upside, the car has felt good since the first practice session here; we definitely made a step forward performance-wise and we should have a strong end to the season.”
Eric Boullier, Team Principal and Managing Director
“I have mixed feelings because that first corner cost us dear today; Vitaly was very unfortunate to be out of the race, and Bruno was in eighth at the end of the first lap. However, the team mapped out a very strong strategy, which helped Bruno come all the way back from to ninth. It is good to see him score his first points in F1, and it is clear that if we have a trouble-free race we can finish much higher. We still have some upgrades to come, and if you combine that with the fact that our car has really been on the pace this weekend, we should be confident we can push on from here. As a sport, Formula 1 has once again put on a good show for fans today and we should all be delighted with the quality of racing we have witnessed.”
Team Lotus
Voor Team Lotus was Monza een evenaring van hun beste seizoensresultaat tot nu toe.
Heikki Kovalainen, P13
“I had a great start, passing Jarno and then seeing the HRT coming into T1 in a pretty hardcore style so I avoided that and was then up into a good position early on. I managed to hold that place for a good number of laps and found the tyre degradation pretty easy to manage. The pitstops were really good today – the calls to come in were made at the right times and the whole crew did a great job to get me out so quickly, so thanks to them and the whole team for a good end to the weekend.”
Jarno Trulli, P14
“For once I didn’t have a great start but I managed to avoid the crash at the first corner and luckily Heikki and I were able to get through that and avoid damaging our cars. While I was racing Heikki, I think Massa got into trouble into the first chicane, so I had to go off track to avoid hitting him. When I rejoined the track he shut the door on me, so I went down the inside, kept flat out and managed to overtake him. Then, going into the first corner I had two faster cars behind me with KERS – they had just pressed the button and while going into the second corner Massa lost the car under braking and hit me which forced me into the car next to me, damaging the front end of the car and the front wing. It was really unlucky as I was basically in a sandwich and I was the only one that was damaged! The team did a great job to bring me in , change the nose and then rethink the strategy, switching me to one stop strategy pretty much straight away. From there my lap times were really good and I enjoyed the whole of the rest of the race. I’m really happy about the performance today and the pace was excellent all afternoon. In fact, throughout the whole weekend I have been very happy with the pace of the car overall and this morning’s news about next year’s contract has made this a fantastic home race for me – thanks to the whole team for that!”
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer: “That was a great race for us. Both drivers managed to avoid the carnage at the start but then Jarno lost a bit of time early on after being hit by Massa. That incident meant we had to bring him in to change his front wing, putting him back a few places but we switched his strategy and put him onto a long stint on the soft tyres tyres before changing to the mediums. That change, and the fact he was pushing throughout the whole race, helped him get back in front of his direct opposition and he did well to finish 14th. Heikki was also strong all afternoon and was holding the places he had gained at the start as long as he possibly could - we are all delighted that he brought his car home in 13th without any issues at all as that was the primary goal for today. After a difficult Friday this performance was a great recovery from the team to show how we can bounce back from a difficult start to the weekend. It is been an extremely positive result which sets us up well for Singapore, so well done to everyone.”
Tony Fernandes, Team Principal: “It has been a great day for Team Lotus and, for me, about the best race I have been to so far! To come 13th and 14th at Monza is way above my expectations so I am very proud of both drivers and the whole team. Obviously the race had a number of incidents which helped our final grid positions, but there are two key points for us to take out of today – we were there at the end to take the advantage of the positions that were available and our pace over the race distance was strong enough to keep up with a number of the established teams. Both Heikki and Jarno did an absolutely fantastic job throughout the whole afternoon and they were helped by the pitstop crew who performed brilliantly, and the engineers who made the right calls at the right times. Well done to all. This has been a pivotal few days for our team and we will be making anumber of announcements over the next few weeks that will show just how well we have laid the foundations for the future of our team. But now for me it is back to London and Loftus Road!”
De volgende race is op 25 september in Singapore.
