F1 Race (Italy)
Thursday, 25. September 2008, 21:06:08
Another wet race weekend that was simply dominated by the youngest ever Formula One Grand Prix winner, Sebastian Vettel taking over the record from 2 time world champion Fernando Alonso.
Halfway through the race as I saw it...with 35 laps left Vettel is in for his first stop and back out in 4th place.
32 laps Lewis takes Trulli down the the start/finish but cuts the chicane. 31 laps Heikki, Webber and Massa all pit, allowing Vettel back into the lead. Massa comes out directly behind Kimi who was in 12th.
At one stage, earlier in the race Kimi and Lewis were in 12th and 13th respectively. Lewis in now up in 3rd place and closing in on 2nd place Rosberg.
30 laps to go and Lewis takes Rosberg moving himself up to 2nd with only Vettel ahead. 28 laps and Vettel’s team radio tells him that Lewis will be pitting in 3 laps. 26 laps and as per Vettel’s team radio predictions Hamilton comes in.
25 to go and Rosberg is in with Coulthard going out on inters. 23 Alonso out on inters, out behind the two Toyotas.
20 laps to go and according to Brundle, Alonso is on the right tyre though the way the track looked didn’t quiet justify that statement. Massa is in from 5th also out on inters.
19 Heikki from 2nd comes in for inters along with Webber. 18 Massa takes Webber at the entrance to the Variante Ascari chicane. Webber does a 360 degree spin on the exit. Kimi also comes in for inters.
17 laps to go and Vettel comes in at the perfect time to put on some inters. He leaves the pits with Hamilton just entering the start/finish straight, but Lewis doesn’t cross the line instead he heads into the pits for inters. He comes out in 8th and immediately passes Webber for 7th.
14 laps and standings are. 1st Vettel, 2nd Heikki, 3rd Kubica, 4th Alonso, 5th Heidfeld, 6th Massa, 7th Hamilton, 8th Webber
Only 6 laps to go and Webber has caught up to Lewis lining him up for a pass. 5 to go and Webber had him beaten but Lewis stubbornly and dangerously stood in his way forcing him onto the run off area. Earlier in the race Hamilton had run Glock of onto the grass in worse conditions. He was defended by Brundle stating that Hamilton could not see them
3 Nakajima and Coulthard in a silly clash at Parabolica leaving a bit of carbon fibre in the middle of the track at a blind spot for the following drivers.
Everyone passes it with no punctures and for the weather very little accidents and only One safety car period to start the race.
Sebastian Vettel drives home to his maiden Formula One victory and a new star is born…
Final Standings:
1. Sebastian Vettel, in a class of his own the entire weekend. Quick in practise, got pole position and took the race victory. Huis weekend could not have been better other than maybe his team-mate finishing next to him.
2. Heikki Kovalainen, qualified 2nd, finished second. He should be disappointed as it was his race to lose and second is the first of the losers but compared to his team mate he did well.
3. Robert Kubica, started in 11th and finished third so this was a tremendous result to keep his championship hopes alive.
4. Fernando Alonso, once again in his proven under powered car beat most of the championship contenders. Formula One needs him back in a top team.
5. Nick Heidfeld, started 10th, a bit of bad luck, would have been expected to do slightly better considering his past performances in the wet at Silverstone and Spa.
6. Felipe Massa, finished where he started. Would happy to have finished ahead of Hamilton...only just. One point a race is not enough to catch and pass in the championship.
7. Lewis Hamilton, started from 15th had a pretty lacklustre first half of the race. Struggling to keep up with cars around him but midway through he figured out that he was in a race and got on with it. Some aggressive moves on some drivers in dangerous conditions.
8. Mark Webber, started in 3rd. Not really sure what happened to him. He was involved in quiet few racing incidents. One point but he would be disappointed especially with a 3rd place grid slot.
And a special mention for Sebastien Bourdais. If it isn't Vettel getting involved in first lap incidents then it's Boudais getting the rest of the bad luck. Was to start the race from 4th but the car stalled on the grid as the race got away under safety car conditions immediately putting him one lap down on the pack.
Full Results
(0%)
WIDGETIZE
How to use Quote function: