Race Report: Rosberg dominates Italian GP…in Italian no less

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The Italian Grand Prix always come equipped with speed and a phalanx of passionate Italian Ferrari fans and that adds a lot of pressure to the team but this year, the pressure was punctuated by a rather scathing assessment of the season so far by CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Regardless of the pressure, Ferrari did manage a decent result but strategy, once again, left them shy of s double podium finish. Sebastian Vettel finished third behind the Mercedes duo of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton respectively with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen claiming fourth.

While headlines said that Hamilton “humiliated” Rosberg in qualifying by besting his teammate by nearly three tenths, one presumes then that Rosberg has just humiliated Hamilton pummeling him at the start, taking the lead and calling it hammer time to take the victory. Rosberg took the lead of the race at the start and never looked back putting in a masterful demonstration of just how comprehensively dominant those Mercedes cars are and how to recover your lost points lead to just down to two.

Rosberg’s 21st career win was a technical display of driving but a good strategy and measured recovery drive from Lewis Hamilton ensured he minimized his points damage and kept both Ferrari’s behind him so while it wasn’t a win, it was a recovery that needed to happen and Lewis delivered.

WinWin

A big win for Nico Rosberg who managed to shave the points lead down to just nine in Belgium and again in Italy to just two. Also, what a cunning win for Nico to take a booing crowd and completely one-up Lewis and Sebastian by speaking to the Italian crowd and getting them amped up and thawing the icy reception they gave him.

A win for Daniel Ricciardo who managed to put a nice pass on the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and secure 5th place in a car that seemingly shouldn’t have done as well as Daniel made it do.

I think it has to be a win for Williams getting both cars in the top 10 and moving them back ahead of Force India in the constructor’ battle.

A win for the Italian fans (Tifosi) who turned out in droves and for Monza with a reported deal to secure the race for the next three years.

FailFail

After a terrific qualifying lap, Lewis Hamilton’s start was a fail and at a track like Monza, you can’t make those mistakes and hope to win. The speed is too great, race too short and challenge too big without help, weather or attrition—especially when your teammate is in an equally dominant car.

A fail for Manor who mechanically robbed Pascal Werhlein of a terrific race result as he was running near the top 10 all day.

One could argue it was a fail for Ferrari but if I’m honest, I’m not sure they had the pace on the initial super-soft run to really make their strategy work so I can’t fault them for missing the “opportunity” of getting both cars on the podium as I am not convinced it was quite the “opportunity” the broadcasters claimed it to be.

I do think a fail for Haas F1 with strategy and driving. Strategy on Romain Grosjean’s part and driving for Esteban Gutierrez.

WTHWTH

A WTH for Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and his move on Renault’s Jolyon Palmer ending both their races.

Also, a WTH for Fernando Alonso…was he laughing at his team when they radioed him about strategy? Ron won’t like that…he won’t like that at all. Maybe there’s a deeper reason they’re keeping Jenson around in 2017 after all.

Italian GP results:

PosDriverCarGap
1Nico RosbergMercedes1h17m28.089s
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes15.070s
3Sebastian VettelFerrari20.990s
4Kimi RaikkonenFerrari27.561s
5Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/Renault45.295s
6Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes51.015s
7Max VerstappenRed Bull/Renault54.236s
8Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes1m04.954s
9Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes1m05.617s
10Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes1m18.656s
11Romain GrosjeanHaas/Ferrari1 Lap
12Jenson ButtonMcLaren/Honda1 Lap
13Esteban GutierrezHaas/Ferrari1 Lap
14Fernando AlonsoMcLaren/Honda1 Lap
15Carlos SainzToro Rosso/Ferrari1 Lap
16Marcus EricssonSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
17Kevin MagnussenRenault1 Lap
18Esteban OconManor/Mercedes2 Laps
Daniil KvyatToro Rosso/FerrariRetirement
Pascal WehrleinManor/MercedesRetirement
Jolyon PalmerRenaultCollision
Felipe NasrSauber/FerrariCollision

Drivers’ Championship

PosDriverPoints
1Lewis Hamilton250
2Nico Rosberg248
3Daniel Ricciardo161
4Sebastian Vettel143
5Kimi Raikkonen136
6Max Verstappen121
7Valtteri Bottas70
8Sergio Perez62
9Nico Hulkenberg46
10Felipe Massa41
11Fernando Alonso30
12Carlos Sainz30
13Romain Grosjean28
14Daniil Kvyat23
15Jenson Button17
16Kevin Magnussen6
17Pascal Wehrlein1
18Stoffel Vandoorne1
19Esteban Gutierrez0
20Jolyon Palmer0
21Marcus Ericsson0
22Felipe Nasr0
23Rio Haryanto0
24Esteban Ocon0

Constructors’ Championship

PosConstructorPoints
1Mercedes498
2Red Bull/Renault290
3Ferrari279
4Williams/Mercedes111
5Force India/Mercedes108
6McLaren/Honda48
7Toro Rosso/Ferrari45
8Haas/Ferrari28
9Renault6
10Manor/Mercedes1
11Sauber/Ferrari0

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jakobusvdl

I just saw a news clip of Rosberg’s performance on the podium. That was pretty brave to get the crowd singing, could have fallen flat, but seemed to get an awesome response. Celebrating with the Tifosi too! Great stuff. I’m gutted that because I’m travelling I’ve missed seeing an exciting Spa and now Monza weekend.
Jeez this hybrid p.u era is creating some great racing ;-)

Dr T

Actually I think it is having three tire choices that has “spiced up the show” as NC would say

jakobusvdl

Good point Dr T, the additional tyre choice gas certainly been a factor this year, for the front of the grid. But I’d still argue that in the first two seasons of the hybrids, behind the Mercedes the racing has been good.

Zachary Noepe

It is interesting, right? the new engines are hated nearly universally by drivers and fans alike, yet the racing has been pretty good lately.

jakobusvdl

I wonder if part of it is improved tv coverage, so we get to see the dices through the field, not just the front two or three cars.

mini696

How long until RBR ditch Max for Carlos?

Max Johnson

Don’t think Max is going anywhere for a long time.

longshot

Max’s only blemish this weekend was a bad start, which can happen to anyone. He recovered well, his race pace was decent, and unlike last week he didn’t pull any teenage moves. It would take a very serious meltdown on Max’s part for RBR to replace him with Carlos, I can’t see that happening.

mini696

For the record I was having a bit of a laugh.

bruteMax

What’s so great about Nico’s interaction with the tifosi is that it was genuine, and it came about after he received some booing cuz y’know – not ferrari. Awesome stuff Nico! This was more than Lewis or Seb patting the crowd on the head saying “wow best crowd ever”.

Max Johnson

Guess it was a good decision for Button to take a sabbatical, given the reg changes and F1 buyout, just sitting aside to see how its all blow over.

Paul KieferJr

…and we have a brand new ball game.

Imaginos

I agree completely about Ferrari’s so-called “missed opportunity.” Their strategy only seems odd if you assume they’re after a win, but if Ferrari had already let Mercedes go and were committed to racing (and beating) RBR, it’s a little clearer. On Friday, Vettle was quoted as saying that Mercedes is in a “world of their own” at Monza…so…not like they didn’t see it coming.

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A relatively straightforward affair if you consider botching the start and letting your teammate dominate the show. Nico needed a reversal of fortunes and not just because Lewis took a penalty. To be fair, Nico's gains are being made on Lewis's penalties and mistakes but that's F1. Race Report: Rosberg dominates Italian GP...in Italian no less
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