How Barrichello won and what happened to Grosjean (Italian Grand Prix analysis)
Heikki Kovalainen couldn't match Rubens Barrichello's one-stop pace
A one-stop strategy worked wonders for Rubens Barrichello in the Italian Grand Prix. That, and an excellent qualifying performance against his team mate.
Meanwhile Romain Grosjean had an off-track adventure that seemed to go unnoticed by the TV cameras. This and more in the Italian Grand Prix analysis.
Lap 1
Italian Grand Prix - position change on lap 1 (click to enlarge)
The KERS cars didn’t make their usual multiple positions gains on the first lap at Monza. This was partly because three of them qualified in the top four places and so had few places to make up.
Three KERS cars – those of Heikki Kovalainen, Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean – managed to lose ground, being crowded out on Monza’s narrow straights. Alonso was edged onto the gravel by Vitantonio Liuzzi at the first chicane.
Giancarlo Fisichella made up three places, but so did the KERS-less Robert Kubica, who started in front of him.
One stop or two?
Italian Grand Prix - one stop versus two (click to enlarge)
Before the race began Kovalainen’s heavy fuel load meant he looked in with a good chance of winning. But right from the off he couldn’t maintain a competitive pace and lost a lot of ground.
As well as losing any chance of winning for himself he wasn’t able to keep the Brawn duo behind him even for the first few laps, which might have helped Lewis Hamilton later on in the race.
Barrichello’s performance was very impressive, starting on Saturday when he out-qualified his team mate in a heavier car. No wonder he didn’t want to change his gearbox and sacrifice his advantage on the grid.
What happened to Romain Grosjean?
Grosjean’s second lap was a surprisingly slow 1’36.625, while most drivers were getting into the high 1’20s:
Romain Grosjean's lap times (click to enlarge)
What happened? Adam wrote in with a likely explanation:
Just thought you might like to see my picture of what happened to Grosjean the TV cameras didn’t catch. It was an amazing save on the exit of Parabolica!
Grosjean spinning at Parabolica (picture courtesy of Adam)
Adam saw the spin on lap two – there’s another picture of Grosjean’s spin here. Looks like the new Renault driver had some inconsistent laps in his final stint too, though they might have been because he was being lapped.
Fastest laps
| Rank | Driver | Fastest lap | Deficit to fastest lap | Laps within 1% of personal best |
| 1 | Adrian Sutil | 84.739 | 0 | 21 |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen | 84.761 | 0.022 | 20 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 84.802 | 0.063 | 35 |
| 4 | Jenson Button | 84.935 | 0.196 | 30 |
| 5 | Rubens Barrichello | 84.967 | 0.228 | 32 |
| 6 | Heikki Kovalainen | 85.109 | 0.37 | 14 |
| 7 | Sebastian Vettel | 85.194 | 0.455 | 13 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | 85.199 | 0.46 | 12 |
| 9 | Nick Heidfeld | 85.488 | 0.749 | 20 |
| 10 | Giancarlo Fisichella | 85.498 | 0.759 | 14 |
| 11 | Sebastien Buemi | 85.564 | 0.825 | 13 |
| 12 | Romain Grosjean | 85.609 | 0.87 | 4 |
| 13 | Jarno Trulli | 85.7 | 0.961 | 9 |
| 14 | Timo Glock | 85.751 | 1.012 | 16 |
| 15 | Nico Rosberg | 85.901 | 1.162 | 7 |
| 16 | Kazuki Nakajima | 85.976 | 1.237 | 18 |
| 17 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | 86.041 | 1.302 | 13 |
| 18 | Robert Kubica | 87.819 | 3.08 | 9 |
| 19 | Jaime Alguersuari | 87.846 | 3.107 | 12 |
| No time | Mark Webber | No time | No time | No time |
Race charts
Italian Grand Prix race chart (click to enlarge)
There was little racing elsewhere in the field but Alonso deserves praise for his lap four pass on Kovalainen. Executed in an only slightly light car, and one that’s no match for the McLaren even with KERS, Alonso maintained his advantage until the end of the race and scored a solid fifth place.
There are many rumours about his future, and this underlines why it would be a waste for him to spend a third season in an uncompetitive car in 2010.
Italian Grand Prix lap chart
More on the Italian Grand Prix
- Barrichello leads one-two as Brawn are back on top (Italian Grand Prix)
- Italian Grand Prix in pictures
- Italian Grand Prix stats and facts
- Rate the race: Italian Grand Prix
- Italian Grand Prix result
- Rate the race: Italian Grand Prix
- Hamilton’s light car leaves him vulnerable (Italian GP fuel weights and strategy)
- Lewis Hamilton beats Adrian Sutil to pole (Italian Grand Prix qualifying)
- Italian Grand Prix qualifying in pictures
IDR said on 15th September 2009, 13:46
OFF TOPIC:
BMW-Sauber has an agreement with an investment Swiss group.
LOTUS (Cosworth powered) has been admitted as the 13th team for next year.
Good news both cases!
mp4-19b said on 15th September 2009, 15:47
I dunno what kind of a Lotus it is.If rumors are to be believed, this new Lotus are building their own R&D center at Sepang itself. I sincerely hope that they do not dilute the “ORIGINAL” Lotus brand name. Its legendary in its own rights.
Wesley said on 15th September 2009, 17:57
According to Yahoo News (AFP),the buyers of BMW will be using Ferrari engines.
Alex-Ctba said on 15th September 2009, 13:57
Lotus ??????
FLIG said on 15th September 2009, 14:21
According to italian and spanish press, Renault is considering “getting rid” of Briatore as soon as possible, so the punishment doesn’t befall the team, then, after the elections at FIA, he’d get back.
They’re desperate. Why don’t they just get rid of Briatore and find someone who can do the job without cheating?
sumedh said on 15th September 2009, 14:32
Just like Mclaren had to get rid of Ron Dennis in order to escape serious consequences.
mp4-19b said on 15th September 2009, 16:27
Many people are under the impression that Ron was forced to step down due to the Liegate in Melbourne. They are wrong. Ron stepped down as Team Principal of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes on March 1st 2009. The first race was on march 29th. But he continuous to be the CEO of The McLaren Group & the F1 team is a part of it. I dunno who suggested that Ron gave way cuz of the lie gate. Its absolutely wrong.
Ruudje said on 15th September 2009, 17:23
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8001425.stm
he stepped down on the 16th of april. (although it was planned to be the 1st of march.)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7833402.stm
Alex-Ctba said on 15th September 2009, 14:26
Guilherme Teixeira
and he had started with hard tires maybe was the key to victory because of track conditions in the second stint
mp4-19b said on 15th September 2009, 15:41
agreed
GP1 said on 15th September 2009, 15:12
“Alonso maintained his advantage until the end of the race and scored a solid fifth place.
There are many rumours about his future, and this underlines why it would be a waste for him to spend a third season in an uncompetitive car in 2010.”
That’s perfecty right, every driver who can gain three places at race should get more competitive car for next season
GeeMac said on 15th September 2009, 15:22
Sorry to be even further off the topic bu this is news hot off the press: Lotus will be the 13th team on the F1 grid next year with Mike Gascoyne as Technical Director. The team is Malaysian backed. FIA have given BMW Sauber the right to be 14th on next years grid. The FIA will be trying to get all teams to agree to have 14 teams on the grid next year.
Sorry again for being of the topic, but I thought you’d all like to know.
Articles on autosport.com and f1.com
GeeMac said on 15th September 2009, 15:27
I just noticed IDR beat me to it, I wanted to be the first to break the news! :-)
Chris said on 15th September 2009, 15:52
Why is there no penalty for people crashing without provocation. The excuse that this particulart driver is fast and he always goes to win does not justify his immature act. The crash was deliberate and unprovoked. It could have been a game changer for others as well.
He put marshals, fans and others at risk.
Should there not be at least 5 place penalty in next race for such acts and infact for every crash by any driver?
Martin said on 15th September 2009, 15:57
Who are you talk of??
Nirupam said on 15th September 2009, 16:04
You talking of Hamilton?? Cm’n!
I am not a big Lewis fan at all, but I think at least in this case he did exactly what he was supposed to do, i.e. pushing hard all the time. I agree it did cost McLaren some valuable points, but the situation could well have been reversed bar the spin.
GP1 said on 15th September 2009, 16:15
that’s right and McLaren should be fined 50 million and money given to Ferrari for all they drivers salaries…
mp4-19b said on 15th September 2009, 16:22
I don’t think 50 million will suffice GP1 ;) . They currently have Kimi,Massa,Fisi,Badoer,Gene,Alonso & Mr Veto as contracted drivers. Maybe you gotta add another zero to your quoted amount for ferrari to be pleased ;)
Thestig84 said on 15th September 2009, 16:10
Lewis is a racer and thats what they should do, race to the flag. He gave us a finish to the race by making Button push thus making Bar push. If LH gave up then the 2 Brawns would have turned everything down and the last 10 laps would have been a non event.
Thanks for giving us a full RACE mclaren and Lewis, better luck next time.
Alex-Ctba said on 15th September 2009, 16:11
Chris
will not get punishment for Hamilton because he is not fighting for championship and also because it makes no sense what you’re saying
mp4-19b said on 15th September 2009, 16:15
I was meant to be a joke, wasn’t it Chris??
Martin said on 15th September 2009, 17:31
I would really like to know if he just got wheel wrong or if something in the rear broke. His exit on the other laps didnt look that different.
I did like the fact that he continued to push Button for a better poition and that Button would respond with faster laps to keep him at bay.
mp4-19b said on 15th September 2009, 18:01
If you closely observe the CRASH You’ll be able to notice that the left front tire has excess amount of positive camber. Very strange indeed. very seldom do mechanics setup the suspension for positive camber. Now we know that negative camber improves grip when cornering, its is because it places the tire at an optimal angle to the road, transmitting the forces through the vertical plane of the tire, rather than through a shear force across it.Another reason for negative camber is that a rubber tire tends to roll on itself while cornering. Since Monza primarily comprises of straights, suspension has to be setup for maximum straight-line acceleration .The highest traction will be attained when the camber angle is zero and the tread is flat on the road, but since the mclaren mp4-24 uses double wishbone suspension, the camber angles can always be adjusted. Unlike the macpherson strut suspension, where it is usually fixed. Now to get through the Lesmo’s you need very high levels of mechanical grip. But the video suggests that the suspension setup was a positive camber one, so it would have meant losing too much grip coming out of the exit. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a suspension failure. Especially after examining that on-board shot, it seem highly likely.
Hallard said on 15th September 2009, 21:47
Losing grip on the left front tire due to excessive positive camber would cause understeer, not the oversteer that wrecked hamilton.
Steph90 said on 15th September 2009, 17:24
Hardly Singapore
;)Hamilton just fought until end of race that’s all like drivers are supposed to, he just stepped over the limit. You can’t fine or penalise them every time for of these things happen otherwise Piquet and Nakajima would have been fined every single time they crashed and would now be bankrupt.
Noelinho said on 15th September 2009, 17:35
Interesting that Barrichello won, yet set only the second-fastest lap.
Antifia said on 15th September 2009, 17:38
The Piquetgate saga keeps on getting better. Now Symonds have reportedly been offered immunity by the FIA to come clean on the whole story. Meanwhile, Piquet Sr. gave an interview to a Spanish newspaper saying that he believes Alonso must have known what was going on…the reason? who would agree to a stupid strategy as the one he was racing on?
PF1 is showing a rather cagey statement by Symonds to the FIA that has leaked on the internet – in it he refuses to answer key and direct questions about the incident.
Keith: Do you have more info on it?
Hallard said on 15th September 2009, 18:01
Driver of the race: Rubens, for a fast consistent drive and getting the most out of his strategy. Also for taking points out of Button and tightening the gap.
Honorable Mentions: Liuzzi, for proving he is worthy of a full-time drive. Fisi, for almost sneaking into points and being nowhere near as bad as Badoer. Lewis, for charging hard until the last lap and taking the risk. Brass balls.
James_mc said on 15th September 2009, 18:34
:-)
Alex-Ctba said on 15th September 2009, 18:31
And which was the official version of the Lewis’s crash ?
Alex-Ctba said on 15th September 2009, 18:36
I mean “what”…