F1 Fanatic

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

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