Rate the race result: 2011 Italian Grand Prix

2011 Italian Grand Prix

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Start, Monza, 2011

The Italian Grand Prix all-but ended the competition for this year’s championship.

But even so it was the 11th race this year to be given a rating of seven out of ten or higher by F1 Fanatic readers.

Here’s what F1 Fanatics had to say about the race.

Fixy appreciated a scintillating start:

The opening laps were amazing, with a big crash and great starts by Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher. I liked watching Sebastian Vettel pass Alonso, and all the laps where Hamilton was battling with Schumacher and later Jenson Button.
Fixy

Mads thought the race had an anti-climatic end:

Vettel running away with it was a little boring, but at least it was unexpected to see him dominate and win on a track that generally is very bad for Red Bull.

Sadly the battles died out by the end of the race and that was a bit of a shame. Hamilton hunting down Alonso was good, but it was a bit of a long shot.
mads

2011 average race
ratings so far

China9.241
Canada9.095
Germany8.43
Hungary8.344
Britain7.96
Malaysia7.775
Belgium7.772
Monaco7.684
Italy7.494
Spain7.319
Turkey7.306
Australia6.751
Europe3.871

We’ve become used to seeing very high reliability in F1. But several cars dropped out at Monza, which disappointed Shu:

The loss of so many cars in the first half (eight I think) deprived us of more drama in the second half. I would’ve liked to have seen what Vitaly Petrov and Sergio Perez (on a one-stopper) were capable of today.
Shu

Schumacher’s defending against Hamilton was a major talking point. Rumfresh had this to say:

The racing between Schumacher and Hamilton looked fair and exciting.

Whether or not a penalty would be applied if the roles were reversed is not a discussion we need to have, as we have no way of knowing whether or not either statement is true.

In any case, Hamilton defined it as ‘racing’ and that is exactly what it was. I see no foul play.
Rumfresh

While Vettel can seal his second world championship at the next race in Singapore, there are many who don’t mind an early championship conclusion:

I don’t really care if Vettel wins, so long as the races are good, which Italy really was!
Lin1876

This year the championship is dead and buried, but the races are still very exciting. And they will keep being exciting when the championship is mathematically sealed. I know what I prefer.
mads

The championship is a snoozer, definitely, but the individual races are brilliant.
flowerdew

But Toby feels the footage from FOM leaves something to be desired:

I would appreciate a few more on board shots (perhaps of some lower-down-the-order teams) and more side-on shots, so that the viewers can really appreciate how quickly these cars travel.
Toby

How do you think the Italian Grand Prix compared to the other races this year? Have your say in the comments.

2011 Italian Grand Prix

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    37 comments on “Rate the race result: 2011 Italian Grand Prix”

    1. The first two-thirds of the race were brilliant, the last third did quieten down quite significantly. I guess if there were a few more drivers on the track it could have made things a little more interesting for the mid-field.

      I was so frustrated seeing Rosberg get shunted out at the first corner, that tyre strategy could have been something really special, given the high straight-line speed of the W02. For me, that was equally as tantalising as the Vettel/Alonso/Button situation in Moncaco, but oh well, nevermind!

      Quite surprised it’s so far down the ‘rate the race’ table to be honest! But a 7.5 is still very respectable.

      1. I’m with you on this. The last third was more calm, but that didn’t take away the excitingness of the previous part of the race. The genuine battle between Schumacher and Hamilton was very welcome, and I as well am surprised it wasn’t rated higher, because I enjoyed it a lot.

        1. Quite surprised it’s so far down the ‘rate the race’ table to be honest! But a 7.5 is still very respectable.

          It shows how good this season has been if a very exciting race is the fifth worst of the season.

          1. It shows how good this season has been if a very exciting race is the fifth worst of the season.

            Very much true Daykind!

    2. Could we please scrap the European GP in Valencia and go to Donnington?

      1. They tried that once (though Donington was in the place of Silverstone). It was an absolute disaster.

        And despite all the calls to leave Valencia, the circuit has a contract. And that contract is not easily broken. It would be cheaper and easier to modify the existing circuit to be more conductive to good racing than it would be to tear up the contract and go somewhere else.

        1. Describe changes you would like to see…

          1. Simple: cut out the chicanes. The first sector should be flat out to the bridge, and the three corners at the bottom of the circuit – where Webber flipped it – should be condensed to one corner. The whole circuit could be a little narrower, too.

            1. Interesting idea about skipping turns three and four. I guess they are there for potential passing. the new approach to the bridge would require drivers to have a “big set”…still uncertain about your proposal for the “hairpin” area. Your idea has merit and someone should propose it to the organizers. This place isn’t a fan favorite and has become vunerable as so many new tracks are begging for the chance to host.
              Singapore made small changes after the first race…Valencia should consider your your vision.

        2. If Bernie gets his way with new circuits, and I see he is pushing for South Africa and Mexico, then somethings got to give. Especially as the FIA and the teams seem to want 20 races/season max.

    3. The ingredients for the highest rated races, McLaren victory, then anyone but Vettel (even Alonso), coincedence perhaps!

      1. Considering that this year’s Canadian Grand Prix involved Jenson Button going from last place to first in thirty laps while racing in variable conditions, I don’t think there’s any coincidence at all. It was just damn good racing.

        And if you look at Shanghai, the lead changed nine different times, Webber recovered from 18th on the grid to finish 3rd (and only getting Button on the final lap), and it featured the first legitimate on-track overtake for the lead in years. So what if Lewis Hamilton won? The race probably would have had a high rating if a Russian, a Venezuelan, a Mexican, a Belgian, a Finn or an Indian won it.

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          20th September 2011, 15:02

          Sometimes non-English people (as me) wonder if the polls results have some one-sided way… as far as I know we can complain about it as having a free opinion, but in the end let’s accept the majority of people on this blog are English. It’s like entering to a Japanese house with my shoes on and complain against the hosts for their making me take them off. I’m not saying this is a bad page, it’s just to give my humble opinion about people who always say… “well you think in that way because Hamilton , or Button or McLaren won!” and I’m a Vettel fan! but let’s accept all of us, as humans, have sometimes difficulties in getting feelings out of neutral opinions.
          PS. Don’t ban me please it’s just an opinion

          1. the majority of people on this blog are English

            For the eighteen millionth time, no they aren’t, and I should know:

            https://www.racefans.net/forum/topic.php?id=437

            The majority of readers on F1 Fanatic are not English. And the majority of readers on F1 Fanatic are not British, either.

            1. UK: 33%
              2nd highest USA: 12%

              The Brits may not be the majority, but they clearly are teh largest minority…. but far!

              @ PM, a coincidence is two things happening that may appear linked but aren’t. Your sentence ‘don’t think there’s any coincidence at all’ is exactly the opposite to what your saying. I think you mean ‘I think there it is a coincidence’ i.e. the most exciting races just happen to have a Brit winning, their not linked, just a mere coincidence to put it another way.

            2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
              20th September 2011, 15:28

              well, if they aren’t majority, my big apologize!!!

            3. You know exactly what he means. English people constitute the largest group of people who read this site – and by a long way. It’s not even close. So instead of playing semantics, why not just accept that his point has some credence?

            4. I’m not “playing semantics”, nor am I keen to trudge through this tired and desperately boring argument based on flawed reasoning yet again. Dig up all the old comments on it if you’re that keen to.

            5. And one has to wonder how many of those 33% of F1Fanatics with UK IP adresses are in fact people using a proxy server from a completely different country (for using the red button etc, not all that unlikely!)

            6. It’s not semantics, British people only make up one third of the comments. two thirds are made up of NON British people. Doesn’t matter that they all come from different places. They have the majority voice.

            7. And one has to wonder how many of those 33% of F1Fanatics with UK IP adresses are in fact people using a proxy server from a completely different country

              And where is it written that those 33% of fans absolutely must support British drivers? I’m Australian, but I don’t support Webber or Ricciardo. They aren’t even in my top five favourite drivers on the grid, or even my top ten (just about the only people they are beating are Alonso and Trulli).

              And likewise, when you look at the results of the Rate the Race polls for Canada and China, both races had over 70% of people rate them 9/10 or more. Assuming that a) everyone on the blog voted, and b) all the British people rated the race at least 9/10, then a substantial proportion of the votes came from outside the UK.

          2. I don’t think it’s biased at all. Both of those McLaren wins were come from behind victories so obviously those would be rated higher.

        2. I’m not sure how “legitimate” that on-track overtake really was. With the tire strategy, Vettel’s tires were shot and it was a pretty easy overtake as a result. Even Webber talked down his amazing race “18 to 3” because he felt it was more down to tires than anything stunning on his part. The on track over take in Canada and the on track battle between Button/Hamilton for the lead in Hungary were much more interesting and legitimate, imo (between 2 cars equally matched).

    4. I would appreciate a few more on board shots (perhaps of some lower-down-the-order teams) and more side-on shots, so that the viewers can really appreciate how quickly these cars travel.

      They had a fly-by-wire camera set up at Silverstone, down at the bottom of the Wellington Straight, so you saw the cars come through the new Brooklands corner, and then it pivoted to track them around Luffield and Woodcote. It was a really nice set-up, and something that I think everyone enjoyed. It would be great if FOM could set one up to lock onto a car and travel with it for the length of a straight – but the problem is that the camera would have to be travelling as fast as the car, which simply isn’t possible. They tried it at Bathurst a few years ago, with the fly-by-wire mounted over the pit wall, but the cars were driving faster than the camera could move. The alternative would be to fix a stationary camera perpendicular to the track at the speedtrap to catch the cars as they zip past.

      One thing FOM could experiment with is ‘kerb-cam’. They do it in the V8s all the time: a camera is mounted in the kerbings right at the apex of a corner so the cars hammer over it at speed (kind of like that camera at Valencia embedded in the wall after the blind apex in the third sector). It’s a fantastic shot – they did it at Philip Island’s Hayshed last weekend – but because the camera itself is quite small, the picture quality is lower. They could do it at Singapore, fixing it in the Singapore Sling. But I think people would complain about the poor quality.

      Another camera they like to use in the V8s is the ‘foot-cam’, set up in the footwell so you can see the driver accelerating and braking. This is usually accompanied by a split-screen setup, with half dedicated to the ‘foot-cam’ and the other half being a standard on-board camera, so you can see the braking points. Who wouldn’t want to watch a lap of Singapore from the McLaren’s front wing camera while seeing Jenson Button’s footwork? After all, Singapore is the busiest lap with all the accelerating and braking. The only problem with this is that there’s no room in the cockpit for a camera to fit.

    5. Interesting views again. Thanks for putting this together Daniel.

    6. Thanks for the mention Keith, I really appreciate it!

      1. 20 September 2011 by Daniel Thomas

        It was actually Daniel who wrote the article, thank him as well! I do, this is only my second mention on an F1F article and I’m proud of it! Thanks!

      2. As Fixy says, Dan wrote this, but you’re welcome!

        1. oops, thank you Dan! I’ve been reading this blog for two years now and only got an account last month so this is really helping me feel welcome.

          1. And a worthwhile contribution it has been already RumFRESH, welcome to put in your say!

            1. Thanks buddy!

    7. No need to blow a gasket guys, just an observation on my first impressions on the ratings. Was Monaco really a better/more entertaining/more memorable etc race than Monza, Vettel ovartaking Alonso around the outside with two wheels on the grass, wasn’t made easier by being in a DRS zone, brilliant skill and commitment from the two of them. Schumacher and Hamilton twenty odd laps of racing, even though they gave us a few moments of ‘clenching’, none of them gave the impression that they were not 100 percent in control. Jenson Button after losing out at the start almost ‘magically’ made it up to second place. Just my oppinion that five world champions put on a display of fantastic skill.
      I live in the UK and im British. Great race.

      1. A lot more went on at Monaco. The leading trio were covered by little more than a second for a long time. Plus we had Hamilton’s antics and a big crash. And the novelty of overtaking at Monaco.

        Monza wasn’t without its moments, but I’m not at all surprised Monaco is ahead. Had it not been for the unfortunate circumstances of the red flag the race would probably have had an even higher rating.

      2. @Ernie Becclestone I do think Monaco was a more gripping race than monza, as we had more going on and it was a bit like Schu-Ham going on for just as long, but for the lead. And there were good overtakes or attempts at them, all over the field.

        The fact Monaco is only a tad above Italy in ranking is surely the fact that it proved a bit of an anticlimax with the red flag short before the end.

        1. themagicofspeed (@)
          20th September 2011, 20:35

          I dont think Monaco can be counted as a race, because with 6 laps to go the FIA decided the result automatically by allowing cars to change tyres, leading of course to Vettel putting on a new set of tyres and depriving us of the fight.

          I really wanted to see what would happen if Vettel’s tyres had gone, and the FIA effectively fixed the result. I was and still remain disgusted with it, dont know if anyone else feels robbed of the genuine racing that would have happened?

          1. The red flag wasn’t thrown to allow drivers to change tyres, it was thrown because there was concern over the safety of one of the drivers who had crashed.

            There’s no rule to stop drivers from changing tyres or having more extensive repairs, as in the case of Lewis Hamilton.

            It was unfortunate that it took the heat out of the battle of the front. But ‘fixed’? Hardly.

    8. scratch my memory….. China’s got 9.2?

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