Rate the race: 2013 Italian Grand Prix

2013 Italian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Italian Grand Prix.

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Rate the 2013 Italian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (2%)
  • 9 (2%)
  • 8 (10%)
  • 7 (21%)
  • 6 (27%)
  • 5 (19%)
  • 4 (10%)
  • 3 (5%)
  • 2 (2%)
  • 1 (3%)

Total Voters: 648

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2013 Italian Grand Prix

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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243 comments on “Rate the race: 2013 Italian Grand Prix”

  1. I’m not a fan of DRS, but if it has to be used… I thought it was at the right level today.

    1. I thought DRS was just about right today too. Must be the tiny wings they all seem to be running.

      1. Still produced too many boringly unexciting highway passes for my liking.

        When you had a couple cars in a line it didn’t do much as they all hit the rev-limiters in the tow but when you have just 2 cars alone its still too effective more often than not.
        Couple of the DRS-passes (Especially with Lewis towards the end) would have been done without DRS so its not needed.

        1. +1 plenty of passing, but passing is not hte same as overtaking

      2. That’s what I was thinking. It probably have such a large effect on such low downforce setups.

  2. I’m bored – Vttel is good and the Red Bull is a great car but yawn!

    1. Watch the Mercs, Maccas and Lotuses – they’re usually mixing it up a bit :-)

    2. It only got boring when the tyres were changed despite it being against all of the rules of F1.

      If the tyres were left, the teams that made their cars for them Ferrari, Lotus and Force india would still be performing well. We would have a fair balanced season and a good battle for the title rather than 1 car show.

      It all a bit embarrassing for F1 and everyone supporting it.

      1. Totally agree. How is it possible to change the tires and destroy competition? But RedBull is like dark force and they can.

      2. No I’m sorry, after Silverstone there was absolutely no way they could retain the old tyres. Not a chance. Spa would’ve been an utter shambles if they had.

        1. @vettel1
          I completely agree with you there is nothing more important than safety but it is not that the tyres were badly made that the change should be in favor of one team, Red Bull has been moaning to get back to the 2012 spec-tyres with Kevlar structures, i remember Helmut Marko saying after the start of the season that the RB9 is the car with the highest level of downforce and if they were running last year’s tyres the would have been 0.5s faster than anyone else and that exactly what happened since the introduction of the new tyres in Hungary Red Bull’s pace even in practise has been unreachable for the competition, only the layout of the Hungaroring and a miracle from Hamilton in Q3 prevented Red Bull to dominate that GP
          I’m not downplaying Vettel’s victories with my words because we know him if he has the right car then he can do the job but those are facts, Vettel could still win at Spa & Monza with the old tyres but at least like Germany he could have been challenged by other drivers

          1. @tifoso1989 it has played into their hands, but the change had to be done. They’ve tried to keep it as close to the old tyres as possible (retaining the original compounds, which is what Red Bull were initially lobbying to get changed) but it’s just an ineluctable consequence that the perfomance apple cart will be upset.

            I personally wasn’t too bothered if they retained the old tyres pre-Silverstone as long as there weren’t too many repeats of Barcelona (which I felt was an incredibly dreary race) but it was a necessary evil after Silverstone, sadly for some.

            If Pirelli could just construct the tyres properly for next season though (which they should as they’ve had much more testing time – a good move – and less necessity to artificially worsen the tyres) we hopefully won’t have to have a repeat of the farce!

          2. @vettel1
            The teams will have so many variables to deal with next year that it is impossible to think that Pirelli will mess with their 2014 tyres, it will be a complete disaster for them and the teams , we already saw what aggressive tyres can make with cars in stable regulations the tyres will be conservative and easy to learn

          3. @tifoso1989 they’ve said it themselves, they’re just going to make “normal” tyres – no fooling around. Good move, considering nobody quite knows how the extra low-end torque and energy recovery boost will affect the tyres.

      3. It wasn’t against the rules, and it wasn’t only Red Bull asking for different tyres.

        1. it was against the rules to change them mid season. Rules have since been changed. But at the time they were.

          Right or wrong it has won(or helped, he may of anyway) vettel/RBR the title.

          I most feel sorry for force india they been well and truly screwed over.

        2. @dennis is correct – it’s perfectly legal to do so in the interests of safety, in which case it has to be FIA approved. So unless you think the FIA are favouring Red Bull then your argument holds no validity.

          1. Obviously the second sentence applies to q85!

    3. Since tyre drama in early season and resulting changes, the remaining season has gone down like a spiral in terms of interestingness.

  3. 7 – first half was average at best, but Hamilton and Räikkönen being out of place on particular created some nice on-track action, Webber was nicely pressurising Alonso and the tension with the Red Bull gearboxes added a nice spice to the end of the race.

    Still an easy win though, and the championship is just going further and further towards Vettel. 53 points now…

    1. I know it’s Italy but come on guys, show a bit of respect.

      1. @vettel1 The way Vettel dealt with the crowd in an interview was just top-class! Served them right.

        1. @huhhii I noticed a subtle dig, which was absolutely fair enough :)

          1. The dig back was fair. And the booing isnt right.

            But alot of people lost respect for him after malaysia. He doesnt have class but is a very class racing driver.

          2. I disagree that disobeying team orders loses you class as I think no driver should be prevented from racing (which is why I found the early overtake on Massa from Alonso a bit sour) but fair enough, as long as you then don’t consider Webber a class person…

          3. the booing isnt right.

            Agreed.

            But a lot of people lost respect for him after Malaysia

            That’s their problem. If you expect a world class racing driver to leave a single point on the table when it’s there to be had then you don’t understand motor racing. Vettel has won two of his three world championships by less than the seven points he gained by passing Webber. He absolutely did the right thing.

          4. @keithcollantine . He races for Red Bull Racing . They prepare the car . He may be brash and take the car to its limit . But it is a disrespect if he assumes he is on top of everything on the car and the tyres when there are people employed at the track side to do just that .

            I am not saying what vettel did was wrong . Its his attitude after winning and complete arrogance over other drivers that people don’t like .

          5. It really shows how clever he is and how well he understands the emotions around him. Lovely way of reacting I thought!

          6. “He doesn’t have class.”

            What an utterly stupid thing to say.

          7. dennis i said he was a class driver, he personally doesnt have class. Malaysia showed that its there for all to see. Not just the webber incident late on which i wasnt to bothered about, mark should of been on the ball i guess… worse was his radio about getting mark out the way which was ironic due to his later actions ignoring team request.

            Im not fussed either way. But that is the reason he is disliked, he wasnt booed before it. He is a great great driver as i said. Him Alonso and lewis are fantastic racers.

          8. @hamilfan

            his attitude after winning and complete arrogance over other drivers

            This is the kind of stuff I just don’t get. I don’t perceive him to be any more arrogant than other drivers. What’s he done that’s upset you so much?

          9. I missed the podium interview. What did Vettel say?

          10. Not just the webber incident late on which i wasnt to bothered about, mark should of been on the ball i guess… worse was his radio about getting mark out the way which was ironic due to his later actions ignoring team request.

            That’s not ironic at all – you’re perceiving it wrongly. You have to take it from the perspective of the driver – he obviously wants to win the race and is losing time behind his teammate, so his first port of call is to request team orders. Obviously that request was blocked (credit to Red Bull for that) and actually he was given an order to retain position (no credit to Red Bull for that). So his team have denied him the opportunity to take the position with no hassle. What do you then do as a racing driver? You overtake him.

            So no, not ironic at all. In fact, for his own benefit fairly logical (which I don’t blame him for – all drivers should want to take every point they can get, so +1 to @keithcollantine).

            his attitude after winning and complete arrogance over other drivers

            I don’t really get it either: that argument always sounds to me like trying to justify something that isn’t there. I’d just prefer for people to come out and say they don’t like him – I’d respect that more than trying to find falsely contrived justifications.

          11. @q85. If obeying team orders is the measure of class then Massa is the Classiast Driver on the grid ever. The moment they call ‘Felipe’ on the radio he parks his car to let Fernando roll by …. Classy stuff !!!!!!

        2. lol I thought he handle it really bad… I would be booing too : ) Over the complete race how many minutes was Vettel shown? 1? 2 maybe… That is how boring the race was. Luckely we have Raikonnen, Hamilton bringing some sort of action…

          1. only because they were out of position because of their car troubles at the start of the race. other then that, they would have had boring races finishing 6th and 8th (or there abouts) with much less overtaking.

        3. I know the booing is unacceptable, i cannot imagine myself reacting nicely like a gentleman to that situation like Vettel did but that’s Monza it is not new to F1 the tifosi (and i’m part of them) will do everything they can to try to destabilize Ferrari’s rivals it happened to Fernando in 2006 and now it is happening to Vettel, i’m pretty confident that everyone who is booing Vettel has a lot of respect to him (it sounds controversial but it is) the point is trying to get under his skin to unnerve him and not disrespecting him and Vettel understands that and that what’s make him getting stronger more than ever if it was the opposite situation Fernando in Red Bull and Vettel in Ferrari we will see the same thing but the problem is if it was happening to Fernando i doubt that any of the moralist that they are giving lessons now will talk about it

          1. 200% Agree. Very good comment from you, btw!

          2. @tifoso1989 That’s one heluva long sentence ;)

          3. @tifoso1989 The Problem it sets a big Norm.

            Imagine every venue starts doing stuff like this.

            What if Silverstone Fans Boos if a British Driver / Team does not win
            What if Monza Fans Boo if a Ferrari driver does not win
            What if Aussie Fans Boo if Mark or Dan does not win
            what if Spanish Fans boo if Fernando does not win
            What if German fans boo if vettel does not win.

            If this is the case then most of the time at the end of races we can only hear booing and Cheering.

            Booing cannot be considered as loyalty to a team, nation or Person.. it is a very unsporting and condemned for all reasons.

            The concept of booing i am seeing has started to pick up in F1. this is bad for F1. Today it could be vettel. Tomorrow it could be some one else people will start Booing.

            @keithcollantine This topic definitely begs an article / poll from you…..

      2. I can’t say this enough. Booing is never acceptable. Worse than vettel dominating the season is the fact that none of the teams are going public and saying their fans should not be booing the winner. Ferrari which fans are the first to boo, probably the worse fans I have ever seen in my life, and I’m ashamed of being one. This behavior needs to stop and I firmly believe all the teams need to campaign for treating the winner with the respect they deserve.

        1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
          8th September 2013, 15:30

          @keithcollantine @f1andy83 I agree with you both. When Hamilton was getting offended constantly, teams and media did the right thing to make a stand against it. This time the booing is beaing treated as a “funny” thing. But it’s just the same wrong thing on a different driver.

        2. I, for one, hate the dominance he is showing and I can’t really say I like him as a person, but people who aren’t his fans still need to open their eyes and see he’s not doing anything wrong. He’s just driving the fastest car in the fastest way possible, and that has to be appreciated. In my country there’s a saying regarding people who aren’t respectful, roughly translated to not having the 7-year homeschooling.

        3. Sorry but why can’t the fans boo. People save money all year and pay through the nose to go see F1 races and they aren’t allowed to express themselves?

          Its not like football where certain players suffer from absolutely vile abuse from fans only a few feet away. Its just pantomime booing.

          I personally don’t think it is anything to do with what Vettel may have done in Malaysia, but more how utterly dull his race wins tend to be, like today.

          1. Today’s race was as dull as China, or Spain, or Monaco, or Hungary. It’s painfully obvious that for many people, the dullness of a race is all about who wins it.

          2. @brum55 well I have to disagree with you there. Booing someone for doing absolutely nothing wrong is spiteful behaviour in any context. Rather like cheering when somebody has been hampered through no fault of their own. That isn’t decent human behaviour – F1 isn’t a pantomime (much as Bernie may be trying to turn it into one), it’s a sporting contest which isn’t scripted, rather unlike a pantomime.

            Absolutely, boo all you like if he’s done something wrong but as far as the sport is concerned he’s doing everything absolutely right. That isn’t something which should be ridiculed.

            I can cope with that though. What is terribly unlawful is when “fans” of the sport boo during a driver’s national anthem – that’s highly disrespectful, “football hooligan”-esque behaviour and it ought to have no place in fair competition.

            If these “fans” truly wished to maximise their investment, they should enjoy the race for what it’s worth. To me, it looks like they’re paying through the nose out of a delirious love for one driver, not as fans of Formula one. To me, it looks to be wasted investment turning up if they are expecting the world championship leader not to win, or if they will leave discontented if their preferred driver doesn’t win.

          3. A lot of it is down to Vettel’s dominance, not Vettel himself. He gets booed everywhere because people are bored of his domination of the sport, in my opinion.

            It isn’t good for someone to be so dominant for such a long period of time in any sport. Especially a sport like F1, where it is difficult to appreciate the artistry of that sport unlike football, tennis, cricket etc.
            And it isn’t just in Italy. He gets booed everywhere nowadays. He was cheered when he retired in Silverstone as well.

            Compare that to the reaction when he won in 2008. He was everyones 2nd favourite driver because he represented a difference the Ferrari vs McLaren script. I.e. he was a breath of fresh air.

            Now after 4 years of domination I think people would rather have a change to the current script, or viewing figures will start to falter dramatically like they did in the Schumi years.

          4. I honestly agree with @brum55, I see booing as simply part of the fun. If I was there I probably would have joined in, not because I don’t respect Vettel’s talent because I do, but for nothing more than a laugh.

          5. @brum55 Spot on, the fans pay an extortionate amount just to get through the gates, they can do what they like to enjoy themselves as much as possible. I don’t understand why F1 fans are expected to be so meek and boring.

            Jean Alesi, one of the classiest, most respectful and well respected people in the sport was up on the podium and he didn’t have a problem with it, he was egging the crowd on! Anyone getting worked up over a bit of pantomime booing needs to have a word with themselves, a more feisty atmosphere at a Grand Prix cannot be a bad thing.

          6. @brum55 why is that reason to boo Vettel though? Surely it’d be far more appropriate to boo the other teams, who are making it possible for Red Bull and Vettel to exert “boring dominance”?

            Red Bull are here to win. Vettel is here to win. They are winning, so they are achieving what they set out to do. Does that justify ridicule? Absolutely not. Every other team is failing at their objective though, as in the end you are in F1 to win. Does that deserve ridicule? Again, no – however, it would be much more easily justified.

            If the people want a more competitive grid, then write to the FIA and try to force them into reducing competition costs and equalise the talent spread. Or, god forbid, make F1 a spec series. I personally would loathe if they were to do either of the latter two and probably stop watching the sport as that would be fixation – a pantomime – but of course, it’s all about the money, isn’t it?

          7. Jody McLeod (@)
            8th September 2013, 18:23

            I see no reason why fans can’t boo. These drivers are professionals, and if they can’t take people disliking them, they need to grow up. All sports have dominant athletes, and they will get booed by fans that cheer for different teams. It’s sport, not kindergarten.

          8. @vettel1
            yes, as as people aren’t enjoying the performance enough to even politely, insincerely cheer, so they therefore have the right to boo it. And they paid the money to attend the race and get those boos heard by a global audience.

            Red Bull/Vettel aren’t being ridiculed. If anything those boos should be the sweetest sound for Vettel, Red Bull and their fans, as the fans at the race who paid fortunes to watch the pinnacle of F1, are so frustrated and bored by the battle for the race win they can only express their frustration and dissatisfaction of it by booing.

            Of course this is not good for the sport and I don’t believe the Asian fans will be paying to see more non-events such as the last 2 Grand Prix.

            The FIA have already reacted by changing the regs to be more engine oriented and away from the aero orientated regs that suits Newey and Red-Bull so much. Hopefully next year will be better.

            Also being a fan means sticking by your team or driver in the hard times, not just when they win. So for any fan of a driver or manufacturer to then boo them when they don’t win would be so classless and unhelpful. Drivers and Manufacturers like Ferrari, Mercedes, Lotus and McLaren need all the support from their fans after putting 100% and coming short.
            Booing them would destroy any confidence, and motivation they have so why would they rather do that? How would it help Ferrari if the tifosi booed Alonso for coming 2nd? It would destroy him. Booing him is not what a fan does, especially if they do hope to see him succeed.

          9. @vettel1

            Red Bull are here to win. Vettel is here to win

            The fans are there to booooooo !!!!

          10. @jakalope81

            These drivers are professionals, and if they can’t take people disliking them, they need to grow up.

            That’s just won the title of most ironic thing ever said.

          11. For what it’s worth, I’ll say that the booing doesn’t bother me. I personally don’t believe booing is right, but it’s also wrong to tell people how to behave as long as they aren’t being unlawful (ex. actually causing a bonfire or something). Anyway, I see indifference being worse than booing, because they don’t care about you. Booing means you’re doing something they don’t like, and if that’s winning, then showing those people indifference is the best thing to do.

          12. Then you are exactly the kind of fan no sports needs. Everyone is always trying their best, the only time I can think booing was accepted was during the us Grand Prix fiasco.

          13. @brum55

            It’s not like football where certain players suffer from absolutely vile abuse

            Yes, it is like what goes on in football. It may not be as bad, but it’s exactly the same type of bullying, and it’s completely unacceptable.

            Paying a lot of money for a ticket does not exempt you from extending common courtesy to other humans beings. That means not jeering at them.

          14. @keithcollantine
            Keith, love the website, but I have to disagree with what you said.
            Its nowhere near the same as football. Its not even in the same ball park. Football fans abuse have been racial, anti-Semitic, homophobic, personal attacks on players families, death theats, etc.
            In F1, Vettel gets just booed, nothing more personal than that, because he is faster than everyone to an embarrassing degree for a competitive sporting series. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t swap his position with Alonso’s, i.e. loved but 2nd at best.
            Paying for a ticket means that they can do what they want as long as they don’t commit any crimes and keep to the terms and conditions that they signed to. Its a sporting event with drunk sports fans afterall. Whereas it maybe unpleasant to hear, people have the right to jeer or heckle at any event that they have attended if they aren’t satisfied by it. It happens in all sports, gigs, stand-ups etc. Its the easiest and most effective way to communicate your dissatisfaction of the event.
            Let not forget that Vettel was never booed in 2012. I think because it was an excellent season, with races that captured the imagination of those who attended them.
            And it is not bullying. The definition of bullying is to use superior strength or influence to intimidate (someone), typically to force him or her to do what one wants. Vettel is the one with the power and influene. He has the stage, the microphone and can condemn the fans if he feels he need to.

          15. People do not have the right to boo.

            There is no excuse for bad behavior like that.

            Booing because your man didn’t win, or the race wasn’t as exciting as you wanted is pathetic.

          16. Some say that it’s because what he did in Malaysia but no one booed Webber for what he did in Brazil last year. Other say it’s because he’s running away with the championship and it’s boring but it all started at the Canadian GP, by mostly Ferrari fans, which was his third victory but it was far from obvious that he’ll win the championship (it’s still not granted).
            If people doesn’t like when he’s winning they don’t have to cheer him but also don’t have to boo either. I’m sure Ferrari fans could have enough fun cheering Alonso. Booing is a bit malicious.

          17. @brum55 elaborating your thoughts what you mean is that just because fans saved money to get the tickets they have right to do whatever they want. If everyfan decides that just because he paid money for the ticket , if the team or person that he or she is supporting does not win then he has the right to do whatever he wants.

            THat is very unsporting, every match people win and lose and that means in every game in every sport there will be booing at the end of every game !!!!

            in Sports the winner is respected and just because some one does well and he/she dominates the game he/she should be booed is totally ridiculous. I am gaining more respect for Vettel now a days after the booing incident.

          18. @tmax
            You may think it is unsporting and I think Vettel handles it in a very dignified way. But it is part of all sports. And there is nothing wrong with sports fans who attend expressing themselves. There are so many worse things that can be done than booing.

        4. none of the teams are going public and saying their fans should not be booing the winner

          Wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference if they did – ‘haters gonna hate’, as the saying goes.

          1. I watched the race on NBC Sports in the US. One of the (guest) commentators was Mario Andretti in his words: “I will never obey team orders, let them try to fire me for trying to win a race”. I loved that… true race speak.

          2. @raceprouk

            No excuse for treating others badly. And that includes Vettel.

        5. Totally agreed. I couldn’t afford buying a ticket to an F1 race, even if it done in my country, and I’m a little upset to watch people wasting the chance to enjoy these great drivers, regardless of who they support.
          Reasons for disrespecting Vettel are just excuses to do so. He’s a moaner, so what? Several other drivers are (JB, as an example), and people still like them. Arrogance? Told Alonso about it. Rudeness? Well, Kimi certainly knows how to talk to the press and his own team.
          One of the most praised drivers of all time is Schumacher. He was a controversial one too, not exactly a model of fair play. But not too many people had a problem with that.
          I think the problem is Vettel is winning. And IMHO, he’s not only winning, but beating Ferrari race after race, no matter how huge Ferrari’s budget is. He’s showing that a driver doesn’t need 12 years of experience, and showing that a team doesn’t need 60 years of racing history to get the job done.
          I would like to see Hamilton winning the WDC. In the meantime, congrats to the future 4th time WDC champion and to the team that develops such a great car. Shame to Ferrari and their impotent fans.

          1. What about the McLaren and Lewis/Button/Di Resta fans who cheered when Vettel DNF’d in Silverstone. Why are you not shaming them?
            Or is it only bad when Ferrari fans behave a certain way?

          2. @brum55 that’s just nitpicking on @andrei ‘s well-reasoned comment. Was there an overwhelming majority of British fans in Monza such as you describe? No.

            I’m sure judging from their perspective that they would consider the British fans to be just as bad.

            the fans pay an extortionate amount just to get through the gates, they can do what they like to enjoy themselves as much as possible.

            That’s flawed logic: clearly the fans aren’t enjoying themselves, otherwise they wouldn’t be booing. So, why then do they pay so much to watch an event they don’t enjoy? That seems completely senseless to me. Clearly, the only way they would have enjoyed the race is if Alonso had won and frankly his chances were on the lower half of 50% going into this weekend. Clearly these fans aren’t enjoying the event to their full potential if they feel discontented enough to boo the result.

            I don’t understand why F1 fans are expected to be so meek and boring.

            Who suggested that? If people who are rowdy, impolite and deluded are considered “fun and exciting” then this is a sorry world indeed. As has been said, if people wish to enjoy the act of booing they are far better placed in a pantomime or WWE crowd, not the (generally dignified) F1 crowds, who turn up at events to enjoy the racing, not the result.

          3. It was an out of order attack at Ferrari and their fans.

            And IMHO, he’s not only winning, but beating Ferrari race after race, no matter how huge Ferrari’s budget is.

            Shame to Ferrari and their impotent fans.

            Lovely well-reasoned response, whilst ignoring that the British fans at Silverstone cheered when Vettel retired. The majority at Silverstone weren’t Ferrari fans.

          4. A lot of the anti booing arguments suggest fans should be dignified, respectful, courteous, etc… Words you would use to describe a funeral procession rather than a sports event.

      3. i agree. that’s just stupid

        1. Wow I really can’t believe booing has taken on this notion as being so terrible and disrespectful!!! When did that happen? Keith, I agree with you about 99% of the time, but this one I definitely don’t. Anyone who has been in a “crowd-mentality” at a sporting even knows that booing is only a way to help “fuel” the crowd-mentality even more. Those same fans will go home watching the event again and will applaud the victor on their own plenty.

          Monza has a good share of those fans I’m sure – all realizing today how damn good Vettel is to have brought out that kind of emotion!

      4. Vettel is a big boy and has a thick skin – you saw it when he gave the jab back. So I don’t see this booing as bad, especially not in Monza.

        Though – what bothers me is that they did it thru out the interview, being quite disrespectful towards Surtees – not only a racing legend but a Ferrari legend.

        1. Also Vettel explained it rather well in the Sky post race interview – he knows they’ll cheer for him if he wears red.

    2. Hamilton and Rosberg’s fastest laps: 1.25.5 and 1.25.6. What could Lewis have done if he was in Q3? Mercedes were the fastest cars of the race. Rosberg proved that by setting a fastest lap on same tyres as the leaders. Lewis as well, in the middle stint, he was flying and he still was able to set faster times than the leaders. And that was on used tyres, not new unlike the others who were on new tyres. Final laps of Lewis were just “on fire”.

      Overall, 7… Great job from Lewis and the midfield to not make the race boring. haha Too bad the qualifying session messed it up…

    3. Gave it 7 as well, I thought the midfield battles kept it exciting. Being a Ricciardo fan it was nail biting to see Hamilton chew his way through to 9th, and Hulk had a great drive as well. So there was enough there at the end to keep me completely interested, although the middle stint made my attention wain a little.

      1. While I get the sentiment that some share about booing being unfortunate, I think it is a reality and silly to assume that of 100,000 people or so in a crowd, they should all have the same opinion, the same level of respect, the same thinking. Not ever going to happen and thank goodness or wouldn’t LIFE be boring, forget whatever level of excitement the race or the Championship carries.

        Fans boo in Nascar all the time, and I remember Jeff Gordon being asked about that back when he was winning regularly, including the Championships. He said basically they’re not booing me, they’re booing someone who beat their guy. They are showing passion for their favourite driver, and thank goodness we have that kind of passion from our viewing audience or our racing series wouldn’t be the big deal that it is.

        I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of the people that booed SV on the weekend were a) just frustrated that FA or a Ferrari didn’t win, b) would have a different tone with SV if they were alone with him in a room and would likely have a great conversation with him and get a handshake and an autograph out of it, and c) will accept and stand up and applaud him if/when he wins the Championship as an accomplished F1 racer and multiple Champion who they hope will one day drive for (in this weekend’s case) Ferrari, and who this weekend/year happened to do the best job.

        I’m sure most fans, including the booers, understand that ultimately it is up to their driver and their team to do the best job. Booing at a sporting event in the heat of the moment is pretty small potatoes and pretty human when all is said and done. And of course making it racial, bringing prejudice into it, is always unacceptable and shows ignorance and a person’s true colours and thankfully those people are generally of a very small minority. But to assume that everyone that boos is doing that is wrong, and is being just as judgemental as the booers are accused of being.

  4. Boring, but well…

    Red Bull are so many miles ahead as a team, not just the driver. The way they pitted both cars so quickly at the same lap… head and shoulders above the rest. Even with the gearbox gremlins… Effortless…

    1. Actually there was a fair amount of action, maybe Kimi and Lewis starting “out of place” helped it, but lack of fight for P1 kinda made it less exciting.

      I’m missing wet races…

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        8th September 2013, 15:17

        If Kimi hadn’t whacked his front wing at the first corner, and Lewis hadn’t had the slow puncture, then the battle for the lead, or atleast the podium spots, would have been very exciting.
        It seem’s even the weather is against us.
        Spa: threat of rain… Reality: None.
        Monza: Threat of rain… Reality: None.

        Still, if’s and but’s.

        1. @tophercheese21 Every time they predict rain on the track , It promptly rains in my part of the world!!!

  5. Okay race, boring at front, but some nice fights in the middle of the field. A 6 for me.

  6. 6/10 – was an ok race – unlucky for RAI and HAM – they could have made it a bit more interesting.

  7. That’s was an enjoying race even though there was no real battle for the top spots.

    The midfielders made that race entertaining. I liked it! But 7

  8. Like Montreal and Spa, it felt like I spent the whole race waiting for something to happen and in the end nothing did. 4/10

    1. Exactly my feelings too

    2. I fifth that.

    3. +1 i gave it 4/10 too

  9. The race sagged in the middle, but the initial and final laps did feature some close racing and hard-fought battles. Excellent recovery drives by Raikkonen and Hamilton were a treat to watch, as was the slow-burn tension of RBR’s mechanical problems, and the melee in the midfield as always. On balance, I gave it a 7.

  10. Dull at the front, but some decent racing behind.

    Hamilton will be doubly kicking himself for Qualifying now – clearly quickest in traffic and on his own, and at start and end of stint, with non of the reliability concerns the Red Bulls started to worry about. I’m sure Vettel had lots more in the tank, but if Hamilton was right there with him he’d have needed an awful lot more than he showed.

    1. I agree. Hamilton could’ve won this race.

    2. Judging from Hamilton’s performance, Rosberg should have had a better race.

    3. I felt so crestfallen after he had to pit after making it all the way to a hard earned 4th or so . I can just image how he would have felt when the LEDs went 10 , 11 , 12 ,13 …… in the pits

  11. average race just came alive in the last few laps but other then that its the same start to finish vettel show…….give it 5

    1. It was fun to see “mr. Bean” is a Hamilton fan, based on the fact that he was at the Merc garage and not at the McLaren’s.

      1. Maybe negotiations over the repair bill for his McLaren F1 haven’t gone very well.

  12. Great result from Massa and Webber, keeping the pressure up on Alonso. Shame about Hamilton’s qualifying, he could have made the front a lot more interesting. I’ll bet he’s thanking his lucky stars for the move every time he breezes past a McLaren this year.

  13. Yawn, possibly the least exciting race of the year. Another poor decision by Alonso/Ferrari in not pitting sooner

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      8th September 2013, 14:55

      @sars – The impression I got was that it Alonso’s bad call. The team radio was in Italian though and despite the billions of £s Sky get every year, they still can’t employ anyone who speaks Italian to listen in to the pit radio and feed back what is said….

      1. Sky even have an Italian subsidiary that is also showing F1 live. Why not ask them?

        1. NBC Sorts in the US had Mario Andretti as the Italian translator….Awesome!!

    2. Ferrari aimed for a last part of the race with fresher tyres and Alonso was doing green sectors until the last lap before pitting. Then he was called in for keeping position vs Webber. However, the hard tyres suited the RBs much better. Taking into account the gear box problems from RB, Alonso could have put Vettel more into pressure by pitting earlier.

      1. Vaidas1123581321
        8th September 2013, 22:17

        Idk what timing you watched but Alonso was not doing green sectors. They just bet on higher tyre wear

  14. Good battles in the lower half of the top ten, which were the highlight. 6/10.

    1. Gave it the same. I felt like I was waiting for something that wasn’t going to happen and while the first 10/15 laps were alright and the end was pretty good, I still felt 20 laps or so were rather boring.

      Positions 6 through 13 or so were all fighting for a long period of time, which was cool. But in the end I felt DRS was completely useless here and for the first time it really annoyed me. I used to be on the fence about DRS, but all the good overtakes were outside of DRS zones.

  15. A 6, It had some fun moments, but was overall fairly dissapointing…

  16. Would have been dull as dishwater if not for Hamilton; always where the action is. :) 7/10

  17. 6. Good charge by Hamilton at the end kept it interesting.

  18. 3, very boring race. I don’t care about guys fighting for 9th place.

  19. Not the best race, but still, good fights at the end and a great result for Sauber and Hulk. I give it a solid 6.

  20. last stint with hamilton and raikkonnen fighting through made it a 6. everything else was boring as hell.
    i hate red bull saying ‘it was tough’ etc. and ‘we had problems’. rubbish!

    1. Not sure why I can’t warm to Vettel. Perhaps it’s because he’s a charisma-free zone. Perhaps because I regard him as a fast driver rather than a racer, much in the mould of Damon Hill. Perhaps because I can’t empathise with the smugness of the whole team. Perhaps because he seems to have a charmed life in terms of having car problems but still ending up with points. All I know is that I’m happier if anybody but Vettel is winning.

  21. Fairly dull race for me. A little bit of action later in the race but was a procession up front. 6/10 from me.

  22. An okay 6, I guess. All the tension at the start came to nothing. The Bulls just too dominant, I’m afraid! But still decent lower midfield action nonethless

  23. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
    8th September 2013, 14:44

    Monza is usually dull people. Just look it up.

  24. 5/10 Average. Boring at the front and midfield action was ok.

  25. LotsOfControl (@for-unlawful-carnal-knowledge)
    8th September 2013, 14:45

    6,5 from me.

  26. Not horrible, not great either. But given it’s all part of a new standard for this half of the season I’ll rate it 7/10.

    DRS was right, tyres were right. Some good overtakes, the midfield was pretty competitive with Raikkonen and Hamilton thrown in there. Glad Torro Rosso and Sauber caught a good weekend here and made the whole thing a bit less boring. Otherwise, pretty average at the front, not much different than what happened at Spa really. Some rain probably would have helped…

    But to be honest I’d be very surprised if the forthcoming races up to Abu Dhabi will deliver results of a different nature. This is probably as good as this end of the season is going to get, bar Yas Marina, COTA and Interlagos (races which probably won’t matter in the economy of the WDC and WCC anyway). So, yeah, 7 sounds about right.

  27. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    8th September 2013, 14:48

    kudos for Hulkenberg!!!!!!!

    1. He deserves a better car/team.

      1. In fact he does! Last year I was very surprised when I read a lot of comments stating that his move to Sauber was an upgrade to his career. I think even Force India would have been a better place to wait for a top team offer.

        1. +1
          If he had stayed put at Force India his chances of landing the seat with Ferrari would’ve been greatly improved. Also Force India would be more evenly matched with McLaren this season (Sutil has been a let down). Damn you hindsight!! :)

  28. 6/10. As Gary Anderson mentioned on the BBC, couldn’t Ferrari have left Massa out there to ‘destroy his [Vettel’s] race’?

    1. @john-h he’d have overtaken him fairly quickly I imagine, and absolutely no way would they get away with it if Massa crashed into him.

      So I don’t think there’d be a great benefit – they’re better to take the constructor’s points.

  29. Hamilton kept me awake.
    For the rest, easy win for Vettel and Red Bull. They were miles ahead this weekend.

  30. Leader off into the distance, Ferrari strategy failure, recovery drives from “championship contenders” (that led to respectively 2 and 0 points), bunching up & Drs’ing.
    standard race in terms of excitement, but the final deathblow for the championship (gap is more than 2 race wins now!)
    4/10 for the race weekend due to predictability
    + 1 for Hulkenberg and Vettel

    5/10

  31. petebaldwin (@)
    8th September 2013, 14:56

    I gave it a 5. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. Bring on 2014!

  32. A bit boring but it’s not exactly Vettel’s fault that the rest of field can’t keep up.

    1. And Hamilton being thrown into the midfield.

  33. yawn

    2014 can’t come soon enough

  34. YAWN. I really haven’t enjoyed an F1 race for months :( no one taking risks, no one looks like they’re on the limit, no one making mistakes… the cars look like I could drive them. This is the least entertaining season since I started watching F1 full time in 2008, there’s a perfect storm of features and gimmicks that I just don’t enjoy at all.

    On the plus side, I finally had a storming weekend in the predictions championship (for me anyway).

    But saying that, we’re well overdue a really classic race – and as I’m going to be at Singapore in a couple of weeks I’m really hoping the law of averages means that it will finally be a race worth watching (or even travelling half way round the world for!)

  35. A perfect example of a race where the cars go flat out. The only overtakes were really as a result of the first stint incidents from Raikkonen and Hamilton, and the fastest driver in the fastest car won.

    6/10. Had a few good moments, but couldn’t help but think this race could have been a bit more strategised to keep the action in..

    1. Yeah, I think @Hohum probably wouldn’t like that explanation though! haha.

      I actually gave it an 8. I really enjoyed it. It was exciting to see what would happen. Yeah so it didn’t turn out to be a big battle for the lead. I don’t think every race needs super action drama to be good to watch. The only thing I didn’t like was the booing Vettel. I’m no Vettel fan, but come on!

      Hulk was massive.

      Maybe it’s a sign that I’m too enthusiastic, that I rate most races highly ha!

      1. @mike, well I only gave it 5, but on reflection I probably should have given it an extra point, like the prelates egg it was good in parts. My main impression was that had the track been wider more passing attempts would have succeeded, and of course had Lewis and Kimi not fluffed qualifying the battle for the podium could have been a lot more exciting.

  36. When mark goes to the fia wec championship next season I think I will be putting more of a focus on that rather than f1. I have nothing against red bull and vettel but I want to see the top teams battling each other for the race win and not just battling for 2nd and 3rd. If next season all cars can battle each other I think it would make the sport very interesting to watch again but right know and he is just my opinion I find f1 to be vwer boring at the present.

    1. RBR’s dominance in F1 is nothing compared to the Audi whitewash in this year’s WEC.

  37. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    8th September 2013, 15:04

    It was a 6 for me.
    Second race in a row where there’s been potential for a great race, but not much happened.
    Red Bull is just ridiculously dominant now. Vettel has just about got 2 hands on that trophy.

    Pros:
    – Hulkenberg drove terrifically! DOTW for me.
    – Hamilton fighting back after a dismally unlucky race.
    – Good scrap between Alonso and Webber.
    – Alonso’s pass on Webber at the second chicane in the opening laps was the best pass of the year so far.
    – Red Bull’s double stacked pit stop was amazing. Both sub 3 second stops. Incredible.
    – Hamilton’s pass on Kimi was great.
    DRS, it was actually really good. No pass was overly easy, and still had some great racing.

    Cons:
    – Vettel winning by such a large margin.**
    – Hamilton’s absolutely rotten luck with the slow puncture.
    – Di Resta was funny. I half expected him to blame the team for his DNF induced lock up.
    – I thought the Mclaren’s could have scored better. They were nowhere. Perhaps anticipating some precipitation???

    ** – I don’t think that the Vettel winning is a con, its just the sheer amount he wins by. This year has been very 2011-esque.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      8th September 2013, 15:34

      @tophercheese21 agree with you. I just gave one mor point, because the midfield battles were entertaning.

  38. I’m almost 60 years old. I’ve been watching F1 since there were only one of three major television stations in America. The only one that carried it in the 60’s and a bit later was ABC and that was only for a few races in the season. But I loved it! I found this site some six years ago after I moved to SE Asia and I thought the live blog was fantastic. The racing was still quite real then and the site only had a few hundred members. It was great. I remember telling Keith at the time that I could see thousands of people hooking up with this site. Well the site has done much better that, but F1 rules and regulations are putting me to sleep. I don’t want to watch anymore.

    1. but F1 rules and regulations are putting me to sleep. I don’t want to watch anymore.

      I’m pretty fed up with it too.

      1. +1 Fed up, good job there are lots of other racing series.

      2. For example one of the greatest if not the greatest parings of F1 drivers was Prost and Senna. Macca had the best car and the best drivers. Yeah it was brutal to watch… but one thing is sure, you never missed a race. Then again as much as I love Mansell it was a bore to see him walk away from Patresse race after race in the same car, and I still consider that a high point in F1. I don’t blame the Italian, I blame the way F1 was heading. Don’t comment if you weren’t there.

        1. I’ll leave it at this, you should agree that an equally matched driver in RBR would make the the sport a bit more interesting.

    2. @alex-bkk – My experience and age is similar to yours. I remember many times in the 60s when all F1 TV coverage we got was a week or two after the race watching highlights on the Wide World of Sports. As a long time observer of F1 I still find the sport to be fascinating overall, but it can be a bit of a bore at times too. Right now I find it to be less boring than some of the Schumacher years with grooved tires and many processional races. There are some similarities now with Vettel and Red Bull, but the other teams need to step up. I like some of the action and close racing now as long as it is not too contrived. Even with DRS and KERS it still takes skill, in most cases (with DRS), to pass. We still have some drivers passing regardless of contrivances and those are the true racers of the era. I would still vote for less DRS and aero to make for better close racing in less turbulent air. Anyways, I’m still watching and hoping.

      1. @bull mello Good point about Shumacher’s era at Ferrari, but he was a monster of a pilot that used every trick in the book to win.

    3. @alex-bkk Please explain which parts of the rules you don’t like.

      The race was like that of six years ago, where the tyre wear was very low. Because of the low down force set ups the DRS was not significant.

      What could possibly be wrong this race?

      1. @mike I don’t actually owe you an explanation, but I’ll try. “Rules and regulations” is a broad term and maybe it’s more of a generalization of the current state of F1. It would apply to everything from the politics of the uppermost to the nuts and bolts of the lowermost, and it’s generally defined according to anyone’s particular bias. I’m not going to type it all out.

        “What could possibly be wrong this race?”
        There was nothing wrong with this race if you liked it. I didn’t.

        1. @alex-bkk So everything in general is putting you to sleep?

          Maybe this is a long term problem eh?

          Given that you posted on a forum, I don’t think it’s unfair to expect scrutiny of what you say, especially sweeping comments with no real explanation.

  39. It was average race in my view; a decent amount of overtaking within the midfield, but the battle for the lead stunk unfortunately. 6/10

  40. 7/10 good battle from 5th to 10th..

    guess the only thing I’m now looking forward to is the Ferrari announcement..which I hear could be today or even in days. Hulk and Kimi toss up, I think!!.

  41. Raikkonen and Hamilton made this race watchable. It’s not really a contest anymore for Vettel. Winning is almost a formality.

    1. And thank your deity that FOM understand that and showed us more of the action behind him.

  42. Gave it a 7 for all the passes that Hamilton , Raikkonen and Alonso made . And some clean scraps ( oxymoron unintended) between perez and grosjean added a little spice .

    Martin Brundle on vettel during the 50th odd lap after the camera focused on him finally : ” He still in the race , isn’t he ” .

    You know when that happens , it’s not a real spectacle of a race . ( The margin was too high )

  43. Like Spa 2 weeks ago, i was falling asleep on my couch.

    And this is a historical European circuit with so much history.

  44. 7/10 I thought this race was better than most of the races we have seen, but still not perfect. Let’s first take the part of the race before the pit stops: no passing, DRS was basically ineffective (probably because of gear ratios). In my opinion, that’s exactly as it should be. But still I wasn’t able to enjoy it, simply because of the tyres still being not able to last long enough. Just look at Hamilton and Raikkonen: they were able to push after their first pit stop because they knew they were going to make it anyway… and that was spectacular! A real joy to watch the two of them.

    I don’t like all these comments of “well, passing was a bit minimal, tyres should be a bit more aggresive, DRS should be a bit more…” stuff like that, trying to perfect the racing. That’s not working, because it just over-complicates things. I just want some nice tyres with pretty much no drop-off during the stint – basically Bridgestone pre-2009, and just nothing more: no stupid rules of starting on the tyres you qualified on, no DRS, no 5-second race penalties for crossing the white lines with four wheels… none of that rubbish.

    The final laps were quite good: I have no idea why the director decided not to show the Nico v Nico battle, because that was very interesting, with the pair of them within a second for at least 20 laps. That’s excitement, not the “Oh look, Hamilton has closed the gap to Perez aaaaand he’s past. Now Button, and he passed him as we speak.” kind of ‘tension’.

    6 out of 10 being the lowest I go, I rated it 7/10 because there was little tension (on camera anyway), but there was still some form of excitement. Sigh. I just want Pirelli to make proper tyres.

    1. no passing, DRS was basically ineffective (probably because of gear ratios). In my opinion, that’s exactly as it should be.

      That refers to the DRS of course, not the passing :P

      1. Yeah I know what you mean….

    2. We are in total agreement, and at least the TV didn’t just follow Vettel like the local directors used to do in the early years.

  45. 7 for the race. Zero for the booing.

  46. As at most races, the only thing worth seeing was the fights and the overtakes of Lewis Hamilton. I hope next year the ‘power units’ will scramble everything, fail a lot and mix all the results. Hope Renault isn’t doing as good job as Mercedes, so Red Bull add the DRS and gear box problems, engine issues… It’s getting as boring as the ‘BLACK Schumacher ERA’…

    Lets hope for some malfunctions and errors to Vettel in the next races, so Lewis, Kimi and .. Alonso come closer…

  47. Raikkonen smashing into the back of Perez at the first corner… if I didn’t see that it was car #7 I’d definitely assume it was Grosjean, it’s the type of mistake Grosjean would get lambasted for but in this race he was pretty solid, he drove cleanly and made tidy passes on the McLarens and were it not for that botched pit stop he’d be in 7th ahead of Ricciardo. Role reversal between the Lotus drivers anyone? That aside, the midfield scrap kept the race alive. 7/10.

    1. I agree with the Grosjean assessment. As it was Kimi, it was Perez’s fault. Brundle said as much at the time. Perez moved over on him and braked hard, like it’s a bad thing. Like that’s not going to happen at that chicane…

      1. to be fair they did say it was ‘an uncharacteristic mistake’ from Kimi so I wouldn’t say they blamed Perez for it. Definitely Kimi’s error though which was a shame.

  48. Gave it a 6/10. It was okay, not brilliant but not terrible. Hamilton and Icemans title hopes surely gone. Alonso’s hopes are slim but it was a stunning overtake on Webber, really was incredible. Vettel ‘s drive was just complete and it was domination. Really good drive from Hulkenberg how long is his talent going to go unnoticed. Someone give him a top drive. Force India have been really struggling since the tyre change in my opinion unfairly due to Pirelli and Di Resta is going through a tricky patch of form. Hamilton and Kimi were very unlucky had good pace but nothing went right. One mention on the Vettel booing, I dont think its because he wins all the time. I think its the multi 21 and its not cause he ignored team orders, its saying I apologise and then saying I’d do the same again. It was a bit confusing.

    On another note from a Ferrari fan I’d just say congratulations on 50 years of McLaren and to many more.

  49. I gave it a 5, as for me, it was among the 2 dullest races of the year.
    As for the booing – Its not as bad as Vettel/RBR dominating the WDC/WCC.

  50. I thought we were past the shumacher era. So boring this year, 2011 all over again. RBR is putting me off F1, and starting next year i’m watching other series. So hope 2014 provides a different winner.

    Also about the booing. My reason is that people are just getting bored of Vettel winning, you know, it being 4 years in a row and everything, not a personal attack.

    1. @full-throttle-f1

      My reason is that people are just getting bored of Vettel winning, you know, it being 4 years in a row and everything, not a personal attack.

      Jeering at someone is a personal attack – how could it be interpreted any other way? – and the shortness of a person’s attention is no excuse for it.

      1. People booed Shumacher. But no one I can think of has a problem with him now he is retired. Perhaps I am a bit bored, but all my friends are bored of it too, so it can’t just be me. Even if Hamilton won 1 more championship and Vettel wins another one. It least it breaks a bit of monotony of which a period is in a way dominated by of the least popular drivers and teams. The reaction would be different if it was JB and McLaren winning 4 straight World Championships.

      2. I’m a little surprised at that too. You can’t say you’re getting bored of Vettel winning and then say it’s not personal. If you’re going to try to be generalizing, say you don’t like the same guy winning all of the time, but even then you’re still blaming Vettel for being good.

        Is it me, or are people getting much more anti-Vettel than they ever were anti-Schumacher? I don’t remember Schumacher ever being booed, actually.

        1. You can’t say you’re getting bored of Vettel winning and then say it’s not personal

          I can, as I also got bored of Schumacher winning in ’03-’04.

        2. @npf1

          Check the net for Shumcher booing. I can’t help who I like and who I don’t like. I just don’t like Vettel. For example Alonso with (once again) his mighty first lap performance, his driving makes me go wow every time I watch him. Taking nothing away from Vettel (he is a good driver) but Alonso is just on another world of performance.

          And while people say that there is no ‘arrogance’ with Vettel, but I do believe there is, even in his earlier days I could sense that, there is a line between being proud and being arrogant, and sometimes (being very fair here) he does cross it.

          There are a lot of people who feel the same way about this. If you like Vettel, that’s fine. I can’t help the fact that I just don’t like him. Perhaps if he had to fight for a few more wins….

        3. People may have reacted differently if Schumacher was interviewed on the podium like the current format.
          But yeah, global interest in F1 was at an all time low back then. People were turning off in their droves. It was horrible. I gave up completely in 2004 after it turned out to be a carbon copy of the dreadful 2002 season.

        4. @raceprouk Then you’re getting bored of someone winning all the time, not Vettel and Schumacher, unless they are the reasons you’re getting bored. I was a massive Schumacher fan, but got bored of him winning and I’d never call that anything other than personal. In 2001 I enjoyed HIS dominance, while I would have hated anyone else dominating. That’s pretty personal if you ask me.

          @full-throttle-f1 Schumacher deserved all the boos he got at Austria 2002, USA 2002 but not the cheering at Silverstone 1999. He didn’t get booed that much other than that.

          Multi-21 has nothing on Schumacher’s antics and I say that as a fan of Schumacher and a critic of Vettel. I don’t like Vettel. I think he is showing some personality this year, but has been furthering the lack of personality in F1 set in motion by Schumacher’s professional approach. I still like Alesi more than any of the current drivers, because he is a character.

          You can’t help who you don’t like, but you can help how you act towards them and their friends/supporters. It’s not a matter of liking Vettel, it’s a matter of decency. Vettel has done nothing to warrant booing, while Alonso (my current favorite) and Schumacher (my all time favorite) have done far more questionable things with the intention to harm.

          Vettel is ‘arrogant’ as Schumacher was in the late 90s. Ruthless and cold. Vettel is trying to copy Schumacher (not judging that) in being nearly machine-like in approach. He knows how to motivate and have fun, but his approach to F1 is strictly business. He’s there to win, not to make friends. You can call that arrogance, but I think that’s a matter of opinion and vocabulary. I can’t deny he has some hubris, though.

          And again, Alonso is my favorite driver right now, but if he really was on another level of performance, wouldn’t he be able to beat Vettel? In 2010 and 2011 it was obvious Vettel had things to learn, but over the past 2 seasons Vettel has shown us he can win from other positions than pole and can overtake pretty well. He’s not the talented rookie in a very good car anymore; he is becoming a force, even if we don’t like it.

      3. Vettel is fast, precise, constant, working hard and has the fastest car. Maybe not every race but overall for sure. He is good, very good and he will win this year too, people are getting bored, except his fans, for sure. :)
        Every single race ends with a “what if…” or “this race had potential but…”

        As I see it, Vettel has many talents, entertaining the crowd is not one of them. Look at what Alonso did on the podium. Trowed the hat, the glasses, then took the phone, made pictures with the crowd and then put them online. Put a title on it, [insert any omg the best crowd in the world] and that’s it. For this they [will] love him. Almost all F1 drivers do it but not Vettel. He probably just doesn’t care, very good then, focus on driving, very good again but don’t expect the crowd to love you if you don’t show any interest in it.

        I can understand the “boo” from the crowd, I can’t understand why it should be taken personal as Keith above suggests.

        Anyway, my2c.

        1. @oji I wouldn’t call Alonso the greatest of crowd entertainers. The photos were a nice touch but the reason Vettel hasn’t done that is that he stays of twitter, which isn’t a bad idea as it serves as a distraction for a racing driver (neither does Kimi, but he’s massively popular). The cap thing is nothing unsual though.

          The reason the booing should be taken as personal is because they are booing Vettel – he cannot be removed from the equation. Essentially, they are booing the sport’s best driver at the moment because he’s winning and nothing more. To be frank, I don’t understand why they turn up at races if they aren’t going to be happy unless Alonso wins (or whoever the driver in question is).

          That’s my perspective!

          1. @vettel1 “I wouldn’t call Alonso the greatest of crowd entertainers” – I never said he was. I only wanted to point that he like the majority keep in touch with the fans.

            “I don’t understand why they turn up at races if they aren’t going to be happy unless Alonso wins”. I’m guessing you are a Vettel fan, are you happy when Vettel does not win ? The Ferrari fans will be happy when Ferrari wins. The McLaren fans will be happy when McLaren wins and so on, this is valid for any sport.
            Also by this logic of yours, if I support Marussia (for example), I should not go to races because they have zero chances to win ? Really bad logic.

            “the booing should be taken as personal” – Vettel on the podium : “A fantastic race – but you can hear the difference, obviously, when you don’t win here in a red suit, you get a lot of that but in the end it’s very nice because it means you’ve done very good and beat the red guys.” Learn from the racer you support and do not take everything personal.

          2. @oji +1000000……to infinity

        2. Look at what Alonso did on the podium.

          He played to his own supporters, who made up the great majority of the audience. No great skill required to do that. When Vettel drives for Ferrari he’ll do the same thing, and they’ll cheer hm for it.

      4. @keithcollantine I remember Vettel’s recent complaints about getting booed at Silverstone (and Montreal) with the comment recently that: “I had not done anything to make them do it”. Now he gets booed at Monza, and note the similarity – these are fans that love motorsport at these races. Who knows about Spa, Greenpeace kind of stole the show with that one!

        Unfortunately these statements by Vettel don’t do him any favours. He’s basically stabbed his teammate in the back in Malaysia and now he’s going to have to live with the consequences, and if that makes him unpopular to the point of booing then I’m sorry but he has to shoulder some of the responsibility. That’s not how a sportsman should have behaved and I said so at the time. Sometimes winning at all costs isn’t everything to be a great in motorsport – we learnt that from Ari Vatanen.

        Now, booing isn’t great and two wrongs do not make a right, but this isn’t about Vettel’s dominance – its about his attitude at Turkey 2010 and Malaysia 2013 and his gestures/comments following these incidents. As you make your bed, so you must lie on it – no matter how many races you win.

        1. @john-h Totally agree.. People are booing because of the Malaysia incident and not because he is winning (he did not win in Silverstone)

    2. This is nothing remotely like the Schumacher era. Unless by “Schumacher era” you mean “some German driver I don’t like is winning more often than I want.”

    3. Well it is showbiz, remember. F1 as a sport is long gone, at least as a sport for gentlemen, so instead we have the eternal showbiz battle between Dick Dastardly and Dudley Dooright, hurrah, boo, hiss.

    4. In Canada it was his third win when all this started. You can’t say people were bored after just three wins.

  51. Gave it a 7 for all the passes that Hamilton , Raikkonen and Alonso made . And some clean scraps between perez and grosjean added a little spice .

    Martin Brundle on vettel during the 50th odd lap after the camera focused on him finally : ‘ He still in the race , isn’t he ‘ .

    You know when that happens , it’s not a real spectacle of a race . ( The margin was too high )

    1. Vettel was forgotten.

      1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
        8th September 2013, 16:50

        Deserves to be. Just cruising through grands prix on the RB9 isn’t worth remembering. He doesn’t make mistakes, to his credit, but how will he when Adrian Newey has given him a car that just goes on expanding the gap to the second car each lap?

        1. @shreyasf1fan
          No doubt the car has played an integral role in Vettel’s success but if Vettel is pulling huge gaps while Webber is scrapping with other drivers instead of being a solid 2nd or even challenging Vettel, then Vettel must possess some prodiguous driving skills. Even Barrichello was solidly 2nd in 2002 and 2004 despite Schumi receiving blatant favouritism so there’s no excuse for Webber.

          1. Age? He is 37 now. Webber was pretty competitive in 2010 and had his moments last year too.

          2. Also Vettel seems to adapt to the EBD design very very quickly ( He is one of the big four after all ) .

            Sebastian Bourdais , his yesteryear teammate had said ” once they brought the newley designed car, he was like a fish inside water , wiggling with excitement . ”

            Here’s hoping things will change in 2014 . But , Vettel is a great driver and will always remain there or threabouts near the podium given a bad car . It’s just that the margin here was too huge which made me bored and dull.

          3. It’s more to do with the dominance of aerodynamics, in clean air Webber is very competitive but when following another car the Newey magic is missing.

          4. @brum55
            Why would age be such a huge factor? Schumacher was 36-37 when he was battling Alonso for his 8th WDC in 2006. Webber was a lot closer to Vettel in 2010 but Vettel bore the brunt of the reliability issues (While admittedly he only made it worse with some huge errors in Turkey and Belgium that year) that year, here for evidence: https://www.racefans.net/2010/10/19/hes-14-points-behind-but-vettel-should-be-leading-the-championship-by-59/
            Besides, Webber was only 1 year older in 2011 so there’s no reason for the gap to widen to such an extent. Vettel was pretty good in 2010, but now he has ironed out almost all of his mistakes and IMO he’s pretty much the complete package and although I think most would say it’s Alonso, when someone of Massa’s caliber (Clearly worse than Webber) manages to outqualify you 4 times while Vettel is absolutely dominating Webber, he’s not exactly complete.

        2. @shreyasf1fan forgot the days of 2008 and 2009 when the same Adrian Newey did not gave them the best car… Dude it takes time to achieve perfection and Adrian is just one part of the team like Sebastian… Everything has to fall in right place to achieve success and it does not happen overnight… If Newey was so great there would not have been Ferrari domination on the 2000s ( not to take any credit away of Neweys talent).. But as I said, its how the whole team is, which contributes to success..

          Looking at your avatar, I can well understand whose line you are toeing wrt the Newey thing

    2. @hamilfan and nothing on the Nicos wonderful duel… Nico Rosberg finished higher than Lewis Hamilton, yet getting hardly any mention on F1F, had it been the other way round, we would have seen a Hamilton fan train

      1. @noob Yes Nico did finish higher than Lewis ultimately . But I doubt it would be something he would cherish for he could not pass Nico Hulkenberg when it was necessary . Besides a 6th place is not all that satisfactory going by Nico’s standards , a 4th or so would have been better considering the pace Lewis showed . But , it was not his fault. He missed FP3 and had to pay the price for qualifying low .

  52. 5 from me. Funny how the last few classic tracks have produced such borefests…

    1. I was thinking the same earlier. I think it might have to do with the car’s design. It’s been said Red Bull have (in the past) designed their cars to optimize on the Tilke tracks, while Tilke is also building a certain kind of track a lot.

      It’s almost as if we’re now seeing the modern tracks are better suited to the modern cars, where as in the past the cars were designed to suit the tracks.

    2. @yoshif8tures I think you are right… Its time to scrap these tracks or bring them in alternate years.. The problem is these tracks are there for a long time, and the teams know in and out of it.. Way too much exposure to these tracks have taken away the surprise element…

    3. If this track was designed by Tilke and kept producing boring races like these, it would be extremely humorous to read all the posts on this site about what a terrible race it is and why they should scrap it.

  53. Rain is needed. Not in Singapore ‘cos the race would be stopped(probably), but in India, Japan and Korea. SC in Abu Dhabi. COTA wasn’t bad last year and Brazil always produces good races(rain always helps, though)

  54. Very good job by the top 5, I feel sorry for Alonso, it looks like from here the only thing he can achieve is 2nd (at best), Vettel is going to win the rest of the races. At least I hope we see some good fights.

  55. I too am finding these races boring as the season goes on. Vettel just dominates and the rest try to play catch-up. Yawn. I feel bad for the drivers who always wind up on the bottom half of the final position list. That has to be very frustrating.

    Also, it’s amazing that these drivers make so much money driving these cars and most of them will never get into the top 10 rankings. Alonso makes $50 million a year driving for Ferrari, and he’s only won 11 of the 69 races he’s driven. That’s just ridiculous. I would think they’d tie in their salary based on their season accomplishments: you win 50% of the races, you get a nice salary and maybe a bonus. You win the season, more $$$ for you!

  56. Thought it was quite a good race. Mainly thanks to Hamilton and Raikkonnen. 7/10.

  57. I’m in the minority and gave it a 8.
    As a Webber fan I was pleased to see him start reasonably well. Massa started better as usual but Mark didn’t do too much wrong. Great overtake by Alonso. That must have felt gratifying. Good comeback from Hamilton as usual and Kimi went OK too. Hulk went better than I expected and will be pretty pleased with the result. Webber came back at Alonso after the stop which was a little exciting. Both RB’s with trans issues added a little tension. Ricciardo’s race was fairly uneventful but finished with a few nice points. Vettel dominated the race as expected and also won the podium debacle. Glad he didn’t throw his #1 Pirelli hat to the crowd. Ungrateful lot didn’t deserve it. I still hate those podium interviews. I think I’ve seen one decent one but forget who did it. Brundle? It certainly wasn’t Jean Alesi ;)
    I hope Webber’s car isn’t underweight. Assuming he stopped due to lack of fuel.
    8/10 might be a little generous but I’m stuck with it now.

    1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
      8th September 2013, 16:54

      Why would the croud be grateful to Vettel?

    2. I gave it 8 too, that compensates for all the people who gave it a 5 or so. :P

      We saw some great overtakes today, especially Lewis overtaking Sutil was great.

      1. @paeschli What was so special in Lewis overtaking Sutil?? Mercedes is a much faster car compared to FI and he is expected to pass lot of people…

        1. I just like those overtakes on the Curva Grande, it made me remember the Vettel-Alonso battle two years ago

    3. @glennb I too love Webber… but I am surprised they did not change his broken wing.. Wonder if Seb would have got the same treatment…

      1. Replacing a front wing takes at least 4 seconds or so, it wasn’t worth it

  58. I think we’re only now seeing how Red Bull made a car that’s so much better than the rest. I think it’s the first time we see the Bulls dominating that way since Maleysia where they made it a 1-2.
    If I’m right, if Alonso wins all following races and Vettel finishes 2nd in every race, Vettel still will be WC + he also won 50% of the 2013 races so far.

  59. 7/10 from me, but I won’t argue with a 6.

    There was always a bit of excitement somewhere, although you had to look quite far back in the midfield to find it.

    One thing that gives me hope was all the KERS-assisted passes on corners. With more KERS next year, we might get more non-DRS overtakes. Certainly it will give the drivers more headaches in deciding when to conserve power and when to go for it.

  60. I fact, my only point of disappointment apart of the a-bit-too-easy win for Vettel was that we haven’t seen any rain or what Hamilton and Kimi could have done with there alternative pit-stop strategy. They could have done a great grand prix if they had made their 1-stop strategy starting with the hards work.

  61. It may be a strange thing to say, but I think Vettel is being held back by the RB-Newey support around him.
    As other people have noted, he hardly appears in the TV coverage, except at the podium, and then he gets booed by people who really should know better. This isn’t wrestling.
    Many people credit Newey (or luck) for Vettel’s success, as though the driver has no impact on how the race develops. Nonsense.
    If Vettel was in a lesser car or team, we would see more overtakes, a richer mix of skills, more crowd-pleasing stuff. He would be more popular.
    Having a great car, team and support encourages us to doubt his skills. I think that’s a shame.

    1. That is still speculation on your part, that he could do great stuff in a lesser team. Yes, he did good at STR in 2008, but don’t forget in that year STR had a better car than Red Bull, just like how Super Aguri had a better car than Honda.

  62. Jody McLeod (@)
    8th September 2013, 18:12

    3- Another boring Vettel win… May as well watch the Caterhams and Marussias at the back, we already know who is going to win…

  63. 7/10

    As with Spa, the win was almost certain before the lights had gone out. Vettel’s dominance wasn’t quite as apparent during the first stint as it was in Spa, but that can be attributed to his somewhat cautious driving as a result of the huge flat spot on his tyre. He was untouchable, and as much as I can admire and respect his and the team’s performance (I was ranting to all those around me whilst the race was ongoing that Red Bull and Vettel are making the rest of the teams and drivers look comparitively incompetent at times), it does make the race less exciting.

    Unlike Spa, there was no small amount proper overtaking. I’m a Lewis supporter, and even though this weekend has effectively destroyed any title hopes he had coming into it, on reflection I’m a bit glad that he was out of position (and Raikkonen), else this race would have been every bit the dull affair that Spa was. He turned in a fantastic performance, against the odds, with that slow puncture scuppering his race strategy (why is it that when things go wrong for Lewis, they keep going wrong?). On the flipside, had he been at the front of the grid, his pace would seem to suggest that he might have been able to take the fight to Vettel — during the second half of the race, at least. He only has himself to blame, I suppose.

    As for Vettel getting booed on the podium, it’s hardly unheard of. Lewis got it last year, and so has any non Ferrari driver that’s beaten the red cars to the top step. He probably was getting a bit more of it that others would, and that’s undoubtedly because of Malaysia. Whilst I agree that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with what he did, what I disliked is how he behaved afterwards. He went from being all shame-faced and apologetic in the immediate aftermath, to being resolute that he was the faster driver and did nothing wrong in China. He should stand by his convictions, whatever they were/are in these circumstances, not hide behind disingenuous apologies to please the public.

  64. 6/10…perhaps a 7 had Red Bull sent THE HOFF to the podium!

  65. Peoples expectations are really out of whack. They want to see a wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead in the latter stages of the race (or at least, they say they do whenever Vettel wins) but how often do we ever see that in F1? It’s quite a rare occurrence. You might see two races like that in a season, if you’re lucky.

    This was a pretty close race by F1 standards. The eleventh place driver was just 38 seconds behind the leader. Typically the sixth place driver is a minute behind and the eleventh place driver is lapped.

    1. A couple of races were wheel to wheel last year (Alonso on Maldonado).

      1. Sounds like “one or two in a season”.

    2. Peoples expectations are really out of whack. They want to see a wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead in the latter stages of the race (or at least, they say they do whenever Vettel wins) but how often do we ever see that in F1? It’s quite a rare occurrence. You might see two races like that in a season, if you’re lucky.

      We saw it once this year – in Malaysia, the race which is used as an excuse to boo Vettel. Those attending f1 races are funny people, aren’t they?

  66. 7. It wasn’t very exciting at the front, but the flat spot and the gearbox problems added a bit of spice. It’s just incredible how Vettel managed to be consistenly faster than Alonso with that flat spot on his front right.
    The midfield battle was very interesting. I liked the battle between Ricciardo, Button, Perez and Grosjean, it lasted for the whole race. Nice recovery drives from Hamilton and Raikkonen, too.

    The podium in Monza is truly one of the best, but the people, sadly, aren’t. The booing is nothing new, it happened last year with Lewis and the year before with Vettel, so it’s not a surprise. I had some hope after yesterday, when I was at the track. There was no booing for Vettel when he took pole, but today was a different story.

  67. Decent race. Best driver won. Great fight between Alonso and Webber. I assume a lot of the people complaining weren’t watching 10 years ago.

    1. What a terribly boring race! I have watched F1 since 1997. Although there were many boring seasons (1998, 2002, 2004), there was still some tension during these races, mainly because of the hidden danger of reliability issues (even Schumacher occasionally retired whilst leading the race) or different fuel-strategies (remember for example the Coulthard-Irvine battle in Austria 1999), which could change the running order dramatically.
      I’m not completely sure whether refueling would indeed bring back the action. The Italian Grand Prix was boring due to 1) Pirelli being way too conservative 2) Monza being Monza, not really challenging for both the drivers and their cars. It is by far the worst of all European tracks.

      1. What a terribly boring race! I have watched F1 since 1997. Although there were many boring seasons (1998, 2002, 2004), there was still some tension during these races, mainly because of the hidden danger of reliability issues (even Schumacher occasionally retired whilst leading the race)

        Wow thats a lot or rubbish on 4 lines :O
        Schumacher almost never had reliability issues since 2002. RB are having much more issues in recent years, remember Britain 2013, Valencia 2012? 2002 was the most boring season in the history of Formula One …

        1. Please remember that the overall reliability was much worse in the 90s and early 2000s. These blown engines were great to watch and they allowed the weaker teams some chances of success. Nowadays most retirements are due to collisions, which is rather boring in my opinion.

          Yes, 2002 and 2004 were dominated by Schumacher’s nearly bulletproof Ferrari, which was boring indeed. However, due to the tyre battle there was some excitement. On the other hand, in 1998 there was a battle between the fast, but fragile McLaren and the slower Ferrari, which turned out to be quite exiting.

          Nowadays we see Vettel win most races unchallenged. It is usually a matter of building a gap and then controlling the race (pit when the others pit). It looks so easy that even his mishap in Silverstone doesn’t matter too much.

  68. Ok, not great. Kind of deflating, honestly. Pretty nice pass w/ Webber and Alonso early on, fun watching Lewis slice through the field on the forced 2 stop strategy too. Was hoping that the championship would close up some, but it’s tough to stop anyone when they aren’t making mistakes and no one in their camp really is either. Probably a 6 or so.

  69. I’d say 5/10.
    I was not as bored as with Spa, but this time I had less distractions, plus having Massa and Hulkenberg in good positions made me nervous. Action was limited apart from the start and the end, the excitement was given by battles which could have happened, but never did, like Webber/Alonso. Hamilton and Raikkonen with different strategies made for an interesting end of the race and I was anxious for it during the laps they spent behind, but objectively it wasn’t so exciting.

  70. Hmm. Six seems to be about the average.
    “A bit disappointing” seems to be the prevelant comment.
    Rather pleased I didn’t watch it and went out instead! had a nice pub lunch and looked at plenty of lovely paintings, so I’d score my afternoon as at least an 8.
    Much better than sitting in the lounge and shouting at the telly “Not bloody Vettel again!”
    I don’t approve of the booing of anyone, but I am getting bored of Vettel/RedBull/Newey dominance, just as I did with Schu/Brawn/Ferrari/Bridgestone.

    1. The opening laps were pretty good though :)

  71. Like many Italian GP’s I’ve seen, the race threatened to be exciting up front but with it being a one stopper and the pace so quick, it never had the chance. I was hoping for a mid race rain shower to shake things up but oh well…there were some good battles in the midfield…6/10

  72. Like another two classic tracks, Silverstone and Monaco, monza is usually a processional snoozefest, and this one was no exception. For all the jibes directed at the tilkedromes, other tracks are just as bad. Fingers crossed the 2014 rules are dramatic enough to bring some racing back into it.

    Surprising to see Hamilton and kimi making up places at the end on a supposedly slower strategy, but that was about it.

  73. I believe people all over the world did not take the Malaysia incident well.. What Vettel said on the podium in Malaysis was more acceptable rather than the U-turn he made at the press conference about racing and all… I know team orders are against the racing spirit at most times, but sometimes it is needed, as was in Malaysia due to the critical tyre situation…
    Anyways to @vettel1 and @keithcollantine I want to say this, all the people around the world cannot be wrong, and Vettels dominance in 2011 was much greater, but he was never booed then… I understand racing is in the DNA and all, believe me all drivers want to win, no one likes to lose…but sometimes you have to put the team above yourself and believe in them…

    1. @noob

      I want to say this, all the people around the world cannot be wrong, and Vettels dominance in 2011 was much greater, but he was never booed then…

      Keith said a 100 times that Webber ignored team orders too during the 2011 British GP + Vettel was booed on the 2011 Italian GP ;)

  74. 8, because I was there! Would’ve been a 6 if I’d been watching it from home.

  75. I only gave it a 6 and that may have been generous.

    Yet another race where it was obvious from the start who was going to win, there was some action further down the field but that was mainly due to Raikkonen and Hamilton having to make early pit stops and change to a two stop strategy.

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