Report cards of the Italian Grand Prix

Race from the past in Monza, where after the dominator Vettel the team of pursuers, led by Button, put on an exhilarating show made up of overtaking, counter-overtaking, braking, slipstreams, and so on. Excellent third place for Alonso, great race for Michael Schumacher who puts on a show, fighting for a long time with Hamilton. Enjoy the reading!

Sebastian Vettel: 10st – Do you know why he deserves a ten this time too, despite the missile he finds under his butt? Look at the overtaking against Alonso, outside the Curva Grande (we don't like calling it Biassono, be patient with those of a certain age). Big balls stuff - and sorry for the French -, almost as if it were an ideal response - given the necessary proportions - to Webber's maneuver at Spa again to the detriment of Alonso. Having said that, little else to add. He gets fooled at the start but regains his position as champion, and from there it's a lonely ride to the checkered flag. On the track where he achieved his first victory in F1 he ideally becomes world champion for the second time. And if you please. Who knows if from now on he will leave some crumbs to others too. Cannibal.

Mark Webber: 4,5 – The only wise thing he says at the end of the race, when he admits that the fight for the Championship is now limited to second place. It doesn't do him any credit that he drives the same car as the person in first place, but that's how it is. Poor in qualifying, seven tenths behind Vettel, he tries to make up ground in the early stages and passes Button. He also tries with Massa but the maneuver is clumsy, sending the Brazilian into a spin and losing the wing. Wing that ends up under the car sending him to the wall in Pparabolica. And he says he didn't even notice. Bad epilogue to a weekend literally to forget. Played.

Lewis Hamilton: 7 – At Spa he complained about McLaren not even pushing it on the straight. Who knows why then he once again chose a nice set-up - in an aerodynamic sense, not in a character sense... - which favors him in the -few- corners but penalizes him on the straight. The fact is that thanks to this decision he was - together with Michael Schumacher - the best placed driver of the race. Giving the A to one of the most beautiful resistances that the undersigned remembers. Lewis actually manages to pass him, the German, already on lap 13, but then Michelone incredibly jumps ahead of him. Memorable. Then on the umpteenth attempt he puts two wheels on the grass, and is overtaken by Button. Everything to do again. Ironically, after being followed by cameras for the entire race, the direction misses the moment of real overtaking. Gratuitous cruelty. At the end of the race he tries to catch Alonso again but only manages to reach him in the exhaust. Fourth place is too tight for him. And - but maybe we're wrong - he is affected by the accidents of the last few races, which may have conditioned and softened him a little. It can fit, even for a tough guy with a capital D. Or maybe - and this is the other key - in Monza he simply met someone tougher than him. You choose. Taped.

Jenson Button: 9nd – You spend an entire season talking about the pair of McLaren drivers, explaining that one is a striker and the other an accountant, one is aggressive and the other thoughtful, and then in Monza you realize that you didn't understand anything. It took Hamilton forever to pass Schumacher, Button just a couple of laps, with a stunning overtaking on the outside of the Ascari chicane. And to think that he also started badly, and he let Webber overtake him at the restart. But his strength is his deadly vision of the match, which always makes him understand when it's time to wait and when instead it's time to strike. Like when he understands that he can take out Alonso, after the pit stop, for second place. In the end he closes behind only Vettel. Which is probably the most he could collect in Monza. Unless we get off to a better start, but that's it. He's in a state of grace, and it shows. Especially because everything is fine with him. Illuminated.

Fernando Alonso: 10th – Do you know why he deserves a 10 too? Well, granted: for the start which saw him leap from fourth to first place in the space of a few metres. Obvious but far from banal: go and see again the moment in which he puts two wheels on the grass or the effort he makes to enter the Ferrari in the first chicane, later breaking away from his direct pursuers. A "blunt" start, to put it in the words of the good Ettore Giovannelli. A true masterpiece. A dream. Which at dawn, read restart, vanishes carried away by Vettel's sumptuous attack. Later, with hard tyres, he also had to give in to Button's return. But this does not cancel out the performance that is decidedly beyond the car's possibilities. Literally pushed by the public, he resists Hamilton in the final meters and gives the fans in red a podium that boosts morale, optimism and - why not - the rankings. Considering that the development of the car is blocked for the whole of 2011, let's say that it could have gone much worse. Or not? Starter.

Felipe Massa: 7 -A very old song by the phenomenal Andrea Mingardi, if we are not mistaken from 1977, told the sad events of a character defined as "not exactly lucky". And in the chorus he recited - let our Bolognese friends forgive us for the horrible transliteration - "me a son sfighé". Here you are. You are in Monza, home of your employer. You have - believe us, it's really like that - a good pace, close to that of your team leader, and you have the possibility - at least theoretical - of partially dignifying a failing season. And what happens? It happens that a tall Australian on board a blue spaceship with a Red Bull painted on the sides comes at you and sends you into a spin after just a few laps, making you lose time and positions. Here it is…o. From there he recovers, indeed well, giving himself some nice overtakes on Senna and Maldonado, until reaching the final sixth position. What to say. We cannot know where he would have arrived without the accident, but we cannot fail to praise his patience and pertinacity in recovering from the ramming of the Australian cruiser. For once a race without specific faults. Torpedoed.

Michael Schumacher: 10 – Be patient, it will be the air of home that softens our hearts, it will be that pinch of nostalgia that permeates the soul of every human being, or it will simply be that we had fun watching a show of absolute level. But what the German showed on the fastest track in the world championship is not something that happens every day. On the contrary. He starts eighth but on the first lap he actually passes fourth. Hamilton passes at the restart and keeps him behind for life with a duel made up of braking beyond the limit, especially on his part, having a car that is fast in a straight line but precisely for this reason unstable when braking. Not a mistake, not a mistake. Does the Englishman pass him on the thirteenth lap? He bounces in front of him at the next braking point. He had to give in to Button because of the tires but after the pit stop he found himself once again in front of the 2008 world champion's McLaren and once again kept him behind for many, many laps. Driving to the limit, bad, determined. Just the way we like it, in short. The Kraut is there and it shows. It is useless to reason about what has been, what is and what will be. We evaluate the race. And the race tells us that it couldn't have been better than this. He deserved at least the podium. Stopper.

Nico Rosberg: sv – Ready-go and he ends up innocently involved in the mess triggered by Liuzzi. Objectively unjustifiable. Indeed, reread what was written for Massa... Ramped.

Bruno Senna: 7 – He too has to blame for the accident at the start, as despite not being directly involved he is forced to cut across fields losing a lot of positions. At that point, under the safety car, he stops in the pits and from there, quietly, he acts like an ant, starting to move up positions until he reaches the edge of the top ten. At that point the director also notices him, just in time to show us the duel with Kobayashi, the overtaking of Maldonado and the fight with Buemi, complete with a near-collision that causes the evergreen Jean Alesi to put his hands in his hair. In the end the Swiss managed to pass him and this earned him the ninth place finish, as well as the first world championship points of his career. The Brianza match will not silence those who continue - and will continue - to consider him as recommended, but at least it will earn him a little more respect within the team. We liked him. Comeback.

Vitaly Petrov: sv – «Poor Petrov who has nothing to do with it», as the good Ivan Capelli compassionately renamed him, is badly knocked down by Liuzzi in the ideal bowling staged by the HRT driver. Blameless and lucky to get out without a scratch. It's a shame, because given what Senna did, he could have brought home some good points. Alright.

Rubens Barrichello: 6 – In a race monopolized by the Hamilton-Schumacher duel, he had the opportunity to end up under the eye of the cameras twice, being portrayed in situations bordering on the grotesque. The first immediately after the crash at the start, when he was comically trapped between the cars of Rosberg and Petrov and - despite not suffering any damage - the stewards had to intervene to free him. The second when, approaching the pit stop, he stages a curious ballet with Hamilton at almost 300 mph before entering the pit lane. The two don't seem to understand each other and it borders on the absurd. In between these two episodes a regular race, conditioned precisely by the time and the positions lost at the start. He finishes immediately behind Maldonado, and given how the race was going, all in all it's not too bad. And - given the do-goodism we talked about above - we venture a sufficiency that is as magnanimous as it is questionable. Who knows if he will return to the Brianza straights next year still behind the wheel of an F1. Mysterious.

Pastor Maldonado: 6 – Unlike Barrichello, who remains stuck between Rosberg's Mercedes and Petrov's Renault, he manages to take advantage of the accident by slipping like a snake among the other cars and even finding himself - at a certain point - in sixth position. Not since the time of Johnny Cecotto - the indestructible Gianfranco Mazzoni informs us - has a Venezuelan been in similar positions. Questionable encyclopedisms aside, the fun ends there, because the Williams - no matter how skilled the driver is at gaining positions at the start - is still a car from the second half of the grid. And in fact he slowly lost ground and several drivers - Massa and Senna, for example - passed him, relegating him outside the points zone. Little to invent, unfortunately, in regular and normal conditions. He finishes eleventh, just ahead of his teammate. He eel.

Adrian Sutil: sv – There are races that start badly from the beginning. His career was born under an unlucky star when, to avoid chaos at the first chicane, he was forced to pass on the gravel, ending up almost at the back of the group. He was born under an unlucky star, as we were saying, and dies badly when, after just nine laps, the hydraulic circuit of his Force India gives his soul back to the creator - who knows if and when he will give it back, among other things, but this is a personal curiosity - leaving him stranded. However, the race did not go well. Unjustifiable.

Paul di Resta: 8 – Even though he didn't start well, he was good - and indeed a bit lucky - at guessing the right hole to bypass the web of cars at the first chicane, managing at the same time to gain several positions. But it's not a flash in the pan: Force India seems to like the long straights of Monza, also thanks to the good power offered by the Mercedes engine, and the young Scotsman shows he knows how to do it by setting up a regular race, without too many frills but without shadows or smudges. At the end he gives in to Alguersuari, who has fresher tires than him, but resists Senna's return without too many worries, earning an excellent eighth place finish. The boy - who, let's not forget, remains a rookie, grows well and acquires personality. Really nice driver. If we were you - and here we are addressing the team managers who are listening and watching - we would give it some thought. Veteran (budding).

Kamui Kobayashi: 6,5 – Another of the -partial- victims of the carom at the first variation. In reality he is also a little distracted, because he notices the chaos at the last moment and hits the car in front of him, losing the front wing and a tyre. He therefore has to stop in the pits and, when the race restarts, he already has a nice handicap on his shoulders. From there, however, his race is vigorous, as usual, he re-emerges and engages in a good braking battle with Senna's Renault, even allowing himself a long shot at the first chicane. But then his Sauber decides it has had enough and leaves him stranded. Sufficiency, even with the distraction in mind, is all there. After all, a samurai with a blunt katana is a bit endearing. Or not? Poor.

Sergio Perez: 7 – The straights at Monza exalt him. He exits the first corner well and maintains a good pace for over half the race, comfortably placing himself in the points. Nothing, not bad really. Unfortunately, however, after midnight - oops, the 34th lap - the gearbox stops changing, the accelerator stops accelerating and his Sabuer turns back into a pumpkin. Not all fairy tales have a happy ending, alas. And the retreat is certainly not the Happy Ending they were hoping for in the Hinwil area. Patience. What remains is the tough and concrete performance of the young Mexican. That when he keeps the hot spirits at bay he proves he can do a lot. Swapped.

Sebastien Buemi: 6,5 – In the carambola triggered by Liuzzi he suffered a strong blow to the rear which sent him back in the standings with the car slightly damaged. He definitely could have started his team's home race better. However, despite not being a Red Bull, even his Toro Rosso - given the necessary proportions - puts the aaaaals, and the Swiss by hook and by crook, but above all in pace - climbs back into the points. Then Senna arrives, with fresher tires and a faster car, and it's immediately a battle. Hard, true. So much so that at a certain point the Brazilian almost collides with him. But two shots from behind - and don't think badly, pigs! - would objectively have been too many and all's well that ends well. For the safety of the car, not for Seb, who in the end actually suffers from overtaking. But a tenth place is still better than an eleventh, says Monsieur Lapalisse, and so that's fine. It's a shame about that first lap, but luck doesn't always favor the brave. Assuming that the Swiss - his compatriots don't shine in this sense - really is. BackHit.

Jaime Alguersuari: 8 – «I think I would like to start even further back on the grid for the next Grand Prix, because it seems that every time I have a position further back on the grid, I manage to finish in the points». He's being ironic, good Jaime, but we forgive him. Because in Monza the Spaniard achieved the best result of his career, with a vigorous, tough, concrete, aggressive and almost flawless race. He is among the lucky ones who gets the right corridor at the start, and at the end of the first lap he finishes eleventh. He started 18th, we remember. But it's not a flash in the pan. At the end of the race he goes like a train, catches up and overtakes Di Resta and finishes in seventh place. He too is surprised by the performance of his Toro Rosso, proving that F1 can still be unpredictable. Who knows what the next races will hold for him. For now he's fine like this. Exalted.

Jarno Trulli: 6 – He too must be an admirer of Andrea Mingardi (see Massa, ndp). Because he avoids the chaos at the first corner, but later he gets involved, in a completely fortuitous way, in the contact between Massa and Webber, losing the front wing. If it's true that bad luck sees very well, with him he shows off 15/10 vision. After the forced stop he slowly recovers and, in the final stages of the race, passes Glock's Virgin, finishing just behind Kovalainen. Given what happened - and in consideration of the reiteration of bad luck - we cannot help but deny it its sufficiency. The team confirms it for 2012. Probably trusting in the law of large numbers and hoping that the bad luck will turn a little the other way too. He doesn't even care anymore. Seraphic.

Heikki Kovalainen: 6 – He overtakes Trulli - who had beaten him in qualifying - at the start, avoids the initial carambola and makes himself noticed only when he is overtaken by faster cars that have fallen out of favor due to circumstances linked to the unstable progress of the race. Let's talk - from memory - about Buemi, Senna, Barrichello. Given the clear impossibility of resisting, the only option is to move forward steadily, avoiding messes in dubbing and pit stops. He finishes thirteenth and also receives invectives from Liuzzi for the accident at the start. Invectives that seem risky to us at the very least. We are in F1, not Formula Ford, and Heikki's maneuver did not seem as risky as Tonio made it out to be. Acquitted (because the fact does not exist).

Daniel Ricciardo: sv – Fifth Grand Prix in Formula 1. In qualifying he takes on the challenge of beating Liuzzi at home. And the Italian, subtly, gives him a scary macumba. At the start, in sequence: the anti-stall starts, the gearbox locks in third, the engine shuts down. They turn it back on for him, send him back on track, but the temperatures go through the roof. Then they call him back, fix the problem and put him back on the track again. In the end he even put together 30 laps. A luxury. But giving it a rating is frankly impossible. Bewitched.

Vitantonio Liuzzi: 4 – We are not exaggerating if we call it the worst weekend since he raced in F1. In qualifying he takes them from rookie Ricciardo gets carried away at the start, makes a mistake in braking and overwhelms Petrov and Rosberg, triggering a very dangerous carambola, risking injury. He takes it out on Kovalainen who, according to him, would have swerved towards him too aggressively, but it seems like a weak and specious defense to us. The truth is that he simply wasn't there in his head. And he will be penalized on the grid in Singapore. We give it a four only because we have never gone down and will never go down. Played.

Timo Glock: 5,5 – Overall an anonymous race, without infamy and without praise. And these days it's not a small thing, not at all. He gets a good start and exits the first corner in fourteenth (!) position. However, everything is nullified by the inconsistency of the car, which doesn't even push it. Whoever was behind gets it back, whoever is in front is unreachable. At the end, Trulli, who had had his own problems in the early stages of the race, also overtook him and thus finished last, with two laps left. It's sad to see him like this, on a single-seater that struggles even on the straight, which has little load and questionable traction to say the least. And to think that he signed a renewal for another three years... Masochistic.

Jérôme d'Ambrosio: sv – Is it better to burn in an instant or go out slowly? The question is philosophical, existential, poetic. Some are given a choice. Not to others. Like the good Jérôme, who lost second gear during the formation lap in Monza and had to retire after just three laps with the car undriveable. Is it better to burn in an instant or fade away slowly? Look at the Glock competition and do your own thing. Lucky.

Manuel Codignoni
www.f1grandprix.it