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Kimi
Raikkonen finished the 53
lap Italian Grand Prix this
afternoon in third place, but his appearance on the
podium at the Prancing Horse’s home race was in
doubt until the very last lap. His Scuderia Ferrari team-mate
Giancarlo Fisichella just
missed out on a points place
crossing the line ninth. The
race was dominated by the
Brawn team, who finished
first and second, Rubens
Barrichello, taking his
second win of the year,
ahead of Jenson Button. With
four races remaining,
Ferrari is still third in
the Constructors’
classification, with 15
points in hand over McLaren.
As usual at
Monza, the predominant
colour in the grandstands
was Ferrari red, the devoted
tifosi enthusiastically
waving flags, caps and
anything else they could
find, before the start. Kimi
Raikkonen started from the
inside of Row 2 and
Giancarlo Fisichella was
making his Ferrari race
debut from Row 7 in
fourteenth place. When the
lights went out, Kimi
immediately attacked pole
man Hamilton in the McLaren
and got ahead of Sutil’s
Force India to be second on
the opening lap. Giancarlo
also got a good start moving
up three places to eleventh.
Webber spun and retired in
the Red Bull after tangling
with Kubica. The order after
two laps was Hamilton,
Raikkonen, Sutil,
Barrichelllo, Button,
Liuzzi, Kovalainen, Alonso,
Kubica, Vettel in tenth,
then Fisichella, Heidfeld,
Rosberg, Nakajima, Trulli,
Glock, Buemi, Alguersuari,
who started from pit lane
and Grosjean, 19th and last.
Rosberg went
down to last after pitting
to repair accident damage on
lap 4. Giancarlo lost a
place to Heidfeld’s BMW to
go twelfth and after six
laps, Kimi trailed leader
Hamilton by 3.5 and was one
second ahead of Sutil. On
lap 8, Kubica was shown the
black and orange flag,
meaning he had to come in
and have damage to his car
repaired as it was a danger
to other cars. By lap 10,
Sutil had closed the gap to
Kimi to just 0.5 and three
laps later it had grown to
0.7 while Giancarlo was back
in eleventh, after Kubica
pitted. Hamilton was the
first to refuel on lap 14,
promoting Kimi to the lead,
as the McLaren rejoined
fifth. Sutil pitted on lap
17 and one lap later, Kimi
brought the F60 in. On lap
24, the two Brawns, yet to
pit, were leading,
Barrichello ahead of Button,
while Hamilton was third
ahead of Kimi, with Alonso
fifth and Sutil sixth.
Giancarlo was tenth.
The interest
would now centre on the
difference between those
refuelling once –the Brawns
for example and those
pitting twice, Kimi and
Hamilton, of the leading
group. Liuzzi, on his Force
India debut, retired with
transmission problems. Sixth
placed Alonso came in on lap
26 and took on enough fuel
to get to the flag, as did
Kovalainen next time round.
In fourth place, Kimi now
trailed Hamilton by 4.7
seconds as the Englishman
got ahead in the run of
stops. Button refuelled from
second place on lap 28 and
Barrichello came in one lap
later, so that Kimi was now
second behind Hamilton, with
Sutil 1.4 seconds behind the
Ferrari. Yet to stop,
Fisichella was now up to
seventh, until he made his
only pit stop on lap 30,
rejoining thirteenth.
The race
leader made his final stop
on lap 34, rejoining behind
the two Brawns, so that Kimi
led again, 0.9 ahead of
Sutil. The Finn made his
final stop on lap 37, at
exactly the same time as
Sutil. Kimi lost fractions
of a second when pulling
away, while Sutil knocked
over one of his wheel men
and lost a mirror.
Barrichello and Button
therefore occupied the two
top slots again, with Kimi
fourth, 7.3 behind Hamilton.
Kimi had said earlier in the
weekend that a podium would
be a tough task and it was
looking that way as
Barrichello and Button were
fuelled to the end of the
race. Not only was a podium
looking unlikely, but with
ten laps remaining, the
Ferrari man could still not
shake off Sutil who was just
0.6 behind. Giancarlo was
lying tenth, 6.3 behind
Vettel.
It seemed as
though the race order would
now remain unchanged,
however on the very last
lap, Lewis Hamilton spun and
crashed heavily, thus
guaranteeing Kimi a trip to
the podium in third place.
Giancarlo therefore came
very close to a points
finish, classified ninth as
he crossed the line, as the
race ended behind the Safety
Car. Also in the points were
fourth placed Sutil, then
Alonso, Kovalainen, Heidfeld
and Vettel.
Another podium finish, the fifth
consecutively for Scuderia Ferrari means
that with four races still to go to the end
of the season, the Scuderia has
consolidated its third place in the
Constructors’ classification, now having
a 15 point lead over its closest
pursuer.
Stefano Domenicali:
“A podium again, the fifth in a row,
this time courtesy of a hefty dose of
luck, which maybe hasn’t always been
with us at other times. Once again, in
this second half of the season, Kimi
drove a fantastic race – in fact I’d say
he was fantastic all weekend. He did not
make any mistakes, giving his all and,
along with the team, was able to get the
best out of the car. Giancarlo had a
good race, just missing out on a points
finish: his weekend built up and up and
I am sure that, as from the next race,
he will be able to give the team what it
needs in terms of points. Today, we were
not quick enough, but we still managed
to get one driver to the podium, a
result which is good for morale and I
believe, pleased all our fans. The
European part of the season is over and
there are still four races to go to try
and finish this unusual season in the
best way possible.”
Giancarlo Fisichella:
“I am happy with the way things went in
my first race weekend with Ferrari. At
the start, I managed to make up a few
places, then I had a difficult moment
with Vettel, who closed the door on me
going into Ascari in a way that was,
let’s say, very decisive. In the first
part of the race, I felt comfortable on
the softer tyre, while I struggled a bit
more on the harder one, especially after
the pit stop. It’s a shame I only just
missed out on a points finish, but this
afternoon, I did the best I could. I am
upset that I went off the track in FP3,
which prevented me from being as well
prepared as possible for qualifying:
starting a bit further forward might
have seen me finish in the top eight.
Right from tomorrow morning, I will be
concentrating totally on preparing for
the race in Singapore, a track that I
like a lot.”
Kimi Raikkonen:
“I am happy to have made it to the
podium once again, even if this time I
needed a heavy dose of luck. It’s a nice
result, for the championship, for us and
for our fans here at Monza. I got a
great start and I almost managed to also
get past Hamilton, but even if I’d
managed it, the result would have been
the same in the end. I’m disappointed I
couldn’t fight for the win, but we did
not have enough speed. All in all, the
strategy we chose prior to the race was
the best one for us. In my battle with
Sutil, I was never really in difficulty:
I knew I only had to avoid making any
mistakes and drive in such a way as to
get the best out of the car. The tyres?
The softer ones suited us better, as we
struggled a bit on the harder ones,
especially at the start of the stint. In
the upcoming races, we will try and do
our best: maybe in some of them we could
even try and fight for the win.”
Chris Dyer: “We
were expecting a bit more in terms of
performance, but we are pleased with yet
another podium finish from Raikkonen,
even if it owed something to luck. Kimi
again drove an impeccable race, as he
has always done in this part of the
season. Giancarlo ended up just outside
the points, but this was nevertheless a
positive weekend for him and we are
confident that he is capable of making
an important contribution to the team in
the final part of the season. We went
for a two stop strategy for Kimi and it
was the right decision, given the pace
we had. Also in terms of our tyre useage,
we feel we made the best choice: our car
struggled more than others to get the
best out of the harder compound,
especially in the first few laps.”
Race details:
Kimi Raikkonen: Position 3rd Time 1:16.52.370 +30.664 Laps
53 Chassis 279
Giancarlo Fisichella: Position 9th Time
1:17.48.562 +86.856 Laps 53 Chassis 280
Weather: air temperature 26/27 °C, track temperature 36 °C,
sunny
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