2016 Italian GP @ Monza

[auaq]

Yaa! Another great high speed track that I enjoy watching cars going around. If I'm not mistaken this track has the highest WOT percentage than any other tracks around the world. I think the Montreal circuit comes in second.

Anyways, bring on the 350+ kmh!

Drivers	Championship Points
Lewis Hamilton	232
Nico Rosberg	223
Daniel Ricciardo	151
Sebastian Vettel	128
Kimi Raikkonen	124
Max Verstappen	115
Valtteri Bottas	62
Sergio Perez	58
Nico Hulkenberg	45
Felipe Massa	39
Fernando Alonso	30
Carlos Sainz	30
Romain Grosjean	28
Daniil Kvyat	23
Jenson Button	17
Kevin Magnussen	6
Pascal Wehrlein	1
Stoffel Vandoorne	1
Estaban Gutierrez	0
Jolyon Palmer	0
Marcus Ericsson	0
Felipe Nasr	0
Ryo Haryanto	0
Estaban Ocon	0

Constructors	Championship Points
Mercedes	455
RBR	247
Ferrari	252
Force India	103
Williams	101
Mclaren	48
Toro Rosso	45
Haas	28
Renault	6
MRT	1
Sauber	0

[BoldUlysses]

I think Louie is a shoo-in for this one, unfortunately.

The 2017 reg shakeup can't come soon enough.

Looking forward to more Max-Kimi fireworks.

Hopefully the Williams can get ahead of the FIs. Massa is seriously just phoning it in at this point.

[badmonkey]

Massa announces retirement at end of 2016 season.


Finally.


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[m3fuz]

He is a good guy though. I'm still pissed that Timo stayed out on drys in 08 though...

[Jmabarone]

He is a good guy though. I'm still pissed that Timo stayed out on drys in 08 though...

same here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlJWwuV9eBw

[RidgeBack]

yeah, I just mentioned that in the other thread harsh.

looking forward to seeing the low downforce setups for this weekend and especially to see what Ferrari have with regards to the tokens they just spent on their PU. Because they're going to need a bump to catch RBR. (pun not intended)

I hope they have a good head steward on duty too. Not some yes man.

[MagneZium]

Now Verstappen is being a maximum douchebag, comparing himself to football (soccer) stars and saying he will not change a thing in his driving.

He says that he is not just going to let someone by on the straight, and that it's good that people can't just go by on DRS...WTF?

He says that he didn't get any penalties so what he did was right.

So now the questions of whether Max is following after his wife-beater dad is answered. I've been very surprised before on how aggressive and elbows out many Dutch people are, I've come to the conclusion that it's some kind of cultural thing over there. My theory is that they haven't had much differentiation, much class differences, not much to have advantages over each other with, and so success has been made by screwing people over and being aggressive.

[MagneZium]

Update: Now Charlie Whiting has gone to Red Bull's Team Manager and Verstappen, showed replays of the incidents (not the 1st corner AFAIK) and said that such driving will not be allowed in the future.

[RidgeBack]

Basically Charlie said to max: Any more shenanigans like the Kemmel straight (not choosing a defensive line until after the person behind you has moved to overtake) and you'll be shown the black and white flag (unsportsmanlike behavior) and then. I'm of the opinion that the 2 moves (outbraking kimi when they both run off the track and the Kemmel straight block) should have been investigated during the race. Forcing Kimi to give the position back was absolute BS because Max didn't make the corner either. If the stewards had done their job the Kemmel straight block wouldn't have occurred.

Max is good for the sport but much like Hamilton he brings fans new to the sport who have zero clue about F1. Some of the tweets that Crofty reads out make me want to shove a sharp stick in my eye.


Back to the FP sessions today. (tires are M, S, and SS)

Merc on the S (probably the race tire if you're doing 2 stops although it'll be tight) was 1 second quicker than anyone else (Ferrari and RBR)
Merc on the SS were .5 seconds quicker than anyone else.

Ferrari on the SS were .4 second ahead of RBR
Ferrari on the S were .3 seconds ahead of RBR

Not sure how accurate the Ferrari to RBR results are because Vettel then Ricciardo then Kimi then Max. I have a feeling RBR were running a couple of extra kilos of fuel because they were damn quick at Spa.

Ferrari did bring the upgraded PU but in FP1 they didn't run much because they didn't want to put the mileage on the engines. Possibly fears about reliability with this being their home race.

McLaren were in the top 10 here. Impressive.

Williams is looking quicker than FI here and they normally sandbag their FP sessions.

Manor's looking good to get to Q2 as well.

Renault, Sauber, and STR were pretty sad today.


It's Merc's race to lose - again. But it could be that Ferrari have edged out RBR in the power stakes - although I think it will be a tough battle between them that'll be won by strategy (and tire management) rather than outright pace.

[auaq]

There is still so much gap between Mercs and the rest of the field. From 1:21.135 to 1:21.972 seconds. Nearly a second off the pace. Hamy and Nico starting on the front row. Ferrari's in second row followed by Bottas and Ricciardo in third.

[RidgeBack]

Okay opposite to what I'd said, Ferrari were sandbagging a little while RBR were going flat out. Didn't get to watch FP3 so I missed than and was quite surprized by Q1. Although Q2 setup Q2 and Q3 for me to at the end of the day - because I missed FP3 Q1 was a little nice - with cars moving up down the grid based on genuine pace.

Haas made it into Q3 with Esteban - what a drive dude - what a drive!

I think Merc has some serious alien tech in their dampers. Their cars ride the curbs like they are not even there. Nico braked a couple of meters earlier than Lewis and didn't tail brake as hard into the Lesmos and Lewis frickin' stomped Ascari left's curb - and I think that's where he gained the time.

Back when I was watching F1 from years and years ago, the guys that attacked and locked up on turns during practice were the guys absolutely pushing the limit. Lewis was pushing the braking point limits all weekend whereas Nico was fast but not pushing.

Anyways, awesome lap by Lewis, Bottas, and Esteban. I really didn't expect Williams to be ahead of RBR this weekend.

Massa is going to need to start soft and go to medium tires in order to get a one stop that can get williams enough points to keep ahead of FI.

It'll be interesting to see how Ferrari and RBR conduct their strategies. SS to S to S or SS to S to M. who can make the S last 20-21 laps (if they can get 14 laps out of the SS).

Barring the front 2 I think it's going to be interesting race - strategy wise.

[MagneZium]

YES!! What a start! This will help with some excitement.

- - - Updated - - -

Holy crap, Hamilton's Merc just powers past the Red Bull like it's a backmarker...

- - - Updated - - -

Looks like Williams is running a solid, solid race! Finally they have great strategy! Now Bottas has track position and Ricciardo will not get a gap as Bottas is on fresh tires having covered the undercut. Only way for Red Bull to get past Bottas is passing on the track, and that might be unlikely.

Really interesting to see how long Kimi can keep Hamilton behind, and will they pit Vettel early to start attacking Hamilton from behind, counting on Hamilton burning his tires and being vulnerable in the last laps. After all, Ferrari has nothing to lose: they have 3rd and 4th on lock, but can do this long shot for 2nd without any risk... Who knows, there might be a safety car (though very unlikely).

- - - Updated - - -

Never mind, they pitted Kimi. Oh, he's emerged right behind Verstappen... Popcorn is out.

- - - Updated - - -

Could this be tight in the end for 2nd? If Hammy makes another mistake at least? Ferraris can squeeze to be 1 sec per lap faster, they're 13 sec behind, and 10 laps to go... Probably not without something happening like a mistake from Lewis.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh s**t, amazing surprise move by Ricciardo! Can't blame Bottas for that one, it didn't look like he was in play at all, but made that move to perfection. When Ric started that move it was over, as Bottas is a smart and responsible driver and wouldn't try to do some braking zone blocking move.

Without that move I'm pretty sure Ricciardo couldn't have ever passed Bottas. He's been in the DRS reach before, and Valtteri in the Williams easily controlled the situation. Ricciardo would've probably burned his super softs to the point that he wouldn't have threatening pace any more if he'd have followed even one more lap.

Great radio message from Alonso: "HAHAHAHA!".

[auaq]

I stopped watching the race after lap 45.

[=BA=]

So now the questions of whether Max is following after his wife-beater dad is answered. I've been very surprised before on how aggressive and elbows out many Dutch people are, I've come to the conclusion that it's some kind of cultural thing over there. My theory is that they haven't had much differentiation, much class differences, not much to have advantages over each other with, and so success has been made by screwing people over and being aggressive.

I'm sure you've met a lot of them

[MagneZium]

Especially when I lived in Belgium, but also in other countries yes, I have met, studied with, worked with and done business with many Dutch people.

And no, I don't hate the Dutch. I'm not Austin Powers' faaszhaa.

https://youtu.be/PnVG3DNf6_U?t=53s

[RidgeBack]

Wow, after initially booing Rosberg, he spoke Italian to them thanking them then started humming White Stripes (edit: proper name is Seven Nation Army) and the entire crowd joined in. That was awesome!

Otherwise race results expected after Quali. The only surprise for me was the Ferrari going SS - SS - S.

What a crowd. the podium was better than the race.

[xxxxxxx]

The crowd was pretty entertaining.

I looked to see if there was a race at Monza scheduled for next season. Would be fun to watch a race there. Sadly, no race under contract as of yet.

[RidgeBack]

The crowd was pretty entertaining.

I looked to see if there was a race at Monza scheduled for next season. Would be fun to watch a race there. Sadly, no race under contract as of yet.

They just a 3 year extension. So yeah, there'll be a race at Monza for the next 3 years.

Gary88 has been to Monza a few times. Maybe PM to get some details.

[m3fuz]

The crowd was pretty entertaining.

I looked to see if there was a race at Monza scheduled for next season. Would be fun to watch a race there. Sadly, no race under contract as of yet.

Bernie announced a 3 year extension, so Monza is on for the foreseeable few years.

[badmonkey]

How about the rumor of the US outfit buying F1, and Bernie is out of a job.


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[xxxxxxx]

They just a 3 year extension. So yeah, there'll be a race at Monza for the next 3 years.

Gary88 has been to Monza a few times. Maybe PM to get some details.

Yippee!

Thanks for the update.

[adamnur]

Wow, after initially booing Rosberg, he spoke Italian to them thanking them then started humming White Stripes (edit: proper name is Seven Nation Army) and the entire crowd joined in. That was awesome!

Otherwise race results expected after Quali. The only surprise for me was the Ferrari going SS - SS - S.

What a crowd. the podium was better than the race.

This was so great, amazing how he just brings out the Italian and gains the mob approval, somehow getting them all singing.

Good to see Nico not making any mistakes in the lead, very Hamilton-esque confidence.

Hamilton seemed pretty peeved in the post-race questions by Sky but when he doesn't win, it's the end of the world. He maintains the start was not driver error, apparently Merc have had issues with clutch inconsistency that has been popping up.

Also finding it funny that at every race Lewey says on the podium "Wow, what an amazing crowd, these are the best fans" . He's good at this PR thing.

Good to see the honey badger coming out to play as well with that golden smile of his.

[RidgeBack]

How about the rumor of the US outfit buying F1, and Bernie is out of a job.


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Well maybe Todt can pull the reigns once for a while. Bernie has gotten things done though. He knows how to push a deal. His answers when questioned were extremely vague as usual.

F1 really needs professional stewards or at least one professional chief steward every race weekend. The same person (or group of people) every race weekend to lend consistency to the rulings.

[BMWWW]

I certainly prefer driving Mugello vs Monza in video games
Nothing else to add here..
Just wish Monza was more entertaining.. races in the turbo ages at Monza just doesn't have the aural-cajones to make up for the boring on-track racing

[auaq]

Just a heads up, the Malaysian track has been resurfaced and slight elevation changes have been made at Turns 2, 5, 15.