Post race analysis of the Italian GP (selected teams only)

It was like old times on Sunday, as Ferrari power and a German driver won the Italian Grand Prix - yet there was no red to be seen on the Monza podium. The Tifosi seemed delighted nonetheless, as did everyone who witnessed the magnificent drive that gave Sebastian Vettel his historic maiden win. As Toro Rosso and their 21 year-old protege celebrated, the title contenders were left to reflect on mixed fortunes. Lewis Hamilton saw Felipe Massa cut his championship lead to a single point, while Kimi Raikkonen’s hopes of retaining his crown all but evaporated, leaving Robert Kubica as the best outside bet. And in the constructors’ standings McLaren continued to close on Ferrari and now trail the Scuderia by just five points, with only four races to run…

Toro Rosso

Sebastian Vettel, 1m 30.510s, P1

Sebastien Bourdais, 1m 29.258s, P18

Vettel did a brilliant job all afternoon, from pulling out a huge gap on Kovalainen early on when he was the one with the best visibility, to making sure both pit stops went smoothly, and he controlled the slippery closing stages perfectly too. The team backed him superbly, and while their pole position might have owed a little to the conditions, their first win was totally deserved. Bourdais was desperately unlucky when his Toro Rosso refused to select first gear as the safety car pulled away at the start, and then to have it stall. He eventually recovered, but his sole consolation on his team’s greatest day was to show what might have been by setting the second-fastest lap of the race.

McLaren

Heikki Kovalainen, 1m 30.300s, P2

Lewis Hamilton, 1m 29.721s, P7

Kovalainen admitted quite freely that Vettel just had too much pace for him, and said that he also struggled initially on his extreme-wet Bridgestone tyres, and to keep temperature in the brakes. Hamilton was the star of the really wet going as he moved from 15th to second prior to his sole planned pit stop. He believed he could have won, had it not become necessary to make a second stop to switch to standard wets as the conditions improved.

BMW Sauber

Robert Kubica, 1m 30.298s, P3

Nick Heidfeld, 1m 29.807s, P5

Conditions were so bad in the early going that Kubica did not even know he had overtaken Heidfeld on the straight! The Pole’s strategy played out perfectly when his single pit stop on lap 34 coincided with the point at which drivers could change from Bridgestone’s extreme wets to standard wets. That was a key factor in his podium finish. Heidfeld was happy enough with fifth.

Ferrari

Felipe Massa, 1m 29.696s, P6

Kimi Raikkonen, 1m 28.047s, P9

Massa reported a tough race, in which he had to fight all the way in a car that did not have fantastic wet-road grip. He was on a two-stop strategy, so having to change to intermediates late in the race was not ideal. Nevertheless, he was satisfied to draw within a point of Hamilton. Raikkonen had a really tough afternoon fighting a car that had very little grip until the road dried and he was able to set a string of fastest laps on the standard wets. That came far too late to make him a points contender, however.