2011 Italy Thoughts
THE BIG PICTURE: The battle for second in the championship keeps getting hotter amongst four drivers, while Vettel can go into cruise control.
EVENT: Got to love the podium celebration, only rivaled by Le Mans.
QUALIFYING: Senna proves his Q3 ascent last race was no fluke of the weather conditions.
RACE: Riveting first few laps followed by lots of interesting action behind the leader.
TRACK: Monza was very racy this year, seemingly well suited for the current regulations.
START: Alonso sends the Tifosi into a frenzy and Liuzzi goes off becoming a Petrov-Rosberg seeking missle.
VETTEL: Sebastian's pass on Alonso around the outside of Curva Grande should quiet down ... rather, shut up ... those fools who think it's all about the car.
WEBBER: Becomes the first DNF for Red Bull this year because he couldn't figure out he needed to slow down in the Parabolica when his front wing was missing and possibly underneath him.
RED BULL: Sure glad those Red Bulls' weakest tracks were Spa and Monza...
BUTTON: Once again, the underrated Jenson runs a solid race. In fact, better than anyone but one.
HAMILTON: Again, not one of Lewis' smartest races.
ALONSO: Gave the home fans a thrill. Then, followed up with a podium finish to cheer about.
MASSA: Felipe was in the race?
SCHUMACHER: Spa was no fluke. It appears Michael is trully ... and finally ... resurrected, including his dirty blocking "tactics."
ALGUERSUARI: Once again, when Jaime does not make it out of Q1, he runs a fine race in the points, outdoing his teammate.
DI RESTA: Nice run into the points.
SENNA: Since Bruno joined Lotus Renault GP, five new sponsors came on board, four of them Brazilian. But, he didn't buy his ride. Just ask Bruno. He'll tell you.
PETROV: Where the *&%!# did he come from?
ROSBERG: Ditto!
LIUZZI: Tonio received a five place grid penalty at the next race. Ooooh, that's such a punishment for a driver of an HRT car. Maybe next time they will make him push the car around for qualifying ... on second thought, that might be an advantage...
GP2: Another disappointing year in talent and race action. Maybe we were spoiled with the years when Hamilton, Rosberg, Kovalainen, and Hulkenberg competed.
WORD OF THE WEEKEND: Parabolica.
STAT OF THE WEEKEND: 203.4 -- Top speed in miles per hour of Vettel's car in the race speed trap, the slowest in the entire field who ran at least one green flag lap.
HISTORICAL STAT OF THE WEEKEND: Of course, it becomes easier to rack up multiple wins in a year as the schedule keeps getting longer. On the other end of the spectrum, only two drivers ever won the title with just one victory -- Mike Hawthorn in 1958 and Keke Rosberg in 1982. Ironically, both got their solitary win in France.
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND: Sebastian Vettel's engineer to his driver after the pole position run, "Pole position at Monza. How about that? It's Christmas!"
QUOTE OF THE WEEKEND RUNNERUP: Red Bull Team Manager Christian Horner, "Earlier this week we lost a young woman, Erin Pezzella, who had worked for the team for five years in accounts. She was 31 and lost a very brave fight against cancer. It brings everything into perspective. We'd like to dedicate this to her."
SCHEDULE: Off to the Asian part of the schedule now, with the magnificent Singapore event first.
Copyright © 2011 by Deep Throttle. All Rights Reserved.
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