Reject of the Race: Monza, Italy 2012

[UncreativeUsername37]

1. Red Bull GmbH
2. Renault alternators
3. d'Ambrosio

[mario]

Stewards - no way was Di Resta on Senna better than Vettel on Alonso. Yet the one not involving a Ferrari doesn't get penalised... Doesn't even get looked at. Wonder why...

This. I'm of the view that Vettel deserved to be punished for his move, but Di Resta's was just as bad. Both cars failed to give the car alongside them enough room on the track, resulting in Alonso nearly having a massive accident and Senna forced to take to the run-off area. The fact the stewards failed to even investigate Di Resta's move is very poor indeed.

Bruno has been very vocal about that, and I would have to agree with him - it looks like Di Resta effectively pushed him off the track despite the fact that a significant portion of Bruno's car was alongside his car in the braking zone (the very reason that they cited for penalising Vettel for his move against Alonso).
I do think that Di Resta should have, at the very minimum, been investigated - it may be the case that they believe that Di Resta started moving towards the edge of the track before Bruno started to (that was the reason why Rosberg was not penalised for his defensive moves in Bahrain), but I'd rather that they at least investigated the incident even if it was to dismiss the complaints on those grounds. In that sense, therefore, the stewards do deserve a nomination for appearing to show a bias towards the major teams rather than a minor team - because I am willing to bet that Di Resta would have been penalised if he'd done that to one of the drivers in a top team.

1) Red Bull
2) Force India - where did Di Resta's pace from quali go? And Hulkenberg didn't have a chance because of the technical cock-ups.

Di Resta mentioned that the handling balance on high fuel and scrubbed tyres was fairly poor, which makes me wonder if the team compromised his set up slightly and biased it a little too far towards qualifying rather than race trim to compensate for his gearbox penalty.
In fact, whilst Red Bull's reliability this weekend was surprisingly poor, with Vettel's repeated alternator problems and the issues at Toro Rosso (although the team do seem to be trying to shift some of the blame for Vergne's accident onto their driver, even though most observers thought that it was a suspension failure), Force India weren't exactly much better in that department either. With both drivers having gearbox failures in the same weekend and Hulkenberg eventually retiring from the race due to concerns over his brake wear, their reliability this weekend wasn't exactly great either.

[TomWazzleshaw]

In fact, whilst Red Bull's reliability this weekend was surprisingly poor, with Vettel's repeated alternator problems and the issues at Toro Rosso (although the team do seem to be trying to shift some of the blame for Vergne's accident onto their driver, even though most observers thought that it was a suspension failure), Force India weren't exactly much better in that department either. With both drivers having gearbox failures in the same weekend and Hulkenberg eventually retiring from the race due to concerns over his brake wear, their reliability this weekend wasn't exactly great either.

At least Force India managed to get a car into the points by the end of it. The Red Bull stable on the other hand couldn't even manage that

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Red Bull

[lostpin]

Red Bull. Double DNF is quite an achievement these days...

[David AGS]

The Italian Fans for booing Hamilton when receiving trophy.

OneHD again!

[RonDenisDeletraz]

The Italian Fans for booing Hamilton when receiving trophy.

Typical idiot Tifosi. Although there are some people I don't like I can't think of anyone in F1 who I would to that to.

[Ed24]

Ferrari tyre wear - watching Alonso fighting with the Caterhams for the last 5 laps was embarrassing (albeit maybe related to damage also, but still, it was bad in first stint as well and on Massa's car)
Choice of podium interviewers - why Lauda again? Drivers like Hakkinen, Alesi, Pirro etc. (who were all at the track) would've at least offered something different.
Bumps on kerbs - mildly injured Vergne and are a safety hazard, particularly if a car was passing by at that exact moment.
Conspiracy theorists - no theories possible as Perez flies past the Ferraris
Force India - Too many mechanical problems!

Webber - Another race stuck in the midfield, and then a clumsy spin...


Didn't hear much Hamilton booing from where I was on the start finish line after the straight. There was plenty of applause when Vettel and Button retired though in the grandstands.

[shinji]

Didn't hear much Hamilton booing from where I was on the start finish line after the straight. There was plenty of applause when Vettel and Button retired though in the grandstands.

Likewise. I also liked the guy in front of me giving Vettel a massive double thumbs down every time he passed by after the Alonso incident.

[mario]

In fact, whilst Red Bull's reliability this weekend was surprisingly poor, with Vettel's repeated alternator problems and the issues at Toro Rosso (although the team do seem to be trying to shift some of the blame for Vergne's accident onto their driver, even though most observers thought that it was a suspension failure), Force India weren't exactly much better in that department either. With both drivers having gearbox failures in the same weekend and Hulkenberg eventually retiring from the race due to concerns over his brake wear, their reliability this weekend wasn't exactly great either.

At least Force India managed to get a car into the points by the end of it. The Red Bull stable on the other hand couldn't even manage that

True, although Di Resta was a little lucky given that he also had a partial KERS failure during the race (Sky were reporting that his KERS temporarily shut down in the middle stint of the race, although he was able to get it working again later in the race) - that is the second KERS failure for the team in two races, as Di Resta had to drive without KERS in Spa (part of the reason why he slipped back during the race).

[Barbazza]

Choice of podium interviewers - why Lauda again? Drivers like Hakkinen, Alesi, Pirro etc. (who were all at the track) would've at least offered something different

Plenty of other Italian ex-F1 drivers around who would have done it. Just saying...

[RealRacingRoots]

Choice of podium interviewers - why Lauda again? Drivers like Hakkinen, Alesi, Pirro etc. (who were all at the track) would've at least offered something different

Plenty of other Italian ex-F1 drivers around who would have done it. Just saying...

Luca Badoer! He was at Monza that weekend too!

[Ed24]

Choice of podium interviewers - why Lauda again? Drivers like Hakkinen, Alesi, Pirro etc. (who were all at the track) would've at least offered something different

Plenty of other Italian ex-F1 drivers around who would have done it. Just saying...

Luca Badoer! He was at Monza that weekend too!

Yes great point, I forgot to mention him! I was hoping to see him around the paddock exits and get a photo or something with him but no luck...

[Benetton]

The new podium interview tging deserves a mention, once again. I want the old press conference back!

Lauda "Fernando, tell us how it feels to be here in front of these great fans"?

Press confernce "Fernando, tell us about your strategy and just how crucial those overtaking manouvers at the beginning where to your race."

[dr-baker]

Choice of podium interviewers - why Lauda again? Drivers like Hakkinen, Alesi, Pirro etc. (who were all at the track) would've at least offered something different

Plenty of other Italian ex-F1 drivers around who would have done it. Just saying...

Luca Badoer! He was at Monza that weekend too!

Yes great point, I forgot to mention him! I was hoping to see him around the paddock exits and get a photo or something with him but no luck...

And Jean Alesi is Italian-born and an ex-Ferrari winner too...

[DanielPT]

For me the reject of the race was the anti-roll bar issue Alonso had in qualifying. Robbed us from a good fight for the lead. And from then on Hamilton had the race in the bag.

I will also mention Red Bull double DNF. It basically wrecked their championship hopes in terms of WDC. WCC remains to be seen.

[Warren Hughes]

My Nannan (that's what I call my grandmother - a name used in our family and nowhere else ) for saying "I see Hamilton won the Grand Prix" before I'd had a chance to watch the highlights on iPlayer.

[QuickYoda41]

I can understand your situation, completely valid nomination.

[WeirdKerr]

I would like to nominate myself for missing this race due to being behind the former iron curtain on a beer drinking expedition.....

[eytl]

Hi everyone,

Sorry, I have been incredibly busy in the past week or two. But in terms of an official Italian GP ROTR, lostpin has put it rather eloquently, I must say ...

Red Bull. Double DNF is quite an achievement these days...

I should add, for those crying foul over Vettel's drive-through, whilst last year I bemoaned the fact that I thought Alonso should have played more hard-ball with Vettel, in hindsight it actually goes to show that Fernando is arguably more wily. He squeezed Vettel but gave him just enough room so that Seb only had to put two wheels on the grass. This year, when Seb pushes him all the way off the track, suddenly it looks so much worse ...

And whilst Monza has never traditionally been a strong track for Webber, could my article a few months ago really have jinxed him that much? Button's already fallen by the wayside in terms of the championship battle. If Button has already slid out of title reckoning, then Mark is now the next in line to fall out of the race ...