FORMULA 1 - 2013

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Italian Grand Prix: Walk in the park for Vettel, but Alonso keeps it alive

It was second successive victory for Sebastian Vettel as he bagged another easy 25 points at the Italian Grand Prix, while extending his lead at the summit of the world championship table. Fernando Alonso managed to salvage some pride for Ferrari with second place in their home race and keep his title bid alive.

As in Spa, two weeks earlier, Vettel started from pole at Monza and apart from a front wheel lock up into Turn 1 on the opening lap, it was yet another faultless and dominant performance from Red Bull’s triple world champion. His sixth win thus far in a campaign that is slowly but surely edging him towards his fourth title.

As Vettel celebrated, on his slow down lap, he whooped and exclaimed over the radio, ”Very good boys, very good race. Sorry for the lock up into the first corner, made the first stint a bit tricky.”

He added on the podium, ”It was a fantastic race but you can hear the difference when you don’t win here in a red suit but it means you have done well and beaten the red men but it was a great team effort today. The race was terrific for both of us, we had problems with the gearboxes at the end, but I was OK because I had a good cushion and it was a fantastic win.”

There was even more joy for the fizzy drinks backed squad as Mark Webber overcame some gearbox issues in the race, which forced him to short shift out of second and third gear corners, and with third place claimed his first ever podium at Monza at his final Formula 1 race on European soil.

Webber summed up his afternoon, “I felt a bit better on the tyres at the end of the race. I got better speed out of them. It was a good battle with Alonso but a great team result and thanks to Monza on my final time here in F1.”

In the middle of the Red Bull sandwich in the final standings was Alonso, embroiled in Ferrari politics, the Spaniard set these aside and from fifth on the grid took second place to the delight of the tifosi. The result keeps the Spaniard in the title hunt for now, and with Vettel on a streak damage limitation on the points front was vital. In that sense it was mission accomplished for the Maranello squad.

Alonso said afterwards, “Second place is good, to have this podium ceremony which is the most spectacular podium of the year.

Hopefully we’ll come back next year and have first place. I’m extremely happy, it’s a good weekend. We had top five for both Ferraris in qualifying, many races we didn’t achieve that. In the race, to be on the podium again is always a unique experience. We did a nearly perfect weekend, but Sebastian won. When someone dominates Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we just need to congratulate him. This is sport, we need to do better soon.”

It was a messy start to the race, as the field hurtled into Turn 1 with Vettel big onto the breaks and behind him cars forced to cut across the chicane after Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus tagged the back of Sergio Perez’s McLaren. When the smoke had settled Webber’s Red Bull was missing a front wing end-plate too, and Raikkonen’s wing was bent.

Paul di Resta was a first lap casualty

Things got worse when they pummeled into Roggia and Paul di Resta got on the brakes too late and climbed over Romain Grosjean’s Lotus. The latter survived but the Force India was bent out of shape and it was race over for the Scot of Italian heritage.

Raikkonen was forced to stop to and change the front wing of the car. Beyond that there were no other major incidents despite some very close racing – and high speed contests – throughout the field.

Felipe Massa did his bit for Ferrari teammate Alonso, allowing him through into second place unchallenged on lap eight into Turn 1.

Thereafter he tried to fend off Webber, but soon succumbed and settled for fourth place where he remained (apart from a brief period in the pitstop window) pretty much untroubled until the flag dropped on the 53rd lap.

“The race was very good, the start was very good, I overtook two cars straight away. The pace was OK but then the pit stop was the worst problem of race, I lost a position to Mark. That was the only negative point of race. In terms of driving, I did everything in a great way,” said Massa at the end of the afternoon.

The star of the weekend was without doubt Nico Hulkenberg who qualified the under performing Sauber in third place on the grid, then proceeded to punch well above his weight to take fifth place and thus providing a much needed boost to his beleaguered team, while doing his shares no harm on an important stage.

The performance promped journalists to ask if he was out to impress Ferrari on their home turf amid uncertainty over their drivers for 2013, Hulkenberg replied, ”It’s definitely something I wouldn’t deny which I’m definitely interested in, it’s a no-brainer. I don’t know if it will happen, time will tell.”

“This is a 100% weekend for [sauber], after yesterday we had another great day. To finish fifth was probably the right result for us because we only finished behind Red Bull and Ferrari which was great. It was a tough race, keeping Nico [Rosberg] behind me, because he didn’t leave me alone but it was great to get some more points and hopefully that will give us some momentum,” predicted the German.

Sixth place went to Nico Rosberg who started sixth, but the Mercedes driver was never quite at the sharp end of proceedings during the course of the weekend as he has been at some previous races. He pursued fellow Nico to the very end, but was half a second short when they crossed the line.

Daniel Ricciardo had a hassle free race in the Toro Rosso, keeping out of trouble the Australian finished seventh after starting from the same position on the grid. His team mate Jean Eric Vergne was luckless again, his day ending early with an engine failure.

Big mover on the day was Romain Grosjean who turned 13th on the grid to eighth with Lotus enduring another below par race weekend, as they did at Spa a fortnight earlier. Raikkonen tried hard to make up for time lost in the first corner incident, but 11th was his reward on the day. The team’s third place target in the constructors’ championship and Raikkonen’s title ambitions took another huge dent.

If Hulkenberg scooped the prize for driver of the weekend, we will give Lewis Hamilton prize for drive of the day. After a woeful qualifying performance, where the Mercedes driver declared “I drove like an idiot” he more than made up for it for a gutsy show stealing display on the day.

He spent the afternoon in battles throughout the field, having started with the (harder) Medium tyre he avoided the first corner melee to emerge tenth where he held station for several laps, while at the same time he lost radio contact with his team. Then it got worse for him as a slow puncture forced him to pit early, dropping him to the back of the field and nullifying his one stop strategy.

The first chicane on the opening lap was messy as it tends to be

What transpired thereafter was pure Hamilton, a racer at his very best as he carved his way through to fifth and making easy work of some of the top names in the game. But he needed another stop while the others, bar Raikkonen, did not. With the softer (white band) tyres bolted on he did it all over again.

From fourteenth he again set about clawing his way back to ninth, muscling his way past both McLarens and Raikkonen in the process.

Hamilton reflected on the radio silence, ”It’s almost like driving blind, you don’t know when to pit, when to push and what is going on.

It’s awful when you are just empty of energy and have given everything for just two places and that’s it for the championship now.”

“It was a difficult weekend. I am ninth, we should have been much further ahead I am very disappointed with myself. I blew it in qualifying and it was impossible to make up the places. Overall it was a disaster of a weekend,” added the 2008 world champion.

It was a big result for Red Bull which prompted Adrian Newey to be sent up to the podium to celebrate with Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel

McLaren dominated the very same race last year but, despite showing signs of a revival on the first two days, they were simply well below par when it mattered in the race. A solitary point was their only reward at the end of the grand prix marking their 50th year in Formula 1.

Final word to Red Bull boss Christian Horner, whose team celebrated their 40th grand prix victory, “Sebastian has been amazing here this weekend. His only mistake has made was on the rundown to Turn One, when he locked up. That was a great team performance today. It’s a great victory for us, but there’s still 175 points left. Anything can happen but we’re in a healthy position.”

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Alonso: Zero tension at Ferrari and we fight for the championship

The Italian Grand Prix is the home race for Ferrari thus the pressure was on the team to deliver as expectations are always high among the tifosi, and amid apparent turmoil and unrest in the Maranello camp Fernando Alonso turned fifth on the grid – after a qualifying debacle – to claim second place and with that keep his title aspirations alive by minimising the damage of his chief rival’s victory. The Spaniard spoke after the race at Monza.

You must explain how was the overtaking in the beginning of the race for you.

Fernando Alonso: It was difficult obviously. The car was OK and we overtook Nico [Hülkenberg] but then we had to overtake Mark and Felipe later on. And then with Sebastian we were not able to close to the gap so we were fighting with Mark until the end. Second place is good, to have this podium ceremony that is the most spectacular podium of the year for sure and hopefully next one, next year, we come back here but in the top place.

When you make the pass, the public jumped in the grandstand, it was amazing. Inside the car, how it was? It was very close.

FA: It was close. Obviously we have to risk. There is nothing now to lose for us. We are second in the championship and we have to take some risk. We did it and that’s OK.

You understand Ferrari love you? You have to love Ferrari, we are all behind you…

FA: Ah, of course. I always said the same thing, big thanks to the team for everything they do for me and huge support from all the fans from all Italy. Some people still try to create some tension between team and driver but here is the better symbol: zero tension and we fight for the championship always.

Were you happy with that second place? Was that as much as you could have achieved today?

FA: Yes, very happy. I think the weekend we took the maximum from the car. Practice were OK and we learnt some good information Friday. Saturday it was very good, both cars in the top five. I think the last time was Malaysia this year, so very, very long time, so we were very, very happy. Today, being in the podium again, it’s a fantastic feeling here in Monza. The fourth year that I drove for Ferrari, the four times that I was in the podium and every year is something amazing, something unique again, to be there in that moment. And we did the maximum and nearly a perfect weekend. We didn’t close the gap in the championship, which is obviously the goal every weekend but y’know, when Sebastian and Red Bull dominate Friday, Saturday and Sunday and they win the race we have to congratulate them. They were the best all through the weekend and we need to do hopefully a better job next time but from what we had this weekend I think we did the maximum. So we are extremely happy.

Is the only way for you to win this championship is for Sebastian to lose it?

FA: Well, I think we need to be realistic about the championship now there’s a very big gap. We don’t have enough races and probably we don’t have the speed right now to win some consecutive races and hope to reduce the gap just by pace. We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Sebastian or something to win the championship. With the races left and the points disadvantage, it’s hard but in a way, it was exactly the same last year. We could only lose the championship, with 41 points advantage in front of Sebastian after the Monza race. It was difficult for him to catch up and so it was maybe up to us. We didn’t complete the job and we had a DNF in Suzuka and some other problems. There’s still a long way to go; we will try until the last race to be as good as we can and score as many points as possible and then in Brazil we will see how many points we have compared to him.

And in qualifying, there was so much talk and so much written as to whether you had said this or said that. Did you feel today that the fans spoke out for you? They cheered you; do you feel much better today than after qualifying?

FA: Concerning [qualifying], it’s the third or fourth consecutive race that some people have tried to create some tension between the team and the drivers. Then we come to the press conference, we explain everything but obviously this doesn’t sell so many newspapers – normality. Every time I leave an airport, the hotel, home, everywhere – here in Italy there’s huge support, huge love from them and me to them as well and to the team and we keep repeating this and we saw today on the podium maybe not many of them read the newspapers in the morning, luckily.

Can you explain the overtaking manoeuvre on Mark, maybe the most spectacular in the whole race?

FA: I tried a lap before but I was not close enough in turn four, in the second chicane, and then we were very close in the first chicane on that lap. Mark had a little slower exit in the first chicane so I used all the KERS on that straight hoping that with the KERS plus the slipstream it will be enough to pass, but it was not enough so that we arrived side by side. At one point, I thought ‘well, I will miss the second chicane and I will give the place back’ but at the last moment I get the grip, we were very close to touching each other but again we come back to the point that it’s not the same fighting with an experienced and respectful driver compared to some others with whom you would never try that move, with whom we’ve had some incidents already.

What do you expect for Singapore, because in theory it is very good for your car.

FA: Yeah, we will see. Obviously we were expecting a lot from Monza and it was a very good Monza. It’s true that we didn’t win the race because Red Bull and Sebastian did an even better job and they were very very good but in our level of competitiveness that we had this year, Monza is one of the best weekends, as we expected before. We came from Silverstone, from Nurburgring, from Hungary where we had Red Bull in front of us, Lotus in front of us, Mercedes in front of us and some other cars sometimes, so here in Monza we were able to beat all those cars and fight for the wins, so if we can repeat this good performance in Singapore, we hope so but this will be the real test for us. We made some changes in the car, they seemed to be positive in Spa, seem to be good and positive in Monza, but when we reach the maximum level of downforce in Singapore, like we had in Hungary, we need to check.

If we still have Mercedes in front, Lotus in front and some other teams, we will be more or less the same as in Hungary and we don’t want to be. I think we prepare the car and we prepare everything to make a step forward and in Singapore hopefully we can see it.

Do you believe Red Bull is now at the level of 2011?

FA: The level of domination? Well, I think as Sebastian touched on before as well, already in Canada, Spa, Monza are very unique tracks in terms of level of downforce. They were quick in Spa so more or less… we saw it in Canada so Spa was not a surprise and here in Monza also they performed really well. I think it’s more tight this year than 2011 and also there are more teams in the battle.

There is not only Red Bull who can be on pole position etc; there is Mercedes who have done many pole positions this year etc, so many races are coming with many interesting combinations of performance so what we have to do is try to be close to the top in all track characteristics.

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Webber: Very happy to be on the podium here at Monza, a brilliant experience

It was his last Formula 1 race on European soil, and Mark Webber signed off in fine style by taking third place in the Italian Grand Prix, making his first visit to the Monza podium. Afterwards, on the poidum and in the press conference, the Red Bull driver spoke about his afternoon of work at the self styled citadel of speed.

You had to fight very hard to be on the podium. From the middle of the race you had… it looked like from outside you had better speed, compared to the beginning. Can you explain how it was at the beginning of the grand prix?

Mark Webber: Yeah, I felt a little bit better on the tyre at the end of the race. The hard tyre was not quite as comfortable for me but I felt very, very good at the end. So it was a good battle with Fernando. Great team result. Thank you to Monza, last time here in Formula 1, so thank you very much. See you next time.

You’ve had your best finishing position here and finally experienced a Monza podium – but at the same time, tell us about the start, tell us why you pulled off at the end.

MW: Yeah, very happy to be on the podium here at Monza. It’s one of the most famous ones in the world, up there with Monte Carlo and a few other signature events but yeah, brilliant to experience that, even though the atmosphere I was not completely a fan of, to be honest. Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct but anyway…that’s their choice. It was good to have a clean weekend from start to finish and then fight for top positions, which was certainly the case today. The start was pretty good but both Sebastian and I, I think, compared to the Ferraris were not as strong off the line. Felipe had a good one so he had to go to the other side. Seb gave me enough room up the inside. I thought he was going to go straight. He was very deep on the brakes but just managed to pull it up, so then we settled into the first part of the race. I was not super-happy on the Hard tyre but anyway that’s the way it was. Fernando was into the rhythm a little bit quicker, we had a good little battle in the second chicane and then after that really just trying to managed the pace on the rear tyres to when we were going to stop to try to pass Felipe – which I was very, very happy with, the in-lap. And also the whole thing went well in terms of for the line, pitstop, exit, out-lap. We executed that as a team effort: driver, pitcrew, and got the job done against Felipe. And then actually it was a good battle with Fernando on the other tyre. Tried everything but yeah, as Seb touched on, we had to nurse the gearbox a little bit but in the end second was the maximum, we got third but we pushed Fernando all the way. It’s always a good battle racing Fernando, you have to be very accurate. We pushed as hard as we could and I’m satisfied with today’s result.

Can you describe your side of when Alonso passed you and how badly did that damaged wing affect your race?

MW: I think that I braked pretty deep into there, so did Fernando. It was early in the race, we were still [yet] to get a feel for where everything is. Obviously as Fernando touched on, it’s very easy to go straight there and not make the entry to the chicane. I was also mindful of the fact that I wanted to make the entry to the chicane as well but when Fernando then got pretty much level on the outside of three, the chess match is over, basically, so you then obviously have to concede and look to take the fight to another part of the race. The wing, I think, wasn’t too bad. I think we’ve had quite a few little snags on the front wings this season but that seemed to be OK. It wouldn’t have helped; I don’t think we had the best balance in the first ten, 15 laps because of that. As the race went on towards the end, it might not have been too bad to help the stint but I couldn’t go anywhere against that with Felipe and at the end of the stop the guys might have tweaked it up a little bit, but in general, not a big difference. I was concerned that the wing might have been more damaged when I saw it go and also on the back straight on the way to the Parabolica I thought I saw Fernando’s left rear [tyre] – just an illusion maybe – but I saw the tyre about to go down but it didn’t, it stayed up and in the end we both survived.

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Ferrari set to choose either Massa, Raikkonen or Hulkenberg on Wednesday

Speculation was running rife in the Monza paddock on Italian Grand Prix race day, and the buzzword was ‘Wednesday’ when Ferrari is allegedly about to announce their driver line-up.

The big talking point was whether Kimi Raikkonen in fact agreed a 2014 deal to rejoin Ferrari next year on the Wednesday of last week, or whether the Italian team will announce it formally on the coming Wednesday.

Perhaps both are true. Perhaps neither. The fact is Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo revealed that the 2014 driver decision would be made shortly after the race in Italy.

“We will think of this immediately after Monza because we wanted to arrive at this weekend without any strange pressure,” he told reporters after qualifying at Ferrari’s home Italian Grand Prix.

“We will take any decision in the next days and we haven’t taken any kind of a decision yet. We haven’t signed any contract with anybody, we will talk with (Felipe) Massa and then we have our opinion and then we will decide,” Montezemolo added while refusing to rule out Hulkenberg or Raikkonen.

Felipe Massa will be hoping the latter is true, but he admitted on Sunday that a cloud does hang over his Formula 1 future.

“We’re still discussing it,” he said of his talks with Ferrari about next year.

“This race was important, not only for the contract with Ferrari but to show other teams what I’m able to do,” Massa, who finished fourth on Sunday, told the BBC.

Another driver hoping Ferrari’s 2014 deliberations involve him is Hulkenberg, who had a sensational weekend at Monza for struggling Ferrari-powered Sauber – qualifying third and finishing fifth.

On the possibility of joining Ferrari, the German said: “It’s definitely something I wouldn’t deny which I’m definitely interested in — it’s a no-brainer.

“There has been lots of talk but at some point the talking has to stop and the decisions will be made,” added Hulkenberg.

MIKA: I'm tipping Hulkenberg for the Ferrari drive and you never know, maybe both Kimi and Nico for Ferrari as Fernando is really burning his bridges at Maranello. Read below what happened in Qualy!!

Alonso: You’re really idiots. Mamma mia guys. Massa is too far away!

Civil war, with Fernando Alonso right in the middle, has erupted within the ranks at Ferrari after a qualifying blunder by the team at their home Italian Grand Prix.

Earlier at Monza, even though the Red Bull switch rumours have ended, Formula 1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone let slip that he thinks that the Spaniard is “not happy” at Ferrari.

The Italian team has been playing down reports of tension between Alonso and Luca di Montezemolo, but the Ferrari president was visibly furious after qualifying at Monza – and refusing to give interviews.

Alonso had complained on the radio that teammate Felipe Massa did not cooperate in an attempt to give the Maranello number one a high-speed slipstream.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Alonso was livid over the radio “You’re really idiots. Mamma mia guys.” He later yelled: “Massa is too far away!” The report points out that some heard Alonso use the word ‘geniuses’, sarcastically, rather than “idiots”.

He qualified fifth, behind Massa, and reportedly slammed the team on the radio afterwards. According to former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi, the Spaniard told his team members they are “stupid”.

Another report quoted Alonso saying in Italian: “You have to let [Massa] go!”

Although he put on a brave face when speaking to reporters afterwards, insisting that it had been “a good qualifying”, it is possible that Alonso’s dream relationship with Ferrari if not over, is heading for a breakdown.

Earlier on Saturday, McLaren’s Jenson Button was quoted by Brazil’s Totalrace: “I heard an interesting rumour today.

“Someone told me about Fernando going to McLaren. I don’t know if it will happen – he didn’t exactly leave McLaren in a good way [in 2007],” he added. “Let’s wait and see.”

After Saturday’s events, Eddie Jordan also smells a rat.

“Fernando’s not a happy boy,” the ex Formula 1 team owner said on British television BBC. ”We could be watching something unfold here that we were not expecting.”

Meanwhile immediately after Monza qualifying Alonso was put on a brave face, saying that qualifying actually “went well considering how the last qualifying [sessions] were”.

Fernando Alonso with Luca di Montezemolo before Monza qualifying

“It was a good Saturday,” he is quoted by the Spanish sports newspaper AS. ”The car has become competitive again because in recent weeks we were far behind. We can no longer have a funeral every Saturday, because there is a car (Red Bull) that is first and second. Hulkenberg (third) is a surprise.”

“We cannot compete with Red Bull – we have not done so all weekend, but the race is tomorrow and we will try to [finish] as high [up] as possible. I will try to win if Vettel does not go away in the first part of the race – and there is a storm forecast for the afternoon,” added Alonso.

The Spaniard also played down being outqualified by teammate Massa.

“You talk about it, but I think that in 100 grands prix, I was ahead maybe 82 times,” he told Antena 3 television.

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Vettel: The more booing we get the better we have done, it’s normal

The 2013 Italian Grand Prix was packed with milestones for Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull. After claiming his 40th Formula 1 career pole position the triple world champion powered to his 32nd Formula 1 win – a convincing one at that – and with it racking up Red Bull’s 40th grand prix win. But perhaps more importantly, for the moment, he extended his championship points lead to 53 points over his closest rival. The German spoke afterwards on the podium and in the post race press conference.

You won your first grand prix, here at Monza, in an Italian team. So, it’s very special coming back for you, isn’t it?

Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, definitely. A fantastic race – but you can hear the difference, obviously, when you don’t win here in a red suit, you get a lot of that but in the end it’s very nice because it means you’ve done very good and beat the red guys. So we are very proud of that. Great job by the whole team today, very good job by Renault. Usually this is one of the toughest tracks we go to but this year the car’s been absolutely fantastic, the race has been incredible. I think for both of us towards the end we were struggling a little bit with the gearbox so we had to pace ourselves but obviously for me it was not that bad because I had a little bit of a cushion, but very great to win here, to see all the fans coming, it’s the best podium of the season so very proud to be up here.

Your third win here at Monza but tell us about the problems you had with the gearbox – you said between fifteen and ten laps from the end. Was it getting worse or was it just one problem?

SV: In the end we finished the race so it was not a disaster. I think yeah, the heartbeat was a bit higher in the car and also at the pitwall because we didn’t know what’s going on. Fortunately, as I said, we didn’t have any big issues. Just the last ten, fifteen laps, tried to pace myself a little bit more and control the gaps. Obviously it was good to have these ten seconds in hand, so I didn’t have to push that much and also I didn’t have to squeeze it all out of the tyres even though I stopped a couple of laps earlier than Fernando. So that was positive. But yeah, we didn’t know how bad the problem is. We’ll probably know better once we strip the car next week and have a look inside the gearbox. We’ll probably know for both cars, I think, how close it was.

In parc ferme you changed gears five, six and seven I think, because you already had a warning of the same problems with the transmission that you had during the race, or was it a completely different problem, or just to be more safe for the race?

SV: We already saw something on Friday, obviously something similar but Friday to Saturday we changed the gearbox and then I think in the race it was a surprise. We were obviously aware of the Friday problem but we didn’t see anything before that. There’s not much you can do; obviously once you start the car there’s nothing you can change so in the end, I think we were lucky or in a comfortable position to have a little bit of a gap especially towards the end. I don’t know what they saw on the pit wall in terms of data, if the problem got worse and worse and worse or stabilised, but obviously I tried to save the car, save the engine and gearbox as much as I can. In the end, I still have to go full power on the straights; basically try to short shift and save the car a little bit.

Does it hurt to see the people against you on the podium?

SV: About the general atmosphere, fortunately I had an experience in 2008 which blew me away completely when we won here in an Italian team with a Ferrari engine so the atmosphere was fantastic. When we won here in 2011 and this year – 2011 was a surprise, [but] this year I think it was kind of expected. I said on the radio on the in lap that the more booing we get, the better we have done today. It’s normal. I don’t blame the people to be honest, I think their love of Ferrari is in their genes. It’s something very special.

Obviously Fernando is in a great position on the podium, whereas if you’re dressed in any other colour it’s not the same, but still, it’s a fantastic race, a fantastic podium here.

The only hard moment was at the start when you locked up the front tyres a bit. How was it after that?

SV: Our start was difficult, as I mentioned. I didn’t get off the line that well, couldn’t see Mark [Webber] so tried to give him enough room and then tried to brake late, probably a little bit too late, locked the front right and then had lots of vibrations after that because I had a flat spot on the front right tyre. Fortunately we weren’t front limited on this circuit, so the front tyre was not a big issue, so I tried to look after the rears after that and we still got far enough to make the one stop work.

Adrian Newey in Spa said that Monza wouldn’t be a positive track for Red Bull, but looking at the dominance here, maybe he was wrong. What happened, how were you able to change the situation?

SV: I think he was as surprised as we were. Just on the way up to the podium, he said ‘I thought that it was going to be damage limitation this weekend.’ I said to him ‘well, if damage limitation is like that, I want to have a lot of damage for the rest of the season.’ It was very unexpected. Already the pace on Friday surprised us. From a balance point of view, I was very happy with the car, similar to two years ago. So obviously we’ve been very competitive in Canada, very competitive in Spa on medium downforce tracks. This one was a little bit unknown. We haven’t been the fastest down the straights again, but fast enough, somewhere in the mid-field which is enough to use the strengths that we have through the corners, despite running as little wing as we can afford.

You said some minutes ago that the car reminded you of the 2011 car here. It means a very dominant car as we already saw in Spa – Francorchamps, you have 53 points advantage over Alonso. What do you predict for the rest of the season? You are very close to being [F1] World Champion for the fourth consecutive time?

SV: I’m trying not to think about it too much. I think that when I spoke about the fact that it was similar to 2011 I was speaking about the experience here in Monza because usually…you know, 2009, 2010, 2012 it was very tricky for us here. Obviously this year was similar to 2011 when the car just seemed to be very well balanced in the corners, I felt very good through all the medium speed and the chicanes. It’s not as simple as you think. People say ‘at Monza, you just need horsepower, little wing on the car’ but in fact if the car doesn’t feel right and doesn’t allow you to play, you lose a lot of lap time, just because you are not comfortable. The cars are sliding more than the rest of the year because you run less downforce so you need to be happy with that and accept that. We have a car this year that was similar in 2011 in that regard and allowed myself to play and still to feel comfortable, even though the car was loose. Other than that, I think I tend to agree with Fernando. Obviously the last two races have been very good for us but overall this year, I think it’s been very close. Yesterday was the first pole position we got in real dry dry conditions, if you don’t consider Melbourne because it was a little bit damp and drying up in Q3. So on that front, we seem to have made progress and in the race it has stood out this year that we have had a very very strong race car. Together with Ferrari, I think on average we have been the fastest in the race.

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Is Brawn considering leaving Mercedes and buying into Williams?

The Formula 1 paddock at Monza began to disband after the Italian Grand Prix amid latest speculation suggesting that Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn may be buying into the Williams team.

The story was mentioned by the British broadcaster Sky, in the wake of earlier news that Toto Wolff is moving to sell his 15 per cent share in the Grove based team.

Wolff and Brawn currently work together at Mercedes, who will supply V6 engines to Williams next year.

Brawn, team boss, has acknowledged that he will eventually be replaced by Mercedes’ new signing Paddy Lowe, so – if true – buying into Williams would breathe new life into his long career.

Briton Brawn, 58, began his career in the 70s when Sir Frank Williams gave him a job as a machinist.

Later, in the mid 90s, he worked with great success at Benetton alongside Pat Symonds, who has just started work as Williams’ new technical boss.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, however, reported on Saturday that Wolff in fact seems to be selling his 15 per cent team stake to a Russian interest.

Sky acknowledged on Sunday that Williams advisor Alex Wurz, a former team driver, had vehemently denied the rumour.

Other reports said that Wolff himself also denied selling his stake to Brawn.

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Sauber: We are happy about such a great result

The Sauber F1 Team was able to transform the good performance during practice and qualifying for the Italian GP into the best result of the 2013 season so far.

Nico Hülkenberg finished fifth, gaining ten championship points in the process. He managed a faultless performance while under pressure from Nico Rosberg for quite a few laps.

Esteban Gutiérrez, who started 16th, was held back several times and finished 13th. During the race, the improvements on the car translated into a result for the first time, which is positive, looking ahead to the up coming grands prix.

Nico Hülkenberg: 5th:

“It’s a great result and, after yesterday, another great performance by the team today. I am very happy and fifth was the ideal result. Despite starting third, it was always clear keeping the Ferrari and Red Bulls behind was not realistic. I lost two places right at the start, but then the pace was good and, especially towards the end, I was able to catch up quite a bit again. I kept the Mercedes behind with Nico leaving no room for me making any mistakes. It’s a very nice result for the team, and finally we have some points again. I hope this will give us some momentum, so we can carry this form on to the next couple of races.”

Esteban Gutiérrez: 13th:

“The start of the race was quite reasonable. I gained one place, but the first corner was tricky. It was important to keep the car together. I was able to settle down well during the first few laps. I was trying to manage the tyres as best I could, but, of course, you can’t compromise too much. Overall, it was a good race. Obviously, we cannot be happy, because it’s not a great result. However, the race was positive. Now we have to improve in qualifying, so we can start in a better position. I’m confident we will get there.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “We are happy about such a great result. Nico fought hard and drove a fantastic race. The crew did a great job as well today. Esteban was held up several times and thus lost the chance to score points. Overall, however, he drove yet again a very strong race and showed [that] he is constantly improving. We are pleased to see that, for the first time, the result reflects us making a step forward with the development of the car. A big thank you to the race team here in Monza and the team back in Hinwil.”

Tom McCullough, Head of Track Engineering: “After the rain during the lap to the grid, the race settled in to being dry. It’s a fantastic result for Nico, who withstood pressure from Nico Rosberg throughout, and didn’t put a foot wrong. Finally he was rewarded for the fantastic job he did yesterday. Esteban was unlucky with traffic, but again showed strong race pace. It was clear that it would be difficult from P16. On this track our car’s race pace was stronger than in recent races and that should put a smile on a lot of faces here and in Hinwil.”

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Lotus: Damage was done by our poor qualifying positions

Lotus F1 Team fought back from a disappointing qualifying session yesterday to show strong race pace, finishing the Italian Grand Prix in eighth and eleventh positions.

After an eventful first corner, Kimi Räikkönen pitted for a new front nose cone and tyres whilst Romain Grosjean continued despite a rear-end onslaught from another car.

Following his first lap pit stop, Kimi was thesecond fastest car through the race, with a determined drive including multiple fastest laps. Kimi finished in eleventh, hounding the McLaren of Jenson Button ahead, whilst Romain finished in eighth place, withstanding considerable pressure from Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes behind.

Kimi remains in fourth in the FI F1 Drivers’ Championship on 134 points, with Lewis Hamilton ahead on 141 and Mark Webber behind on 130 points. The team remains in fourth place in the FIA F1 Constructors’ Championship on 191 points from Ferrari’s 245, well ahead of fifth-placed McLaren who have 66 points.

Kimi Räikkönen:

“When I lost the front wing I had to come in and change to a new one meaning an extra pit stop which we hadn’t planned. It’s not just the time in the pits, but you have to work your way through the field afterwards. We did a pretty good job of that and the car felt good, surprisingly good – given where we were on Saturday. Unfortunately, there’s not much you can do after the start to the race we had.”

Romain Grosjean:

“It isn’t easy to follow another car with the aero configurations that we had for the race here but we got the best result we could have done having started in P13. Unfortunately we had a poor pit stop where we had an electronic problem and the light didn’t turn to green, so we lost a few seconds there. I think we could have come out in front of the two McLarens and the Toro Rosso, which would have made things a bit easier for a stronger result. I had a good battle with Lewis on the last lap. I think we did the best we could here in Monza and I hope that for Singapore we can get back to the level of performance that we had in Budapest.”

Eric Boullier, Team Principal:

“If you want to be competitive for the championships you need to be able to fight every weekend at the front on Saturday as well as on Sunday. The positive from this weekend is that we showed fantastic race pace and both drivers drove exceptionally well. Romain withstood great pressure and performed great overtaking moves on both McLarens. Kimi fought back from a first lap incident in a superb display of his talents. The negative from this weekend is that we couldn’t qualify where we needed to be. The results at the end of the race aren’t rewarding for the team, but there are plenty of positives to take from the final European race of the season and we head to the final flyaway races with plenty of fight.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director:

“Our damage was done yesterday by our poor qualifying positions. We actually had good race pace today and if you compare Kimi and Sebastian Vettel’s races, after Kimi’s first stop we only lost a second to Seb and we gained four seconds on Fernando [Alonso]. Seb won the race and Fernando finished second, so that gives an illustration of what could have been. We obviously will be dissecting where we lost the pace on Saturday and have some solace that we don’t visit another circuit of this level of downforce for the rest of the season as it certainly wasn’t beneficial for us in terms of qualifying. Starting where we did put us in the middle of the pack where incidents happen on the first lap and that was the case for both our drivers, but both made great recoveries.”

Ricardo Penteado, Renault Sport F1 Team Support Leader:

“Monza is always a tough race for engines with a high percentage of the lap spent flat out. Today the race was even harder. Kimi’s early stop meant he went down the pack and had to fight to regain position. Fuel consumption was considerably higher than that expected as a result, so we had to manage the settings very carefully to give him the power he needed to fight without running dry.

Sadly he missed the points by under a second – on the strength of his drive he really deserved it and the car had the pace to score. Romain did a great job to keep hold of eighth, which is a more representative indication of where we are this weekend.”

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Force India: We’ve struggled for pace and had our share of misfortune

It was a tough day for Sahara Force India with points being out of reach for Adrian Sutil despite a very strong drive. Suffering from brake issues, he retired on the penultimate lap to be classified P16. Paul Di Resta retired on lap one after contact at the second chicane.

Adrian Sutil: “A tough race today and in the end we had to retire the car because of issues with the brakes. I tried my best and I don’t think we could have delivered any more because I was on the limit throughout the race. The pit stop was good, but the team had to hold me on the exit because Maldonado was coming in, which meant I lost a position to Gutierrez. I was able to pass him again on the track, but there were some quick cars [Kimi and Lewis] with fresher tyres and there was no way to hold them off. Points were not too far away, but overall we didn’t have the pace this weekend.”

Paul Di Resta: “It has been one of those weekends to forget, starting with the brake failure yesterday and the early retirement today. I just got caught out going into the second chicane because the cars ahead of me got backed up – I guess they were reacting to the tussle going on ahead of them. I locked both fronts trying to stop the car and ended up hitting Grosjean. Unfortunately it was too late to take avoiding action. Now we need to look forward to Singapore and put this one behind us.”

Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director: “We leave Monza empty-handed after a difficult weekend. We’ve struggled for pace and had our share of misfortune. Paul’s race was over on lap one after contact with Grosjean at the second chicane, which was very disappointing. Adrian had a better start, made up some ground and moved onto the tail of the top ten. He drove a strong race with a great overtaking move on Gutierrez, but was missing the speed to fight for points. In the closing laps we were forced to retire the car with concerns over the brakes. It’s clear we need to recapture the form we showed before the summer break if we are to continue fighting for fifth in the constructors’ championship.”

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Williams: We just didn’t have enough pace to challenge the cars in front

Willaims team and drivers report from the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Round 12 of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship.

Race Notes

Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race Engineer: There was some risk of light rain during the race but we thought we would be able to stay on dry tyres so opted to start both cars on the Medium compound tyres. We were aiming to achieve a one-stop strategy with both cars following the pace we saw on Friday. Our strategy and tyre management went as planned but we just didn’t have enough pace to challenge the cars in front. We now go from a circuit with the lowest downforce level to one with the highest downforce level in Singapore, so it’s a completely different challenge and we hope to perform better there.

Pastor Maldonado: It was a poor race for us from the beginning because of losing a couple of positions at the start which were then hard to recover. There was little pace from the car, I think we did quite well on the strategy but whatever we did today it was not enough to recover places. It was a disappointing race but I am looking forward to the next one.

Valtteri Bottas: I maintained my position at the start but from the first few laps I couldn’t really challenge any of the cars ahead as we just didn’t have the race pace today. It was good that we were able to do our planned one-stop, but most of the others did this as well. I’m now looking forward to Singapore; it’s a new track for me so I hope we can do better there.

Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader: Together we expect more than 14th and 15th so we can’t be satisfied with today. That said, we do expect our relative level of performance to be higher in Singapore where the tight corners will play more to the strengths of the car. There should be a better chance to finish in, or closer to the points, than we could do today.

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McLaren: A disappointing end to a frustrating weekend

Team and drivers report from the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Round 12 of the 2013 Formula 1 World Championship.

Jenson Button:

“I had a bad start when my clutch slipped, and I dropped a few places. That first stint was quite good fun, but, once I got stuck behind Daniel [Ricciardo], there was no way of getting past him. We didn’t get the gear ratios quite right today. Consequently, as our fuel loads decreased, and our cornering speeds should have increased, we were hampered by our rev-limiters, and that made it easier for the cars behind to overtake us and harder for us to overtake the cars ahead of us. In clear air, our pace was pretty good – but, with such a short top gear, especially with DRS deployed, we were hitting the rev-limiter while other cars weren’t being rev-limited. Moreover, about 15 laps from the end, I locked up into the first corner and severely flat-spotted my front-right tyre – I couldn’t really see a lot after that, because of vibration, but I still managed to bring it home and score a world championship point for the team. Finally, I just want to say a big ‘thank you’ to all the guys in the garage today. They had to really work hard to repair my car’s fuel system before the race, in record time, and they pulled out all the stops to get it all done. It was touch-and-go for a while, but they responded really well and did an incredible job. In a tight spot, they’re the best guys out there – and, once again, they were faultless today.”

Sergio Perez:

“It was a disappointing afternoon, and I think we deserved more than that. I got hit from behind into Turn One and had to cut the chicane, unfortunately. Then, throughout the race, I was held up by Daniel’s Toro Rosso. My car was quicker overall, but its straight-line speed just wasn’t strong enough to get me up and alongside him to try a pass. We stopped one lap later than we’d planned, and I lost a position to Jenson when the stop didn’t go too well. From then on, I was stuck in a train of cars; and, without a straight-line speed advantage, I just couldn’t get past anyone.”

Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes:

“Today’s race was a disappointing end to a frustrating weekend. Jenson lost a few places at the start, and thereafter spent most of the race stuck behind one of the Toro Rosso cars – as indeed did Checo. Had that not been the case, our cars would have been able to lap significantly faster than in fact they did. However, although as I say our cars were faster in terms of overall lap-time, their comparative lack of straight-line speed prevented Jenson and Checo from being able to pass the Toro Rossos in order to exploit that greater pace on a clear track. Jenson was mighty at the end of the race, however, holding off Kimi [Raikkonen] to retain 10th place by just three-tenths of a second at the chequered flag. Checo was unfortunate to finish only 12th – a slower-than-usual pitstop costing him track position through no fault of his own. All in all, I’d summarise our weekend by saying that we’ve come away with a very hard-won world championship point.”

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Massa: Monza was vital to the future

Felipe Massa concedes that having a strong Italian GP was "important" as contract talks with Ferrari heat up.

Having qualified fourth for Ferrari's home race, the Brazilian got off to a flying start and was up to second by the first corner.

However, he later lost out to team-mate Fernando Alonso before also losing a position to Mark Webber in the round of pit stops.

"The race was very good, the start was very good, I overtook two cars straight away," said the Brazilian, who brought his F138 home in fourth place.

"The pace was OK but then the pit stop was the worst problem of race, I lost a position to Mark. That was the only negative point of race.

"In terms of driving, I did everything in a great way."

Bagging 12 points towards his own position in the Championship and also Ferrari's bid to overhaul Red Bull in the Constructors',

Massa is hoping Sunday's performance will have gone some way towards easing contract talks with his employer.

"We're still discussing it," when asked about the contract situation.

"This race was important for everything, not only for the contract with Ferrari but to show other teams what I'm able to do. My talent, everybody knows."

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Hamilton laments 'nightmare weekend'

A "nightmare weekend" at Monza dealt Lewis Hamilton's hopes of winning the 2013 title a near fatal blow.

Although he was there or thereabouts during the practice sessions, a mistake in Q2 saw him fail to make it through to the final qualifying stint and he eventually started the race in P12.

Things didn't go much better on Sunday as he suffered slow puncture early on and was forced to change his strategy to a two-stopper.

Although he managed to fight his way back during the latter stages of the race, he left the Italian track with only two points after finishing P9. That leaves him 81 points behind Championship leader Sebastian Vettel with just seven races left.

Hamilton was very philosophical about his troubles the entire weekend.

"It is a nightmare weekend for me," he said. "It's a real shame but these kind of things happen. It has been a good year, we're just going to keep pushing."

He added: "It was a difficult weekend. I am ninth, we should have been much further ahead I am very disappointed with myself. I blew it in qualifying and it was impossible to make up the places. Overall it was a disaster of a weekend."

Hamilton was also forced to drive the entire race without being able to communicate with his team on the pit wall.

"It's almost like driving blind, you don't know when to pit, when to push and what is going on. It's awful when you are just empty of energy and have given everything for just two places and that's it for the Championship now,' he said.

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Jense: It was like driving on Lego tyres

Jenson Button admits he was "a bit emotional" after the Italian Grand Prix following a tricky end to the race.

It was a trying afternoon at Monza for the 2009 World Champion as he started ninth on the grid, but he could only manage to pick up one point - McLaren's only one of the weekend.

He often found himself stuck behind the wrong cars while the wrong gear rations also played a major role in his inability to finish higher.

"Today was tough. I think our pace was better than 10th, but we got stuck behind the Toro Rosso and couldn't overtake," said Button.

"The problem was that as soon as the fuel load comes down, the straightline speed is far greater. As soon as we followed anyone we were in a difficult position.

"We got it wrong with the ratios and it's a problem we will hopefully solve for the next one.

"When we are DRSing we were stuck at 331[km/h], and everybody is passing by at 340. We made a mistake."

The McLaren driver was eighth with less than 10 laps to go, but he was a sitting duck for those behind him as had problems with his rubber.

"I flat-spotted the tyre with about 15 laps to go so it was like driving with Lego tyres so it has made me a bit emotional."

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Ricciardo: A top five is not far away

Daniel Ricciardo was "pleased" after following up his Red Bull Racing signing with a strong showing and more points in Italy.

While in the past some drivers, most recently Sergio Perez, have been handed a dream promotion only to flounder in the wake of the announcement, Ricciardo rose to the challenge at Monza.

The Aussie, who on Monday was confirmed by Red Bull for next season, brought his Toro Rosso home in seventh place on Sunday, netting seven points.

And his points-haul even elevated the 24-year-old ahead of his team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne in the Drivers' Championship.

"I am pleased with that!" he said of his Italian GP. "After qualifying well yesterday, it was nice to maintain that position at the end of today.

"In recent races where we have managed to qualify in the top ten, we didn't have the pace to stay there in the race, but today we did.

"I think I got the most out of the car, managing to keep the guys behind me and the low downforce set-up certainly helped us down the straights.

"The others got close to me in the second sector, but I was able to pull away once we got to the high speed sections, which we knew from yesterday would be our strong point.

"We must keep pushing hard on the car development for the next few races, because hopefully, a top five finish is not too far away."

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FIA ready to extend Pirelli deal

Jean Todt says he's ready to extend Pirelli's F1 deal as long as the all the teams and Bernie Ecclestone are "happy."

Recently reports emerged claiming that the FIA, of which Todt is president, were set to put out a tender in order to decide next year's tyre supplier.

That news came on the back of reports that Michelin were interested in making a return to Formula One.

However, Todt now says he's ready to renew Pirellis contract if it "unanimous" that all the teams and Ecclestone want the Italian company to stay on.

"If everybody says we are very happy, then what is the point going to a tender?," said the Frenchman.

"If it is unanimous to go in a direction and then if I go to a tender you know what people will say? (They'll say) 'He is against Pirelli so he does a tender to try to make it Michelin'."

He added: "I know exactly what needs to be done but at the moment there are some discussions that need to be undertaken, some discussions with the teams, some discussions with the commercial rights holders.

"I know Michelin has demonstrated some interest. But at the end of the day we will do the things that need to be done. But I will not do something which does not create a consensus."

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Italian GP: Kimi Raikkonen equal to Sebastian Vettel's pace - Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen's Italian Grand Prix race pace was a match for winner Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull, reckons Lotus boss Eric Boullier.

Raikkonen had only qualified 11th and then had to pit for a new front wing after running into the back of Sergio Perez's McLaren at the first corner.

That limited the Finn to an 11th-place finish.

Boullier said the result was hugely frustrating given the race potential Raikkonen had shown. He was 37 seconds behind Vettel when he rejoined after his early repairs and finished the race 38s down.

"If you overlay the race of Kimi and Sebastian and forget the first two laps, we are just losing one second over the 51 laps. This is the answer!" Boullier said.

He added that there was no option of leaving Raikkonen out with the damaged wing to see how he fared.

The lap-one pitstop meant he effectively had to convert to a two-stop strategy and pitted again on lap 30.

"The wing was unusable. It was damaged too much," said Boullier.

Raikkonen added that the race pace comparison to Vettel was even more impressive because he had been hacking through traffic all afternoon while the German enjoyed a clear run.

"It's not just the time in the pits, but you have to work your way through the field afterwards," said Raikkonen.

"We did a pretty good job of that and the car felt good, surprisingly good given where we were on Saturday.

"Unfortunately, there's not much you can do after the start to the race we had."

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Italian GP: Di Resta reprimanded for first-lap crash with Grosjean

Paul di Resta has received a reprimand for his first-lap crash in the Italian Grand Prix.

The Scot ran into the back of Romain Grosjean under braking for the Roggia chicane.

Grosjean's Lotus escaped without significant damage and went on to finish eighth, but di Resta was out on the spot.

"I didn't have vision of the apex of Turn 4, I think there were a few passing manoeuvres going on in front," di Resta said.

"Everything slowed and I tried to take avoiding action but unfortunately locked a wheel.

"I tried to go for the gap between them but unfortunately tore the front end off the car.

"Not the best but with everything that happened yesterday with the brake failure, we'll try to forget about the weekend."

The stewards acknowledged that di Resta had tried to prevent a collision.

"The driver made an attempt to avoid the collision (when he saw the cars in front braking earlier) by trying to drive between cars #8 and #15, but in doing so collided with car #8," said the official report.

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Bahrain Grand Prix to switch to night Formula 1 race in 2014

The Bahrain Grand Prix is to switch to a night race next year, with the circuit set to confirm the news in the next few days.

It was revealed earlier this year that the Sakhir venue was considering a Formula 1 night race to celebrate the event's 10th anniversary.

It appears that those plans have moved forward with circuit chairman Zayed Al Zayani revealing at Monza that an announcement is imminent.

There had been some suggestions that Bahrain could become the 2014 season opener, but Zayani asked Bernie Ecclestone to move the race back in the schedule so it could work on the upgrades needed for the night race.

Bahrain hopes to finish the lighting project at the end of February, and a provisional date handed to it originally of March 2 was deemed too close for it to get everything ready.

"We requested from Bernie not to be the first grand prix of the year because we are undergoing a major refurbishment of our track to commemorate the 10th anniversary," Al Zayani said.

"We didn't want to be squeezed for time."

When asked what the upgrades were, Al Zayani said: "There are many things, but the highlight will be a night race."

Zayani added that Bahrain is still considering whether or not to have a full-on night race or a twilight event like Abu Dhabi. The race will therefore start at either 5pm or 6pm local time.

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Alonso: We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs from Sebastian

Fernando Alonso hoped luck would come to the rescue after Ferrari lost out again to Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel in the Italian team’s home grand prix.

The Spaniard remained second overall after finishing runner-up at Monza but is now 53 points adrift of triple champion Vettel with seven races remaining worth a maximum 175.

At the current rate, Vettel stands to wrap up his fourth successive crown well before the final race of the year in Brazil.

“I think we need to be realistic about the championship now there’s a very big gap,” Alonso told reporters.

“We don’t have enough races and probably we don’t have the speed right now to win some consecutive races and hope to reduce the gap just by pace.

“We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNFs (retirements) from Sebastian or something to win the championship. With the races left and the points disadvantage, it’s hard but in a way, it was exactly the same last year.”

Last year, Alonso had built up a commanding lead only for Vettel to reel him in and eventually win the championship by three points.

The problem for Alonso is that most of the remaining circuits have been good for Red Bull in the past, with Vettel reeling off four straight wins in Singapore, Japan, South Korea and India last year.

Despite that, Alonso said he had managed to get the maximum from his car and refused to give up until the situation became mathematically hopeless.

“There’s still a long way to go; we will try until the last race to be as good as we can and score as many points as possible and then in Brazil we will see how many points we have compared to him,” he said.

The Spaniard has won only twice this season, with his last victory in Spain in May. Vettel has now been triumphant in half of the races.

Despite that, Alonso was not downcast, ”It’s true that we didn’t win the race because Red Bull and Sebastian did an even better job and they were very very good. But in our level of competitiveness that we had this year, Monza is one of the best weekends.”

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Hamilton: I need to win every race which is the tallest order ever but I can try

Immediately after the Italian Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton wrote off his Formula 1 title chances for another year but then shortly afterwards did an about turn – ever the racer he has refused to give up until mathematically forced to do so.

“Obviously that’s that for the championship,” he told television reporters after finishing a hard-earned ninth for Mercedes at Monza where he had won last season for McLaren.

“I blew it in qualifying and it was impossible to catch up. The radio failed in the race and I didn’t know what the hell was going on. I missed my pit stop by quite a few laps. It was a disaster of a weekend,” he added.

Speaking separately to British reporters later, after a debrief, the 2008 champion put some distance between his earlier comments, even if his previous assessment still looked valid enough.

The Briton remains third overall but is now 81 points adrift of Red Bull’s triple champion Sebastian Vettel, the winner in Monza, with seven races remaining worth a maximum of 175 points.

“When I got out of the car I was angry, and definitely thought that would be it,” he said in the Mercedes motorhome, his pet bulldog Roscoe snoozing and snoring on the floor nearby.

“But I’ve been back with my engineers and I’m not going to give up. I basically need to win every race, which is the tallest order ever, but I can do nothing but try.”

Hamilton had arrived in Italy chasing his fifth pole position in a row but instead damaged the floor of his Mercedes in qualifying and had to start from 12th place on the grid.

Although he made up two places at the start, a slow right front puncture on his first set of tyres then forced him to make his first stop as early as lap 13 and switch to a two stop strategy.

He had lost radio contact with the team at the start, forcing him to rely on old-fashioned pit boards for guidance and leaving him in the dark about the puncture until after the chequered flag.

The only compensation was that the Briton then set the fastest lap of the race. Yet the day had started out more promisingly than might have been expected.

“After qualifying I handled it probably the best I’ve ever done,” said Hamilton. “I was angry within myself, like I always am, but I got over it way, way faster than I ever have.

“I turned it into a positive and I arrived at the track energised and excited, felt really good in the race, pushed, drove harder than ever and I really felt like I had nothing left in my heart at the end of it.

“But I was angry because it sucks when you do all that work and you only make up three places and get two points.”

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Webber: Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct

Sebastian Vettel was braced for booing from the moment he beat Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso to the chequered flag in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

The triple Formula 1 champion is no stranger to the Monza podium and knew what was in store.

Red Bull’s 26-year-old German had won twice before at the cathedral of Italian motorsport, the ‘Pista Magica’ outside Milan where the passionate ‘tifosi’ form a red-shirted throng worshipping everything Ferrari and making sure that the rest know where they stand.

“I said on the radio on the in-lap (back to the pits after the flag) that the more booing we get, the better we have done today. It’s normal,” he said after hearing the crowd’s disapproval loud and clear from the podium.

“I don’t blame the people to be honest, I think their love of Ferrari is in their genes. It’s something very special,” added Vettel, whose first win at Monza in 2008 was met with cheers because he was triumphant for the Italian-based Toro Rosso team.

While the crowd booed Vettel, who has now won half the races this season and has a stranglehold on what will in all likelihood be his fourth successive title, they generously cheered Alonso who finished the race in second place without ever threatening Vettel’s lead.

The Spaniard, despite media coverage suggesting rifts between him and the Maranello-based team (that both sides have denied) clearly felt the love even as he fell 53 points behind Vettel.

“Every time I leave an airport, the hotel, home, everywhere here in Italy there’s huge support, huge love from them and me to them as well and to the team,” he said.

Sunday’s race was no thriller, the fastest track on the calendar serving up one of the dullest rounds of the season, and that – as well as a feeling that Vettel is killing the championship – may have triggered more booing.

Red Bull principal Christian Horner refused to see it as any reflection on his team or driver, however.

“I think anybody racing a Ferrari and beating a Ferrari at Monza, in Italy, is never going to be cheered,” he said.

“It was inevitable that there was not going to be a big reaction for Sebastian beating Fernando Alonso in front of the tifosi that have come to cheer their car and team around. So I don’t think it surprised any of us, the reaction that there was.

“If anything it fuels the motivation certainly of Sebastian just to go out there and continue to improve.”

Red Bull’s Australian Mark Webber, making his first visit to the Monza podium as the third-placed finisher, felt the crowd could have shown a bit more respect to the winner even if he escaped their ire.

“Sebastian won the race and the atmosphere is not completely correct but anyway…that’s their choice,” he said.

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Caterham not sure if pay drivers required to fund 2014 season

Caterham team boss Cyril Abiteboul has admitted he is not sure if his Formula 1 team will have to sign two pay drivers for 2014.

At the end of last season, the highly-rated paid driver Heikki Kovalainen was let go, as the ‘pay driver’ duo Giedo van der Garde and Charles Pic arrived.

But, subsequently, Abiteboul admitted that the lack of an experienced driver like Kovalainen may have contributed to Caterham’s tougher-than-expected campaign.

Since that admission, Finn Kovalainen has returned to the team — working hard in the simulator, with engineers, and testing the car in Bahrain, Spain, Spa and Monza.

So will Caterham be able to afford to pay a driver in 2014, or will that depend on whether the team can secure the lucrative tenth place in the constructors’ championship?

“It’s too early to tell,” Abiteboul told Russia’s Formula 1news.ru. ”A lot can happen with the races we have left.”

“We are trying to find new sponsors, new people, so it’s too early to talk about the impact that our final position in the championship will have on our decision,” said the Frenchman.

“Naturally, we have to have the necessary budget for next year. And Formula 1 is not exactly getting cheaper,” Abiteboul insisted.

Indeed, he is referring to the radical new rules, which according to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner will “double” the engine costs for the smaller teams.

But Abiteboul said costs will also be higher due to the return of private testing, and the prospect of a 21 or even 22-race calendar.

And “The aerodynamics regulations are also changing, which may be a good idea but for our team, first and foremost, it means we have to spend more on research.

“In general I think we can assume the difference is approximately €15-20 million compared to this season.

“So if we do not get some of the money from the (official) prize fund, it will be even more expensive for us. So it’s really too early for us to say anything,” he added.

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McLaren next in line for private Pirelli test

McLaren is apparently next in line for a private Formula 1 tyre test with Pirelli, according to a report in Speed Week.

It emerged at Monza on Sunday that Red Bull will take a 2011 car to Barcelona this week for a two-day, 1000 kilometre session to test tyres for 2014.

“The tyres will be round and black and unmarked,” motor sport director Paul Hembery insisted.

“So Red Bull will not know what is being tested.”

It is believed that, in the wake of this year’s Mercedes controversy known as ‘test-gate’, a condition of Pirelli’s ongoing testing with individual teams is that all of the other teams also have to be offered a similar opportunity.

Sporting director Otmar Szafnauer denies Force India was offered a test, but Hembery insisted: “We asked everyone.

“We have another team that is interested but no date as yet,” he added.

Speed Week correspondent Mathias Brunner claims the team that has accepted Pirelli’s offer is McLaren.

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Sauber 'moving in the right direction'

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn says Nico Hulkenberg's P5 at Monza is a sign that the cash-strapped team is moving in the right direction.

The German put in his best qualifying performance as a Sauber driver at Monza on Saturday when he put his C32 up onto third place on the grid.

And although there may have been some concerns that he would plummet during the 53-lap grand prix, Hulkenberg lost just two places to finish P5.

The ten World Championship points were a much-needed boost for both the driver and his team with Sauber now on 17 points and eighth in the Championship.

"We could see in qualifying it wasn't looking bad, we were looking at maybe sixth or seventh but for Nico to drive like he did was fantastic," Kaltenborn told the BBC.

"We all need money, that's what the sport is about, we have got into a partnership and it allows us to move in the right direction.

"But these results show we are moving in the right direction and that's what we all need."