FORMULA 1 - 2010

[MIKA27]

Villeneuve: Moving on to plan B

Jacques Villeneuve is refusing to let go of his dream of owning a F1 team despite the FIA rejecting his bid to have the 13th outfit on the grid.

The former World Champion teamed up with Durango to apply for the 13th place on next year's grid, however, instead of filling the slot, the FIA announced on Wednesday that the 2011 grid would remain at 12 teams.

"It was considered that none of the candidates met the requirements to be granted an entry into the Championship," motorsport's governing body said in a statement. "Consequently, the allocation of the 13th team will not be granted."

Villeneuve, though, says he's not giving up and now will turn to his back-up plan, which is to purchase one of the existing Formula One teams.

"We will now return to our original plan, which was our plan B, that is to say, to takeover one of the existing teams," the 39-year-old told Rue Frontenac.

"It will probably cost more and we must ensure that we have a free hand with the team. We do not want to be with partners we would not have chosen.

"We will also see that there are contracts in place to avoid them interfering with our plans.

"For example, we have tremendous confidence in the design of our car. We want to be able to use it, not to have the old design already in place imposed on us."

"I still have to sit with my partners and establish a strategy.

"However, I am pleased that we continued to work on NASCAR. Things are going well on that side."

MIKA: I am sure JV has a plan in place and even if that fails, JV will have a plan Z BUT that doesn't mean he will get back into F1. The only team I can forsee him even getting close to buying is HRT and should that be the case, great stuff because HRT are terrible.

[MIKA27]

Bernie: It's all about the timing

Bernie Ecclestone says he would support an FIA decision to unban team orders but only if it doesn't bring the sport into disrepute.

On Wednesday, Ferrari faced the FIA's World Motor Sport Council to answer charges of using team orders in July's German GP when they told Felipe Massa to move aside for Fernando Alonso through a coded message.

The team was fined $100,000 by the German stewards, however, in Wednesday's hearing, despite calls for them to be handed further punishment, the WMSC opted to leave it at that. The WMSC also revealed that they would review Formula One's ban on team orders.

Speaking after the hearing, Ecclestone revealed that he would support such a decision but not if team orders were imposed at the right time during a grand prix.

"This proves that the rules need to be looked at again," he said. "If you swapped your drivers around with a few laps left, that is bringing the sport into disrepute.

"But if you do it earlier, I don't have a problem with team orders."

[MIKA27]

Vettel: Anything can happen

Sebastian Vettel believes it's up to the front-runners to maintain their lead in the title race while those behind attempt to close the gap.

Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber surged ahead of their three title rivals last time out in Belgium, finishing first and second in the grand prix while the rest of the top five in the Drivers' Championship failed to score.

As a result, Hamilton now holds a three-point advantage over Webber while Vettel is 31 points off the pace.

However, this year, with each race win bagging a driver 25 points, there are still a great many to be won - or lost - before the title is decided.

"There are still six races to go and we will see what we can do," Vettel told Autosport.

"Obviously Lewis and Mark are a bit ahead in the Championship so obviously it is up to them to keep their gap in points alive, and it is up to the rest - like Fernando, Jenson and myself to trim the gap and come back. Of course we need every race but it is the same for everyone.

"This Championship so far, we've seen a lot of different leaders at different stages of the season, so anything can happen."

The Red Bull racer also denied claims by Fernando Alonso that the next two races will be crucial for those chasing the leading pair.

"It depends always on what the others are doing," said Vettel. "For us we have to focus on ourselves more than anything else. And of course we have to score points if we want to keep the Championship alive.

"That is the same situation as for everyone. If Lewis does not score from now onwards then his chances are pretty high that he doesn't win. It is the same situation for everyone.

"For those who are a little bit behind, they need to catch up. And we will see. There is no reason to panic or rush. We have to go step-by-step.

"Around 30 points now sounds more than it is. We have seen bigger gaps this year and if you look at Fernando before Hockenheim - with his gap everyone wrote him off already and within two races he came back very quickly. Anything can happen."

[MIKA27]

Hamilton: Most intense competition ever

Lewis Hamilton is loving what he feels is the most intense World title fight he has experienced.

For the third time in four years Hamilton finds himself firmly in the hunt for a Formula One crown he agonisingly missed out on by a point in 2007 before triumphing a year later in the most dramatic of circumstances.

The difference on this occasion is there are five drivers fighting to be champion, and with the level of competition of a far higher standard compared to 2007 and 2008.

With six races remaining ahead of Sunday's Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton leads by a slender three points from Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who may have made mistakes this year, remains a dangerous opponent and is 31 points adrift.

The other two contenders, McLaren team-mate Jenson Button and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, like Hamilton, both know what it takes to become Champion.

"I've not been in this position before where so many drivers have been in the hunt," said Hamilton.

"It's a World Championship, the most intense competition I've ever experienced, and I love it.

"I'm racing against Mark, who has great experience, and two world champions, so I expect nothing but the best from them. Therefore I have to be at my best."

Arguably, Hamilton's own experiences of losing and winning a title in the most remarkable of circumstances stand him in far greater stead than any of his rivals this year.

"In terms of my own experience I've suffered the lowest of the low and enjoyed the highest of the high," added Hamilton.

"I've been to both ends of the spectrum and learned from different situations.

"In 2007 I made a lot more mistakes, and although I've grown a lot, I've still many more to make.

"But I believe that to this point I'm a much more whole and solid driver than in 2007 and 2008."

An easy assumption to make is that because of the gap Hamilton and Webber command over Vettel, they can perhaps afford to play a far more tactical game over the remaining races.

It is a suggestion Hamilton categorically dismisses, believing to do so would be a dangerous game that could easily backfire.

"You would be wrong to assume that because there are so many points available," said Hamilton.

"It would be easy to adopt that frame of mind, go into a race and the next thing you know I'm in that position.

"So I don't feel any different compared to the last race. For me the gap is nothing, we're all equal.

"That's my approach, that I still need to get as many points as I can."

[MIKA27]

Horner fears a predecent has been set

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner feels the FIA have set a dangerous precedent following Wednesday's ruling in the team orders controversy.

The governing body's World Motor Sport Council opted not to punish Ferrari further for what unfolded during the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim on July 25.

Instead, the WMSC chose to uphold the punishment imposed by the stewards, who fined Ferrari 100,000 US dollars after Felipe Massa ceded first place, and ultimately victory, to team-mate Fernando Alonso after coded messages were relayed to the Brazilian.

The WMSC have also referred the regulation relating to team orders being prohibited to the Formula One Sporting Working Group for review at the end of the season, and there is now every possibility the rule will be abolished.

It has, however, opened the door for a team to use implied team orders - as was the case with Ferrari - at some stage over the remaining six grands prix and only receive a nominal financial penalty.

"If any team was in that situation... then a precedent has been set," said Horner.

"Based on what happened with Ferrari in Hockenheim, other than the financial penalty at the event, it didn't affect points.

"They (the WMSC) obviously didn't think there was enough clear evidence.

"The regulation is not particularly well-worded. It needs to be better worded or abolished."

The FIA have, on Thursday, released their findings following yesterday's hearing and it reveals Massa was told four times by engineer Rob Smedley that Alonso was faster.

According to the FIA "it is self evident to the judging body of the WMSC that this was an implied team order using a message, and as such was contrary to article 39.1 of the Sporting Regulations."

However, the FIA further noted there have been "many examples of what could have been said to be team orders in Formula One in recent years, and therefore there has been inconsistency in its application.

"Also its application to indirect team orders via messages where drivers raise no complaint is uncertain and difficult to detect and police.

"The judging body of the WMSC accepted that this may well have influenced Ferrari's approach, and Ferrari also had a legitimate concern to avoid collisions between team mates in close on-track racing."

In support of the latter point, Ferrari produced letters from team principals Frank Williams and Peter Sauber that were taken into consideration.

The Council considered imposing a five-second penalty on Alonso that would have relegated him to second, or a points penalty for both team and drivers, albeit suspended for the remainder of the year.

The WMSC, however, decided that given "the ambiguities in the rule...it would not be appropriate to increase the overall penalty".

[MIKA27]

Drivers want team orders clarified

World champions Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher say it is now essential that the FIA swiftly clarifies the situation regarding the team orders rule following the outcome of the Ferrari hearing in Paris yesterday.

The World Motor Sport Council opted not to give Ferrari any extra punishment in addition to the $100,000 fine it had already received from the Hockenheim stewards after Felipe Massa slowed to let team-mate Fernando Alonso take victory in this year's German Grand Prix.

After the hearing, the FIA said it would look into whether the rule banning team orders outright - introduced after Ferrari asked Rubens Barrichello to hand Austrian GP victory to Schumacher in 2002 even though the German was already dominating the championship - needed to be revised or removed.

Schumacher has already made it clear that he felt team orders were vital in some circumstances and that the rule needed to be changed.

He said that it was vital to come up with a clear and carefully considered new rule following the recent furore.

"The sport has different interests, and it is maybe at this moment in time necessary to find a very clear situation which is understood by everyone," said Schumacher.

"I'm pretty sure that the teams and the FIA will put the best effort in to clarify the situation and make it clear to everybody.

"I have a very clear position on what I think about team orders, but I don't think there is a very clear rule or comment that would easily clarify everybody's interest.

"It's really a thoughtful discussion, not many people spreading out ideas and just going on and on without any sense.

"Every so often, everybody has this magic idea, but then when you think everything through, you find some grey spots on it."

Button said that his stance on team orders was irrelevant, and just wanted the current confusion to be eradicated as soon as possible.

"Our opinion doesn't really matter in this situation, the decision is down to the FIA," said the reigning champion.

"The important thing is that we get a clarification of the rule so we all understand and we're all working to the same regulations - that's key."

Alonso welcomed the news that the FIA could alter the team orders rule, and said he had tried not to think too much about the matter as the hearing loomed.

"We are aware of the decision of the FIA so we just have to respect it, but that is the past now and we need to concentrate on Monza now," he said.

"I think we talked already too much all through the August break about the Germany incident.

"As my colleagues said, I am happy that the FIA will try to go into the rules and try to clarify if there is any sort of thing that is not completely clear in the rules.

"We can then be all more clear about everything. But there is no special feeling, nothing to say.

"The decision was something we were waiting for and we were ready to respect whatever it was."

[MIKA27]

Vettel says Spa errors overblown

Sebastian Vettel has insisted he is not dwelling on his catastrophic Belgian Grand Prix and denies that his Spa errors wrecked his title chances.

After his collision with Jenson Button in Belgium - which was followed by a penalty and later a tangle with Tonio Liuzzi - Vettel is now 31 points behind championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Coming soon after Vettel's restart misjudgement in Hungary, and with his tangle with Mark Webber at Istanbul still fresh in the memory, the Spa incident led many pundits to suggest that the young German's errors were set to cost him the title.

But Vettel was in a bullish mood as he prepared for this weekend's Italian GP and determined to put Spa behind him and revitalise his title challenge.

"What happened at Spa is what happened at Spa," he said.

"Monza is a new race and the next step.

"There are still six races to go so we'll see what we can do.

"Obviously Lewis and Mark are a bit ahead in the championship so obviously it's up to them to keep their gap in points alive, and it is up to the rest - like Fernando [Alonso], Jenson and myself - to trim the gap and come back.

"We've seen a lot of different leaders at different stages of the season, so anything can happen."

He does not think he is under any more pressure than any of the other title contenders.

"For us we have to focus on ourselves more than anything else, and of course we have to score points if we want to keep the championship alive," said Vettel.

"I think that's the same situation as for everyone - if Lewis doesn't score from now onwards then his chances are pretty high that he doesn't win.

"Obviously those who are a little bit behind need to catch up.

"There is no reason to panic or rush.

"Around 30 points now sounds more than it is.

"We have seen bigger gaps this year and if you look at Fernando before Hockenheim – with his gap everyone wrote him off already and within two races he came back very quickly, so anything can happen."

And he dismissed suggestions that his 2010 campaign had been dominated by mistakes.

"I think I can be happy with my performance," Vettel insisted.

"Obviously we could have scored more points here and there as a team.

"Sometimes the car was not good enough, and not reliable enough.

"Other times in the last few races I think I have made some mistakes, and I think it's normal, it's something you go through.

"It is a long season with some ups and downs, and everybody makes mistakes.

"In the end you have to make sure you are the one who does the least mistakes.

"Within a fraction of a second [at Spa] I lost the car and could not catch it any more.

"And obviously it destroyed my race and unfortunately Jenson's race – and then you see other people doing mistakes as well.

"Fernando threw the car away at Spa when he was also in the points, and Lewis nearly lost the lead when he touched the barrier, but he got away with it.

"At Spa I tried to overtake but it didn't work – full stop."

[OZCUBAN]

Alonso puts Ferrari on pole at Monza

Fernando Alonso sent the Ferrari-mad tifosi into raptures by taking his first pole position for the Italian team on its home turf at Monza and reigniting his world title hopes in the process.

Ferrari was fastest in all three segments of qualifying, with Felipe Massa topping Q1 and Alonso dominating the final two parts.

The Spaniard set such a strong benchmark on his first Q3 run that he could have afford to abort his second effort and remain unbeaten.

Jenson Button made impressive use of McLaren’s F-duct allied to a high-downforce set-up to split the Ferraris, but team-mate Lewis Hamilton was unable to make his low-downforce configuration work and wound up a disappointed fifth.

Red Bull missed out on pole for only the second time all year, but Mark Webber overcame his disrupted practice to ****** fourth ahead of Hamilton, boosting his chances of overturning his three-point deficit to the Briton in the championship standings.

Sebastian Vettel fared less well in the sister RB6 and will start sixth at the circuit where he scored his first grand prix victory two years ago.

Ferrari’s pace in the first two sessions looked ominous for the opposition, and this time Alonso made no mistakes and set a blistering 1m21.962s on his first Q3 lap, putting him beyond his rivals’ reach for the rest of the pole shootout.

Button split the Ferraris on his first run and got within 0.122s of Alonso on his final lap to secure his first front-row start since joining McLaren.

It was a clear vindication of the decision by Button and his engineers to opt for the F-duct/high-downforce set-up combination – for now at least.

That left him slower through the speed trap than all the other cars bar the Hispanias and some 9mph slower than team-mate Hamilton (205mph vs 214mph), but the extra grip allowed him to more than make up the difference in the corners and braking zones.

And while he might be vulnerable on the straights in the race, Button hopes the extra downforce will give him an advantage when it comes to tyre degradation (although that usually isn’t a big factor at Monza).

At any rate Hamilton seemed convinced Button’s side of the garage had made the right choice, after finding that his MP4-25 slid around too much on his qualifying laps and made it tricky to drive.

Vettel, meanwhile, was perturbed by why the pace he had shown in morning practice hadn’t materialised, and somewhat baffled by the fact that his straightline speed was lower despite running with less fuel.

Behind the top three teams, Nico Rosberg did better than Mercedes had dared hope coming into the weekend by claiming seventh on the grid, albeit more than a second off Alonso’s pole time.

Both Williams drivers made into the top 10, Nico Hulkenberg taking eighth and Rubens Barrichello 0.3s slower in 10th, continuing the Grove-based team's recent resurgence

Robert Kubica could only manage a disappointing ninth for Renault, which hasn’t been anything like as competitive at Monza as it was when it used its F-duct for the first time at Spa a fortnight ago.

Force India also under-delivered, with Adrian Sutil narrowly missing the cut for Q3 and Tonio Liuzzi dropping out of Q1 with a mechanical problem.

Michael Schumacher’s struggles continued as the seven-time champion again couldn’t match the pace set by team-mate Rosberg and had to settle for 12th on the grid.

Italian GP starting grid

1 ALONSO Ferrari

2 BUTTON McLaren

3 MASSA Ferrari

4 WEBBER Red Bull

5 HAMILTON McLaren

6 VETTEL Red Bull

7 ROSBERG Mercedes

8 HULKENBERG Williams

9 KUBICA Renault

10 BARRICHELLO Williams

11 SUTIL Force India

12 SCHUMACHER Mercedes

13 KOBAYASHI Sauber

14 BUEMI Toro Rosso

15 ALGUERSUARI Toro Rosso

16 DE LA ROSA Sauber

17 TRULLI Lotus

18 KOVALAINEN Lotus

19 LIUZZI Force India

20 PETROV Renault*

21 DI GRASSI Virgin

22 SENNA HRT

23 YAMAMOTO HRT

24 GLOCK Virgin**

* penalised 5 places for impeding Glock

** penalised 5 places for gearbox change

[OZCUBAN]

Button says F-duct key to great qualifying

Jenson Button praised his crew's decision to stick with the F-duct after he took his best qualifying result of the season at Monza.

McLaren had been debating whether to remove its drag-reducing F-duct system for Monza as it suspected that with wing levels so low anyway, there would be less benefit than usual to using the device.

Lewis Hamilton and his crew chose to take the F-duct off - but struggled to fifth on the grid, while Button stuck with the system and qualified on the front row for the first time since last year's Turkish Grand Prix and his first time in McLaren colours.

"I want to say a big thank you to the team - we came here not quite sure which approach to take in terms of downforce and efficiency," said Button.

"Our side definitely made the right decision to run the high downforce level with the F-duct.

"It was a great decision."

Having missed out on pole by 0.122s, Button revealed that he had made a mistake on his last run but still been quick enough for second.

"In Q3 you've just got to push that little bit more but it's very tricky around here, you push a little bit and sometimes you go slower," he said.

"It's very, very tricky, and out of Ascari I got a little bit of oversteer and ran wide off the circuit, but still I'm very happy to be second.

"It's the first time I've been on the front row of the grid all season, so it's a step forward."

The world champion said he was full of confidence for the race as it had been qualifying that he suspected might be the tricky part with his set-up choice.

"It worked in qualifying, we weren't 100 per cent sure if it was going to," Button admitted.

"For a race car, I think we're looking good."

[OZCUBAN]

Webber surprised by time gap to rivals

Mark Webber reckoned Red Bull’s grid placings of fourth and sixth were much as expected, but admitted the team was surprised at its performance deficit to Ferrari in particular.

The Milton Keynes-based squad predicted in the run-up to the event that Monza would be the one weak link in the remaining six races as it seeks to win its first drivers’ and constructors’ titles, whereas it was confident of challenging for victory at the other five venues.

A strong practice showing suggested it might spring a surprise in qualifying, but Webber’s fourth-place effort – half a second behind pole-sitter Fernando Alonso and more than 0.3s adrift of McLaren standard-bearer Jenson Button – was the best it could manage.

“I think the position is probably to be expected, but the gap is probably a little bit bigger than we expected,” Webber told reporters.

“You know, Fernando is very, very strong, JB is obviously on a different downforce level so McLaren have split their cars on how they are going around this race track.”

Webber had a troubled build-up to qualifying, stopping on the circuit in both the second and third practice sessions, and said he felt a little under-prepared having not had the chance to try the softer compound tyre.

“I wasn’t happy with the car yesterday at all, so we made a lot of changes last night,” he said.

“The guys did a sensational job with the set-up, we chipped away with that – to be fair, we took some of Seb [Vettel]’s settings as well, which has happened in the past the other way round.

“To not really have a look at the option [tyre] today until I got into qualifying was a little bit of a frustration.

“In Q1 the car wasn’t good. We had to rebalance the car for Q2 and then I started to get a little bit of an idea.

“I was extremely happy with how our plan went in terms of two timed [laps] in Q3. It was a good plan – not easy to execute, but it worked out well.”

Webber was satisfied to have outqualified both his main championship rival Lewis Hamilton, who leads him by three points, and team-mate Vettel.

“Today Sebastian wasn’t exactly slow – he was bloody quick too – but it’s about fine margins as we know,” he said.

“We are a bit surprised that we outqualified Lewis, but there are no points today so let’s see how we go tomorrow.”

The start at Monza always hazardous as the field charges into the narrow first chicane, but Webber isn’t too concerned about it.

“I think all the drivers know the score here,” he said.

“It is a particularly challenging first part, but we’ve all been here before and it’s been the same for quite a few tracks this year.”

With Hamilton and Vettel behind him and Alonso and Button having large points gaps to make up, Webber stands to strengthen his title challenge if he can maintain his starting position.

“A boring race would be nice,” he said.

“If we can chip forward a little bit, who knows?

“It’s human nature to always want more, but on Thursday we probably would have signed up for losing nothing [in the championship].”

OZ

Lets hope that Mark can get away well and avoid the carnage that is always the first turn at Monza.

If he manages to finish ahead of Hamilton and vettel i will be more than happy

[OZCUBAN]

Hamilton: Removing F-duct was an error

A downbeat Lewis Hamilton conceded his side of the McLaren garage had made a mistake in opting to run with the lower downforce set-up without the F-duct after he qualified only fifth, while team-mate Jenson Button made the front row.

The Woking squad’s drivers had opted for different wing settings after the team assessed the performance of its car with, and without, the drag-reducing F-duct on Friday at Monza, and Hamilton’s timesheet-topping performance in final practice suggested he had made marginally the right decision.

However, in the grid-deciding Q3 Button – whose MP4-25 was fitted with a bulkier rear wing for increased downforce in the corners – challenged for pole while championship leader Hamilton lapped over 0.5s slower than the sister car and qualified on the third row.

Afterwards Hamilton admitted that in hindsight he had made the wrong decision.

“I think potentially it had quite a big impact on the end result,” he said of the decision to go for the lowest downforce option.

“I’m quite disappointed with fifth place. We chose to go with the lighter downforce level which doesn’t have the F-duct and just the car’s sliding everywhere and I struggled a lot on each tyre – I just didn’t have the downforce.

“So wrong choice, bit of a mistake – but we will still push hard tomorrow.”

Hamilton, who was fourth after the initial Q3 runs before being pushed down to fifth late on by main title rival Mark Webber, said he just had no grip in the corners.

“The Q3 laps were terrible I think,” he said.

“They weren’t very good laps. But I have no downforce on the car and I’m pushing as hard as I can but the car’s sliding everywhere.

“I can’t push anymore than the car will give me and it can’t give me anymore.”

Hamilton’s qualifying difficulties mean he faces the prospect of either seeing his championship lead eroded or wiped out all together after Sunday's race, particularly with Webber ahead of him on the grid.

The Briton acknowledges he isn’t in the ideal position for the long run down to the tight first chicane and adds that, while he may have a top-speed advantage over the cars around him, the fact he lacks downforce in the corners will mean he will struggle to attack.

“I think we’re in a tricky position,” he said.

“Turn one’s not an easy turn, it’s going to be very tricky out there on track trying to get in position.

“There are long straights but you’ve got to get close to the car in front and I think that’s going to be very tricky.”

OZ

Somedays you get it right others you don't i would not discount Lewis from the race however

[OZCUBAN]

Vettel unsure where his speed went

Sebastian Vettel was at a loss to explain where the pace that saw him challenge for the fastest times throughout practice disappeared to in qualifying, after he only managed sixth – his lowest position of the season.

The German driver appeared to be Red Bull’s brightest hope for qualifying after he set the pace around Monza on Friday and then went second fastest in final practice.

But RBR trailed Ferrari and McLaren throughout qualifying, with Vettel in particular disappointed to qualify only sixth – two places and two tenths behind team-mate Mark Webber.

“I’m a bit disappointed,” said Vettel.

“We were very quick yesterday and had decent pace this morning too.

“I don’t know where the speed went this afternoon. I was around 3-4kph quicker yesterday than I was this afternoon with less fuel.

“There are a lot of straights in Monza, so it was quite costly.”

The 23-year-old, who trails championship leader Lewis Hamilton by 31 points going into Sunday’s race and starts one place behind the Briton, thinks the RB6 will be more competitive in race conditions though.

Indeed he is intrigued to see how the competitive picture of the individual cars at the front is affected by the high fuel loads at the start of the race.

“We have a good race car, so let’s see what tomorrow brings,” Vettel said.

“With high fuel it will be different around here and we’re seeing different approaches, for example McLaren is running one driver on lower wing and the other on higher wing, so we’ll see how it works on high fuel.

“It might be quite slippery at the beginning of the race. We’re not the fastest here, we know that, but we’ll see what we can do.”

Prior to Monza, Vettel had started inside the front two rows of the grid at all 13 rounds this season.

OZ

Lets just hope Vettel keeps up this sort of form in the race

[MIKA27]

Some great posts there Oz, thanks for contributing my friend.

What is it about Monza whereby the Ferraris most often get pole?

The F1 fan in me really hopes Alonso DNFs and Massa deservingly gets a podium.

MacLarens, RedBulls will be up there but also watch for the Renaults, Mercedes and Force India racers.

Enjoy the race all!

[MIKA27]

Apologies all but I have been away these past few days, wife has been unwell over the weekend.

As such, I could not post any news so to begin with, some old news and then onto newer information.

[MIKA27]

Italian GP: Winners and Losers

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso breathed new life into the concept of a five-horse Championship race...

Star of the Race

Jenson Button, McLaren, 2nd

The undoubted star of the race, Jenson Button was virtually flawless for his 53 laps around Monza. He also managed to keep an aero-damaged car in the lead for the first 35 laps on what is an aero critical circuit. Had he been able to pull out the advantage that the extra downforce from his broken rear wing endplate and fractured diffuser would have generated, then Alonso wouldn't have been able to get past him in the pitstops. Alonso certainly didn't mean to hit him, it was a typical Turn 1 racing incident, but Button lost performance and time as a direct result. Thankfully for a lot of chianti producers in northern Italy, he couldn't slip away from Alonso's dogged pursuit and had to settle for P2.

Overtaking Move of the Race

Lap 37: Mark Webber on Robert Kubica for P7

Webber was frustrated not to get the jump on either Robert Kubica or Nico Hulkenberg through the pit-stops and had to do it the hard way. As Hulkenberg emerged from the pitlane just in front of him, Kubica was given a hard choice. Attack the Williams driver in front, or defend against the Red Bull driver behind. Unlike the usual Robert Kubica he seemed in two minds and as Webber tried the inside line at Turn 1, the on-board camera on Kubica's car saw him washing out to the exit of the chicane as though Webber was no longer a challenge. However Webber had kept his momentum and though he had been taken out by Kubica at the della Roggia chicane last year he powered on down the outside and made the overtaking move look easy. No mean feat.

Winners

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1st

Alonso made a few mistakes but was able to get away with them en route to a celebrated victory. He was slow off the line and got out-dragged to Turn 1, he went into the corner too quickly and hammered his nose against Jenson Button's rear wing, his car squirmed sideways and he bounced into Felipe Massa - thankfully for Ferrari and the following pack it was a wheel to wheel contact (had it been a metre either way and we could have had a Lewis Hamilton). He survived all that to put sustained pressure on Button's aero-impaired car.

Late on in the race he survived a trip across the Turn 1 rumble strips without damaging his car. Most importantly for anyone dressed in red, he won. And the history books won't see any of those minor glitches in years to come. How much quicker he was than Massa it's impossible to say now. If the FIA hearing in Paris told us anything this week, it was that their relative performance is hard to call when their engines are going up and down like a pair of *****'s drawers in a red light district.

Now Alonso's back in the title mix it will be interesting to see how Ferrari manage his engine supply. If they are on their 8th out of 8 then the engine that took him to triumph at Monza has to last for the remaining five races or he will face grid penalties. I can always have a word with the guys at J&P Motors (MOTs done while you wait) who might be able to work their oily magic on one of his older units for a couple of ponies and no more than a monkey.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 3rd

Massa made a great start and from his opening lap moves you'd be hard pressed to believe that there were any team orders at Ferrari. What happened in Turn 1 could easily have given either of them a puncture, just like Silverstone. After that he settled in behind Alonso, looked after his engine, dropped back a bit, accelerated a bit closer from time to time, setting the fastest lap on at least three separate occasions - most pertinently around the time of the pit-stops.

This sudden acceleration when it looked like he might get the jump on Jenson Button gave the impression that he could have gone a lot faster and might even have been faster than team-mate Alonso.

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 4th

Sebastian Vettel was a lot more respectful of team-mate Mark Webber at the start of the race than Massa was of Alonso. He positioned himself respectfully behind Mark Webber into Turn 1 and got shoved from behind for his trouble. He survived to give us one of the funniest team radio messages of the season, when he radioed back that his engine had PROBLEMS on Lap 20. You get the feeling that he should start them with: "Mayday! Mayday!"

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 5th

More good points for Rosberg and more nails hammered into the metaphorical comeback coffin of Michael Schumacher.

Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 7th

Hulkenberg was lucky not to get a drive-through for cutting the chicane three times to stay ahead of Mark Webber. It's arguable whether Webber would have progressed further than Nico Rosberg but it would have been nice for the stewards at least to show that they were investigating something.

The first of the three had been while Webber was actually overtaking Kubica, so that was an easy one to discount. A good way to stop drivers cutting the chicanes is by putting punitive kerbing on there that will damage the cars. David Coulthard chipped in afterwards that nobody cuts corners at Monaco because there's Armco in place, and that's a lot more damaging to your race prospects than a bit of raised kerbing. (Though technically speaking DC's not correct - the tunnel chicane and the swimming pool exit and Sainte Devote have all been made kerb-only turns - but you get the point).

In practice the FIA should use their apex-avoiding sensors to register the number of times that drivers give up on the racing line. Miss it three times and that's an automatic drive-through penalty. That might give an interesting twist to races, particularly Canada, Spa and Monza.

Tifosi

It's great to see the track absolutely full of fans after a race. It gives the podium ceremony a lot more atmosphere. So why can't they throw every circuit open to race fans after the chequered flag comes down? They've paid enough to get there.

Losers

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, DNF

Considering Lewis thought he was really only racing Mark Webber today, he made a very grave error. Nine times out of ten you can get away with a clonk like that, but this was the one time out of ten you didn't. Perhaps he thought he was racing Jake Humphry and his brother Nick on the simulator again, as he did in the BBC pre-show preview.

It was an unnecessary move because he wasn't going to get past Massa in della Roggia and the fourth place he gave up would have given him 12 points and robbed another two off Vettel and two off Webber. However it's given us all a five-horse race again, which is good.

And at least his engine will be one-race fresher...

Mark Webber, Red Bull, 6th

Not a great result from fourth on the grid, but at the end of Lap 1 he was only ninth and he would have been tenth had Lewis not decided to try out a load test on his McLaren steering arm. Mark showed us that he can mix it up and make overtaking moves stick, so that's a big plus. But his demeanour at the end of the race was not one of a man who was about to embark on a series of grands prix that suited his car (which by the way hadn't been changed in any way, shape or form). Perhaps it's Vettel he fears most.

Dieter Mateschitz

Not for a second am I saying that the boss of the Red Bull organisation comes over as a pretentious ponce, but to stand in the Red Bull garage when it's a bright sunny day, 25C ambient, with your jacket draped carefully over your shoulders (but arms out of the sleeves) is a bit...rum.

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McLaren boss: Ferrari just too quick

Martin Whitmarsh concedes Ferrari had the edge over McLaren as Fernando Alonso beat Jenson Button to the chequered flag at Monza.

McLaren entered this weekend's Italian GP with many predicting that, at least on paper, they would be the team to beat.

And although Button did get the drop on Alonso at the start, he was unable to hold onto the lead, losing out to Alonso in the pitstops.

"Ferrari were quick and drove a great race. We stopped but it didn't quite work out," Whitmarsh told the BBC.

"Jenson drove a fantastic race."

Sunday's result, which also saw Button's team-mate and pre-race Championship leader Lewis Hamilton retire on the opening lap, has tightened up the fight for this year's World title.

Mark Webber is now leading with 187 points but only 24 points separate the top five.

"It's still tight and we are in for a very exciting Championship," said Whitmarsh, as Hamilton dropped to second, five points behind Webber, and Button remained fourth, although now just 22 points off the pace.

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Fastest laps: Alonso claims the hat-trick

Fernando Alonso capped off a dream weekend in Italy by adding the fastest lap to his race victory and pole position.

The Spaniard pulled himself and Ferrari back into contention for the World Championship by easing to victory in front of Ferrari's home fans at Monza.

His win, though, will have been made even sweeter as he claimed the coveted hat-trick after setting the best time of the afternoon, a 1:24.139, on the penultimate lap of the race. His time was just 0.178 better than that of Mark Webber - who posted his best time on the same lap.

Nico Rosberg's Mercedes was third fastest on Sunday with a 1:24.491 while Webber's Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Renault's Robert Kubica completed the top five.

Felipe Massa, who finished third, was only sixth fastest while second-place finisher Jenson Button could only manage the eighth best time, a 1:24.598, on a track that was suppose to suit McLaren.

Times

1. F Alonso Ferrari 1:24.139

2. M Webber Red Bull 1:24.278

3. N Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:24.491

4. S Vettel Red Bull 1:24.493

5. R Kubica Renault 1:24.560

6. F Massa Ferrari 1:24.575

7. N Hulkenberg Williams 1:24.576

8. J Button McLaren 1:24.598

9. V Petrov Renault 1:24.644

10. A Sutil Force India 1:24.937

11. M Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:24.947

12. T Liuzzi Force India 1:25.102

13. S Buemi Toro Rosso 1:25.224

14. R Barrichello Williams 1:25.239

15. J Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:25.472

16. P de la Rosa Sauber 1:26.325

17. T Glock Virgin 1:27.765

18. H Kovalainen Lotus 1:27.822

19. L di Grassi Virgin 1:28.171

20. S Yamamoto Hispania 1:28.875

21. J Trulli Lotus 1:29.017

22. B Senna Hispania 1:30.880

L Hamilton McLaren - no time

K Kobayashi Sauber - no time

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'Lonely' Schumi: I didn't have the pace

Michael Schumacher believes his ninth place was the maximum he could achieve in Italy as he lacked the pace needed to keep his rivals behind him.

Schumacher got off to a flying start in Sunday's Italian GP, a race he last won back in 2006 before retiring from the sport. However, the German was not able to keep the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber behind him, causing him to drop down the order.

The seven-time World Champion finished in ninth place, earning himself two World Championship points which elevated him above Adrian Sutil in the Drivers' Championship.

"I had a quite clean race and I am pretty happy about my start. It was tight with lots of action so lots of nice fighting," said Schumacher.

"Unfortunately I had to give away two positions to Sebastian and Mark as I just could not keep them behind me. From there onwards, the race was pretty lonely really.

"However we got the maximum out of it considering where we started from and together with Nico, we scored some important points for the team, so I would say it was a decent race."

His team-mate Nico Rosberg had a better afternoon and was running in fourth place for most of the grand prix before losing out to the late-stopping Sebastian Vettel.

"Fifth place was an okay result today except for losing the place to Sebastian at the end there. It was a tough fight and I was pushing to the maximum throughout the race, firstly with Robert at the start and then with Sebastian towards the end.

"We got the most out of the car this weekend and another double-points finish is good for the team plus it is nice to be ahead of Robert again in the Drivers' Championship."

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Hamilton: Errors could prove costly

Lewis Hamilton admits mistakes like the one at Monza could cost him dearly the World Championship this year.

Hamilton was the big loser in the Italian Grand Prix as far as the World Championship is concerned after he retired on the first lap. He was a little too aggressive at the Della Roggia chicane and damaged his suspension after making contact with Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

He now finds himself second in the standings behind Red Bull's Mark Webber while Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel are all within striking distance.

The 2008 World Champion was quick to accept blame for the incident, but he admitted that these types of mistakes could cost him dearly in the battle for the title.

"I had a good start and gained a position," he told the BBC "In a realistic world I perhaps should've stayed there a while. I put my car up the inside and tried to get third - it was obviously a little bit too much.

"I'm very disappointed in myself and sorry for the team. I've got to try to collect my thoughts and move onto the next race. The Championship is not over, but it's mistakes like I made today that lose World Championships."

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh wrote it off as a "racing incident".

"Lewis was trying hard at the outset but it didn't come off. It was a racing incident," Whitmarsh said.

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Hispania fined over pitlane incident

Hispania Racing have been fined $20,000 after one of their mechanics was injured during Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

The unnamed mechanic was adjusting Sakon Yamamoto's radio during the Japanese driver's pitstop when the lollipop man released Yamamoto.

As the rookie drove off, the mechanic was thrown to the ground, suffering injuries, which resulted in the trackside ambulance being called into the pits.

"There was an incident with a member of our team during Sakon Yamamoto's pit stop." said team boss Colin Kolles.

"First aid was immediately on the spot and he was taken to hospital for further check-up. He remained conscious and was talking to the doctor.

"We wish that he will recover quickly."

The incident earned Hispania a $20,000 fine for the unsafe release of a driver.

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Vettel: I really thought it was all over

Sebastian Vettel feared his Championship dream was over for a few awful minutes, only to finish with a result that has rekindled his title hopes.

Vettel was running in sixth position in the Italian Grand Prix when he suddenly felt a slow loss of power from his Red Bull on lap 20.

Within a few moments team-mate Mark Webber had eased by, and come the conclusion of that lap and the one that followed, Vettel posted times two seconds slower than all around him.

But as swiftly as the problem materialised, it disappeared, forcing the team to change their strategy as he did not make his tyre stop until the end of the penultimate lap.

By that time he was 22 seconds clear of fifth-placed Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes, which was enough to ensure he held on for fourth, even on cold tyres for a lap.

"For one and a half laps I thought it's over, it's all over," said Vettel on his mid-race drama.

"Something happened to the car. I don't know what it was, maybe there was some friction, but fortunately the problem solved itself.

"But it meant I lost connection to the group ahead, around three to four seconds, and I had to come back from there which was a tough fight.

"The cars ahead pitted, so I stayed out as we tried to overshoot them. We were watching the lap times throughout and in the end it worked.

"Our strategy was a risk. If it works then you're the king, and if it doesn't you can be the idiot.

"Fortunately it worked and the team did a great job. So, some good points and we achieved our maximum, which was fourth place."

Although Vettel has dropped from third to fifth in the standings, the close-knit nature of the most-tightly contested Championship since 1981 means he is only 24 points adrift of Webber.

The 33-year-old Australian again leapfrogged Lewis Hamilton after coming home sixth whilst the McLaren star crashed out on lap one.

It was a result that just about satisfied Webber who said: "We could have got more points, so it's a bit disappointing.

"I've had a better day than Lewis and got more points than him, so it's good to get some points, but you always want a bit more.

"It could have been worse for us."

On a Monza circuit Red Bull knew would not favour them, team boss Christian Horner declared the fourth and sixth positions for Vettel and Webber better than had been hoped.

"As a team performance it was a great effort, especially after difficult starts and the first corner where positions were lost," said Horner.

"Both drivers produced excellent races, with the strategy and pit stops well optimised, and we got very valuable points.

"Our objective prior to the weekend was to try to limit the damage.

"So to come out of the weekend back in the lead of the Drivers' championship with Mark, while extending the lead of the Constructors' Championship is more than we could have expected."

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Cosworth and Lotus to end deal

Cosworth will part ways with Lotus at the end of this season, paving the way for the latter to sign a deal to use Renault engines.

In recent weeks, rumours have been doing the rounds that Lotus are keen to have Renault power for next year's Championship while Autosport claims the deal could also include gearboxes and transmissions.

The reports moved closer to the truth on Sunday evening when Cosworth revealed that they are to end their engine deal with Lotus.

"Cosworth has reached an agreement in principle with Lotus Racing whereby the team's Cosworth engine supply agreement will come to a conclusion at the end of the current Formula 1 season," Cosworth said in a statement.

"This agreement is subject to contract and until the agreement is signed, neither party will be making any further comment."

Meanwhile, Lotus are set to take the historic Team Lotus name next year, according to the BBC.

For this year's Championship, the team has been known as Lotus Racing, however, team boss Tony Fernandes recently purchased the rights to the Team Lotus name and, as of next season, his cars will bear the Team Lotus badge.

"The whole ownership structures of Lotus are very complicated, but we've unravelled them," Fernandes said.

"We want to own our own future and not license it from someone else. The future of Lotus Racing and Team Lotus is very secure and it is now in our hands."

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'Heidfeld to Sauber ahead of Singapore'

Nick Heidfeld could return to the F1 grid this season with reports claiming he's set to replace Pedro de la Rosa at Sauber.

Heidfeld was left without a drive for this year's Championship after BMW opted to walk away from Formula One.

And although the German signed a test driver contract with Mercedes GP, that ended last month when the team released him to join 2011 tyre supplier Pirelli as their tester.

His Pirelli experience has made Heidfeld a hot commodity for next year's Championship, however, it seems Sauber may have the drop on their rivals.

According to reports, the team is on the verge of securing a deal with the German to replace de la Rosa, starting at this month's Singapore GP.

Team boss Peter Sauber, though, has refused to confirm or deny the rumours. "I do not wish to make any comment about our drivers," he told Autosport.

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Renault boss chasing Singapore podium

Renault team boss Eric Boullier believes his team can return to the podium in Singapore after falling off the pace in this past weekend's Italian GP.

The most recent two races have seen Renault's performance fluctuate as Robert Kubica put his f-duct to good use in the Belgian GP, finishing on the podium.

The Polish driver, though, was not able to repeat that result in Monza on Sunday, lacking the pace needed to run at the very front, eventually bringing his car home in eighth place.

Boullier, however, is confident that the next race on the calendar, Singapore, will suit Renault's R30, putting them in a strong position to claim yet their fourth podium of the campaign.

"Frankly in Italy we were not expecting to be in the same form as Spa, but dreaming of getting two cars in the points was maybe a little bit ambitious," he told Autosport.

"It would have been a good weekend here if we could have saved face and done this, but unfortunately it did not turn out to be like that. We were not expecting to be as fast or as good as Spa.

"But if I take all the package that we have now in a high-downforce configuration, things look promising.

"Our f-duct is working very well, our blown floor is working very well now and definitely on a traditional track layout like Singapore or Japan that are coming, we should be in a much better position, And I would not be surprised if we had the same form as Spa."

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Vettel: Leaders have more to worry about

Sebastian Vettel believes those ahead of him in the Drivers' Championship have more to worry about than him as F1 prepares for the final push.

With just five races remaining this season and a total of 125 points to play for, five drivers remain in the hunt for the World Championship title.

Mark Webber is leading the race with 187 points while his team-mate Vettel is the final driver still in the running, 22 points off the pace after finishing fourth in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

"I am happy," Vettel said. "We got the maximum out of the package in Italy, and that is all that matters. If we do that for the next five races then we can be proud, whatever the result.

"Yes, we are still behind - but it is the others who have to worry and try to defend their gap. For us it is flat out and trying to catch up."

Vettel also insisted that his motivation and belief that he can win this year's World title has not wavered during his many ups and downs.

"I never felt differently to be honest," he said. "I think this year's points system makes people a bit more excited about things - but there are five races to go and a lot of points to get.

"If you look back over the years, being 10 points back - which is more or less 25 now - with five races to go was not much.

"Obviously you want to be ahead, but that is not our position. All we can do is try and have days like here, which is to achieve our maximum.

"Sunday it was fourth, maybe next time it is winning, maybe in two races' time it is third. As long as we achieve that, we are doing everything we can to win the Championship.

"One of the lessons of last year is to never stop believing. So there is not need to rush things and no need to panic."