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| Team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 Race Recap: Monza |
| Posted September 10th, 2007 At 7:50 AM CST |
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Welcome back ladies and gentlemen; I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. To kick things off this morning we a recap of the F1 race that transpired in Monza over the weekend. As always, if you have the race TIVO'd and plan on catching it later, read no further; otherwise, keep scrolling for the full details of how the Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes team fared.
In qualifying, things went brilliantly for both Mercedes' drivers Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, with the pair starting the race from the first and second spots on the grid, respectively. From the start of the race, things went equally as brilliant for the pair, with both holding off Ferrari's Felipe Massa to maintain their top two positions. After an accident by David Coulthard (Red Bull Renault) on lap two, the race eventually resumed at the end of lap six, with Alonso leading Hamilton by roughly 1.5 seconds.
On lap 18, Hamilton made his first pit stop of the day, resuming the race in sixth. Two laps later Alonso entered the pits for his first stop, re-entering the race ahead of Lewis. Following pit stops by Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), Heikki Kovalainen (Renault), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber) and Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari), Alonso again held first place, followed by his teammate Hamilton.
On lap 40, Hamilton entered the pits for the second time, resuming the race behind Kimi Raikkonen. On lap 43, Lewis overtook Kimi with a spectacular outbraking maneuver, again moving into second. At the end of the same lap, Alonso made his second stop of the day, resuming the race in first ahead of Lewis and Kimi.
After 53 laps, Fernando took the checkered flag in first, followed a mere six seconds later by his teammate Hamilton.
All-in-all, a great weekend for the McLaren Mercedes F1 team.
To learn more about the race including what both the drivers and
team management thought about the weekend's festivities, keep reading for the official press release.
Enjoy.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
F1 Monza: 1-2 victory for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes - Alonso ahead of Hamilton
Monza, Sep 09, 2007
The start: For the fourth time this year, Fernando and Lewis started from an all Vodafone McLaren Mercedes front row. Whilst Fernando accelerated into an immediate lead, Lewis held off charging Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and maintained second place. Following an accident of David Coulthard (Red Bull Renault) on lap two, the Safety Car was deployed. The race was re-started at the end of lap six.
The race: Fernando and Lewis were in the lead with a gap of about 1.5sec between each other. On lap 15, Fernando posted the fastest lap of the race with 1min22.871.
At the end of lap 18, Lewis came in for his first pit stop (8.3sec) and resumed in sixth place. Fernando pitted two laps later (9.1sec) and came back into the race ahead of Lewis.
After the pit stops of Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber/lap 21), Heikki Kovalainen (Renault/lap 21), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber/lap 23) and Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari/lap 25), Fernando was back in the lead followed by his team mate.
Lewis came in for his second stop on lap 40 (6.0sec) and resumed behind Räikkönen. At the beginning of lap 43, Lewis overtook the Finn with a spectacular outbraking manoeuvre entering the first chicane and was second again. At the end of the same lap, Fernando made his second stop (5.8sec) and maintained his lead in front of Lewis and Räikkönen.
After 53 laps, Fernando took the chequered flag first with 6sec ahead of Lewis. It is the 60th win for Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1 since 1954.
Comments
Fernando Alonso
“To win at Monza for the first time is very special. Sometimes everything goes in the right direction; this weekend was one of those times and we were able to keep up the momentum. My start wasn’t perfect, and I had to defend my lead coming in to the first corner. In the second corner I was a bit worried as I thought Lewis and I would touch but fortunately this did not happen. The safety car could have caused us a few problems as it was important for our strategy to open up a gap as soon as possible. However it was a perfect afternoon today with the car and the team working really well, and to win in front of the enthusiastic Italian Formula 1 fans is very emotional.”
Lewis Hamilton
“Obviously I didn’t get the best getaway and Felipe managed to shoot past me. I outbraked both him and Fernando into Turn One, and I almost thought I was going to get past, but then Felipe clipped me and sent me over the second chicane. I was suffering vibrations on my tyres in the first stint, so I opted to pit earlier to play it safe. Once we knew that Kimi was on a one-stop strategy, it was key to really optimise my second stop. Unfortunately, I came out behind him, but I knew I was faster on the new tyres, if only for a couple of laps, and so I just took the opportunity when I caught him up. It was really important for me to get that place back, not only for my position in the Championship, but also for all the team. We had the 1-2 in qualifying yesterday, and to maintain this in the race was the icing on the cake. They have all done a fantastic job.”
Ron Dennis
“We always want to win and to have McLaren’s first one-two at Monza today is really special. The entire team has done a fantastic job both on and off track in difficult circumstances, and our dominance this weekend is a just reward for all their efforts. Fernando and Lewis put in excellent performances and controlled the race from the front. Lewis, overtaking manoeuvre to reclaim second place showed his determination. We now focus on the week ahead and the race at Spa next weekend."
Norbert Haug
“This race was a classic and the right answer on the race track. Congratulations to Fernando on his great victory. Apart from Friday’s first session, he has been fastest throughout the weekend and really deserved this win. Lewis did a great job, and it was excellent how he first passed Felipe into the first corner and towards the end Kimi after his second pit stop to secure the fourth 1-2 win for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes since the team’s first one this year in Malaysia. The team worked really hard to make this possible, and today’s result is the best reward for everybody’s efforts during the last months. Thank you all, together we will keep on pushing.”
Copyright © 2007, DaimlerChrysler AG
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