Did Sebastian Vettel win today's Monza Grand Prix? Yes. Has Sebastian Vettel won the driver's championship? More than likely. Is Formula One still worth watching this season? Absolutely. Why? Because the rest of the field produced an entertaining race full of incident and battles.
The start was unbelievable enough, Daniel Ricciardo had stalled on the starting grid but was somehow allowed to continue the race numerous laps later. Alonso also overtook Vettel to take the lead going into the first corner and Michael Schumacher had moved up to third. But the big drama came in the shape of Hispania's Liuzzi who ended up going onto the grass during the starting straight and span sideways into Petrov, Rosberg, D'Ambrosio and Barrichello. All but Barrichello were out of the race and Kobayashi had also suffered damage to his front wing in another incident before the Safety Car was released.
The Safety Car came in on lap four and a lap later Vettel had virtually won the race after overtaking Alonso. Webber clashed with Massa on the same lap, causing the Red Bull to lose the front wing. Unfortunately for Webber, the front wing was stuck underneath the car which caused the front wheels to lock and the car contacted the barrier, becoming the fifth retiree in just six laps. Adrian Sutil was the next to retire on lap eleven.
One of the best battles of the day was between Hamilton and Schumacher in a great duel of minds. The McLaren Mercedes had the DRS when in the activation zones but the Mercedes engine was set up for ultimate down force speeds, making Schumacher faster on every straight. The battle was nearly cut prematurely when Hamilton looked to have overtaken Schumacher on lap thirteen but the speed of the Mercedes allowed Schumacher to reverse it and remain third.
Jenson Button played the silent assassin during this battle in fifth place. Hamilton tried another overtaking move but ended up slightly on the grass on lap sixteen. This allowed to Button to sneak in and pass his teammate before then overtaking Schumacher with the minimum of fuss. Schumacher pitted that lap, leaving the McLarens to gain some ground. Button pitted a lap later and suffered no ill effects but Hamilton pitted another lap later and found himself behind Schumacher yet again, allowing the intriguing battle to head into round two.
Lap twenty-four saw Kobayashi retire due to a gearbox failure and his teammate Perez suffered the same problem ten laps later. The battle between Hamilton and Schuamcher lasted for another nine laps before Hamilton finally over-took Schumacher on lap twenty-eight to earn fourth place. The other action at the top saw Button overtake Alonso for second but there were still plenty of battles in the middle order; Maldonado and Alguersuari had a battle for seventh at one stage whereas Senna and Buemi nealry contacted during their battle for ninth and tenth. Just a couple of reasons why, despite Vettel's obvious championship win, Formula One is still a sport to be watching with intent. Race result:
1.Vettel (Red Bull), 2.Button (McLaren), 3.Alonso (Ferrari), 4.Hamilton (McLaren), 5.Schumacher (Mercedes), 6.Massa (Ferrari), 7.Alguersuari (Toro Rosso), 8.Di Resta (Force India), 9.Senna (Renault), 10.Buemi (Toro Rosso), 11.Maldonado (Williams), 12.Barrichello (Williams), 13.Kovalainen (Lotus), 14.Trulli (Lotus), 15.Glock (Virgin) Not Classified: Ricciardo (Hispania) DNF: Liuzzi (Hispania), Petrov (Renault), Rosberg (Mercedes), D'Ambrosio (Virgin), Webber (Red Bull), Sutil (Force India), Kobayashi (Sauber) Perez (Sauber)
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