F1 News
Date: 9/September/2012
Lewis Hamilton dominated Sunday’s Italian F1 Grand Prix at Monza, but it was third place Fernando Alonso who emerged with arguably the greatest gain.
While pole sitter Hamilton only briefly surrendered the lead during his pit stop, Alonso began the race just tenth on the grid after a roll-bar problem in qualifying.
The Ferrari driver had warned he was likely to lose more of his remaining 24-point lead as a result - but instead he was able to increase his advantage to 37, over new closest challenger Hamilton.
“Absolutely perfect Sunday for us,” said Alonso. “Obviously the win was out of reach after the problem yesterday. So if you cannot win, podium is next target.
“In all the simulations and predictions we made, it was never to get a podium finish, so it’s much better than expected. Jenson [Button] was out of the race and the two Red Bulls… so perfect Sunday maybe.
“We were just concentrating on who was second in the Championship [Vettel] so we were happy for the McLarens to be strong this weekend. The race went like a movie for us, like a dream.”
But Alonso’s race wasn’t without controversy.
The Spaniard made his displeasure clear over the radio after a scary off-track moment through the flat-out Curve Grande, when Red Bull’s reigning champion Sebastian Vettel firmly closed the door on an attempted overtake
It looked like a repeat of the unpunished move Alonso had used on Vettel at the same turn one year ago. However this time the Race Stewards felt it was too strong and Vettel received a drive-through penalty.
“I don't want to comment on the penalty he received, but what he did was definitely on the limit,” said Alonso.
“Last year it was not penalised, this year it has been. I think there is a big difference for the people who understand this movement.”
Alonso added that the incident also cost him some performance.
“I'm sure the car was damaged because at 330kph you are jumping over the gravel. I don't think that the floor and everything could be completely fine after that.”
Vettel’s day got even worse when he was forced to retire from sixth place with just five laps to go, after a repeat of the alternator failure that cost him victory at Valencia earlier this year.
The German, who had arrived in Italy second to Alonso in the standings, has now dropped to fourth place, 39-points behind Alonso.
Meanwhile, Hamilton was left untroubled to claim an Alonso-matching third win of the year, on a day when McLaren team-mate Jenson Button was forced out of second place by a technical problem.
Hamilton said: “It’s been fantastic to win here. Very, very special. I've been coming here since I was 13. I really do genuinely love the people here and the culture and the food and the country itself.
“I put the [Italian] flag on my helmet just as a sign of respect. This is a very historic circuit and when I was driving, I was thinking that all of the greats have won here so to finally get a win here is just the icing on the cake.
“It was a pretty trouble-free race and the guys did a great job through the pitstop. And I got a good start for once. It would have been fantastic for the team to have first and second. I don’t know what went on with Jenson’s car, but it was very unfortunate.”
Also on the podium was Sauber driver Sergio Perez, who made use of a smart tyre strategy to overhaul Alonso for a late second place.
Perez, linked to Felipe Massa’s Ferrari seat for 2013, said: “I went for the prime tyres at the start and then I stopped very late in my first stint and I had fresh tyres at the end. It’s unbelievable to get a podium in Monza, with all these people.”
Monza marked the last European round of the season. The next event will be round 14 of 20, the Singapore night race, on September 21-23.
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