FORMULA 1 - 2014

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Massa believes Williams F1 team-mate Bottas can be world champion

Felipe Massa believes his Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas has all the ingredients to become a Formula 1 world champion.

Second-year F1 racer Bottas has outperformed Massa so far in the 2014 season, leading the intra-team qualifying battle 8-4 at present and holding fifth in the standings, four positions and 70 points ahead of the Brazilian.

Bottas has also claimed all four of Williams's 2014 podium finishes.

Massa said Bottas had impressed him not just with his speed, but with his whole attitude and approach.

"He's a great driver," said Massa.

"He's shown since the beginning of the season that he's a great driver; that he's quick, that he's competitive, that he's clever, intelligent, working very hard.

"It's clear he's doing everything correct.

"People need to see him as a great driver in the field. Not just him, [Daniel] Ricciardo too."

Asked if he felt Bottas could fight for world championships, Massa replied: "He can, definitely. He's still young."

MASSA'S LIST OF CHAMPION TEAM-MATES

Massa has spent the majority of his F1 career with established world champions for team-mates.

He was paired with 1997 title-winner Jacques Villeneuve at Sauber in 2005, then joined Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for the following season, having already worked extensively with the German legend while testing for the Scuderia.

After Schumacher's first retirement from the sport, Massa spent the rest of his Ferrari stint alongside first Kimi Raikkonen - who he assisted to victory in the 2007 title race - and then Fernando Alonso.

Massa himself came close to the championship in 2008, when only Lewis Hamilton's last-corner pass on Timo Glock in the decisive Brazilian Grand Prix allowed the McLaren driver to pip Massa to the title by one point.

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RAIKKONEN: WE ARE NOT WHERE WE SHOULD BE AS A TEAM

The last championship round in Belgium saw something of a return to form for Kimi Raikkonen and at today’s press conference in the Monza paddock, the Finn reckoned the improvement actually pre-dated that race.

“We had a pretty okay feeling in the races before Spa, but something always happened, being hit by another driver, or other small issues,” said the Scuderia Ferrari driver.

“It’s very hard to get a good result when you have problems like that. In Belgium, the race itself was probably the first one where we had no issues at all and the result was a bit better. We can have a good race here. We need a clean weekend, so that we start by running our normal programme on Friday.”

The Finn admits the high speed nature of Monza will present some engineering challenges.

“We expect to have a little bit more difficult race here because straight line speed is what we are lacking a bit, not so much in qualifying but in the race, where we have a bigger disadvantage,” he explained.

“We expected that situation in Spa, but it turned out to be surprisingly good for us, so hopefully we will find something similar here, but we need to wait and see tomorrow. So it should be difficult, but hopefully we are wrong!”

Kimi was generally positive about the fact that part of the run-off area to the famous Parabolica corner has been asphalted.

“It’s a pretty fast corner, easy to run wide in the final part and you can have a nasty accident there, when there is just gravel and so tarmac will help a lot. But then we can start getting complaints if people have four wheels over the white line and whether or not they gained an advantage.”

“It’s better because you don’t damage the car and if you go off, you just lose one lap in free practice or qualifying and your race won’t be over, but maybe you just lose a place. So, there are two ways of looking at it.”

As for the rest of the season, Kimi reiterated the team’s intention of simply working as hard as it can over the remaining rounds of the 2014 championship.

“Our aim is to be nearer the front because we are not where we should be as a team and we are working hard on that.”

“If it’s not for the end of the year, then it will be next year, because it will be hard to make big steps from now to the end of the season. We are improving little by little and hopefully we can be in the fight for podiums later in the year,” concluded the Finn.

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VETTEL SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING MCLAREN-HONDA OFFER

Quadruple and reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel is reportedly considering interest in his services expressed by McLaren to spearhead the team in their second Honda era beginning in 2015.

In the media, Ron Dennis’ desire for a truly top driver to lead the team has centred on Fernando Alonso, but the Spaniard has effectively ruled himself out of the running this week, as he said he is not only committed to the rest of his Ferrari contract, but is even eyeing an extension to the deal.

And insiders believe Lewis Hamilton is unlikely to abandon his coveted seat at Mercedes, even if teammate Nico Rosberg goes on to secure the 2014 title.

“Lewis is not having any discussion with any other team,” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff insists, “so this is why we trust each other.”

McLaren’s hopes might therefore be pinned now on Vettel, the reigning quadruple world champion, who has struggled at Red Bull this year as the champion team’s engine partner Renault faltered at the start of the new turbo V6 era.

But he has even failed to match his new teammate Daniel Ricciardo, with some believing Vettel may now be open to a change of stimulus as Red Bull plots its future with younger stars including Daniil Kvyat and Max Verstappen.

The specialist sources Italiaracing and Omnicorse report this week that McLaren-Honda’s interest in Vettel has definitely reached the 27-year-old German, with Italiaracing claiming he is likely to resist the call and stay at Red Bull in 2015.

Omnicorse, however, believes Vettel has responded to the noises from Woking by seeking “certain guarantees” about the new McLaren-Honda project, particularly about the likelihood of a package capable of taking on Mercedes in 2015.

Reports in Italy suggest that the Red Bull driver has asked for a period of reflection before giving his answer to McLaren.

Counting in McLaren’s favour is that a man central to Vettel’s success at Red Bull in recent years, aerodynamics chief Peter Prodromou, started work at Woking a few days ago.

“It [Prodromou's arrival] will bolster our revitalised aero team,” Dennis said recently, “so I’m not concerned about aero performance next year. It will come right.”

And Honda has also made clear this week that, contrary to reports it is currently missing its target of matching Mercedes’ dominant engine performance, the Japanese marque intends to win as soon as possible.

“I have confidence that we will match Mercedes,” chief Yasuhisa Arai told Formula 1′s official website. “Formula 1 is a very important part of our strategy — and winning is very important for Honda.”

“We want to raise the awareness of our brand and I trust – I am a firm believer – that we will win races next year,” he added.

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ALONSO: HAMILTON IS THE BEST NOT VETTEL

Fernando Alonso does not believe reigning quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel is the best driver in Formula 1, and in fact points to Lewis Hamilton as the sport’s best.

Some, including Alonso, have been surprised this year as Vettel, despite his domination of the sport for years, has struggled to keep up with his new Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, The Spaniard admits he cannot understand what is afflicting the quadruple and reigning world champion this season

“In my opinion,” he is quoted by La Stampa, “Lewis Hamilton is the best driver. I don’t know what problems Vettel is having this year, but I have not changed my mind about him: he is not the best.”

“It is others who have to change their opinion,” Alonso added.

Hamilton and Alonso had a famously acrimonious relationship during their single year as teammates at McLaren in 2007, Hamilton’s first year in the sport and Alonso the reigning F1 World Champion at the time. Relations soured and Alonso departed at the end of that year.

Since then the pair have healed the wounds and more often than not praise one another when the opportunity warrants, while most pundits agree that Hamilton and Alonso are best of the current generation.

Vettel, despite his four consecutive F1 world titles, has yet to convince his immediate rivals that his accomplishments are more the result of Adrian Newey’s superb and superior Red Bull cars which dominated the final years of the normally aspirated formula.

While this season the German has blatantly struggled with the style required to drive the less grippy new era V6 turbo cars, while being well beaten by the team’s newcomer (and the sports rising star) Ricciardo.

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KOBAYASHI RETURNS AND FP1 DEBUT FOR MEHRI AT MONZA

Kamui Kobayashi returns to the Formula 1 grid with Caterham for the Italian Grand Prix, while 23 year old Roberto Merhi has been confirmed for FP1 at Monza.

Kobayashi was replaced by Andre Lotterer for the Belgian Grand Prix, but Audi’s Le Mans winner declined a seat with the team at Monza as he was not keen to sit out FP1 and compromise valuable track time. Instead Spaniard Merhi will do FP1 for the team, with Kobayashi on the sidelines, for the Friday morning session in Italy.

Merhi was earmarked to make his grand prix debut at Monza, but did not meet the critera required to qualify for a superlicense.

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TODT REPORTEDLY CONCERNED ABOUT RUSSIA GP

FIA president Jean Todt is reportedly concerned about the viability of next month’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix which is fast approaching while turmoil threatens the region.

That is the claim of Ari Vatanen, an FIA official who once stood against Todt for the presidency of Formula 1′s governing body but is now one of his closest allies.

Russia and its controversial president Vladimir Putin, who Bernie Ecclestone describes as a “super guy”, are in the global headlines at present over the escalating aggression against Ukraine.

The Financial Times this week claimed Europe is considering recommending new sanctions against Russia to include the boycott of key sport events, like the inaugural Grand Prix at Sochi scheduled for mid October.

Daniel Johnson, the Formula 1 correspondent for the Telegraph newspaper, believes Finn Vatanen is “testing the waters” with his comments on behalf of a more reserved Todt.

“Of course Jean knows about my comments, we spoke about it,” Vatanen said. “We are friends. I think he partly shares my view. It is true that his hands are tied. I can say things much more openly and freely than he can.”

Formula 1 chief executive Ecclestone, who personally agreed the race deal with Putin, consistently refers to his binding contract with Sochi organisers and the fact that sport and politics should not be mixed.

Vatanen said: “It is often said that Formula 1 should not mix politics and sport, but the Russian regime is already mixing politics and sport in a blatant way, so we have to respond. It is for Bernie and the owners to cancel the race.”

As the current situation worsens, Putin has in the past days even threatened nuclear war as the West exerts increasing pressure.

“It is an unprecedented situation since the second world war,” said Vatanen, a former rally world champion and European parliamentarian, “and we have to ask ourselves how history will remember us and what we did or did not do.

“Do we support the regime who is masterminding this bloodshed? Or do we say this is not correct? It would send a message of acceptance if we went to Russia. It would say we condone, effectively, maybe not explicitly, but by our actions we condone what is going on because it is used in propaganda,” Vatanen concluded

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SCHUMACHER MIGHT BE BACK HOME BY CHRISTMAS

Michael Schumacher could leave a rehabilitation clinic and return home by Christmas according to Bunte, citing sources at the facility in Lausanne where the Formula 1 legend is recuperating after his long coma and skiing fall last December.

The report said it is possible Schumacher, 45, could return home to his mansion on the shore of Lake Geneva by Christmas.

But the news is not all good. Bunte claims: “He (Schumacher) needs constant assistance throughout the day. Nobody is prepared to say how long it will be before his motor, language and memory skills are restored.”

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Chilton: My seat is safe

Max Chilton will remain on the grid for the rest of the year with the Britain confirming his Marussia seat is safe.

The 23-year-old looked appeared set to miss out on the Belgian Grand Prix last time out with Marussia confirming on the Thursday that he would be replaced by Alexander Rossi due to "contractual issues".

However less than 24 hours later the team made a U-turn and Chilton replaced Rossi after Free Practice One at Spa.

Asked if he would drive in the remaining seven races, Chilton replied: "Yes. What happened was a commercial decision which got changed, and we are now back to normal.

"It's all been sorted out and it's now in the past. We're now looking forward as we're still in an amazing position as a team.

"The best thing we can do now is focus on staying ahead of Sauber."

He added: "Yeah well there was never really an issue in the first place. It was a busy weekend, I'm not going to lie, but it was a commercial decision that was overturned by senior management over the course of Thursday evening. So, my weekend didn't really change. I was always out of the car for practice one for Alex, our reserve driver, and so it was nice to be back in the car for free practice two, because Spa is my favourite circuit so we ended up having a good race and a good weekend."

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Grosjean: Everyone is waiting on Alonso

Romain Grosjean believes there will only be movement in the driver market once Fernando Alonso and Ferrari have made their moves.

Two-time World Champion Alonso has been strongly linked with a switch back to McLaren, but both the Spaniard and Ferrari have this week insisted that he will remain at the Maranello for the 2015 season.

However, the speculation has refused to die down and Grosjean, who has indicated that he will be willing to leave Lotus in search of glory, says things will only pick up once Alonso's future is confirmed.

"It's been quite quiet to be fair, nothing crazy," he is quoted as saying on espn.co.uk. "You have to wait for Ferrari and Alonso and by then the market will have moved. I'm sure you are aware as much as I am, if not more, and so far nothing has moved much.

"You can always do speculation and from what I know all the other drivers have a contract in the big teams. Alonso is the key of the market."

Asked if he'd been in talks with Ferrari he said: "There are always talks and that's why there are managers. There have been a few talks, but you'll just have to wait."

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Power Unit Use – Update prior to Monza

The FIA have published the list of Power Unit (PU) components used prior to this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, the report is shown below:

All the Mercedes teams used planned new components (ICE, TC, MGU-K, MGU-H) for Spa last time out, as this is one of the circuits that puts the highest stress on those components. Renault and Ferrari users have not had that luxury, as they have had reliability issues through the year that prevented this routine refresh of components. Ferrari and Renault drivers that did manage to update components were:

ICE: Vettel and Kobayashi (Lotterer). Although Vettel’s unit had to be changed for an older item after problems in Free Practice 1. Kobayashi’s ICE should still be relatively fresh after Lotterer managed to put only 497km on the unit thanks to his early retirement in the race. Four drivers are now on their fifth unit (three Renault and one Ferrari) and could be up for a penalty if this punishing track breaks their ICE. Given that some of them are almost guaranteed to get a penalty before the end of the season, I wonder if they will choose to sacrifice a high mileage ICE and take the penalty here where at least it is possible to overtake if you have good straight line speed?

TC: Gutiérrez, Bianchi and Kobayashi (Lotterer) fitted new turbos last time out in addition to all Mercedes powered drivers. Three drivers are on their fifth unit (two Renault and one Ferrari).

MGU-K: Gutiérrez and Bianchi were the only non-Mercedes drivers to get new Kinetic Motor Generators. Three drivers are on their fifth unit, all use Renaults.

MGU-H: again it was Gutiérrez, Bianchi and Kobayashi (Lotterer) who fitted new units last time out from the Ferrari and Renault runners. Two drivers are on five units used to date (one Renault and one Ferrari).

ES: this seems to be the most reliable of the six PU components, and most drivers chose to stick with the unit they had previously with only Rosberg, Grosjean, Maldonado, Hülkenberg, Pérez and Bianchi updating for Spa. No drivers have yet used their fifth component, this will have to change is teams are to make a tactical switch of a complete PU (the penalty is starting from the pitlane) rather than switching three, four or five individual components (20, 25 or 30 place drop with the remainder of the places carried over until the next race).

CE: while not as reliable as the ES, the multiple different sub units of this component can make the use hard to track. The different manufacturers have divided the Control Electronics into different sub units. Mercedes has split the CE into:

CE-KCK510;
CE-INJ310;
CE-IGN310;
CE-CUHK;
CE-DCDC.
Ferrari has:
CE-ESTRAC;
CE-CUHK;
CE-DCDC;
CE-PB1&2;
CE-OBI.
and Renault has:
CE-DCDC;
CE-CUK;
CE-CUH;
CE-PSU.

Only Räikkönen, Hülkenberg, Pérez, Sutil, Gutiérrez and Bottas added to their total CE count last time out. Only one driver has used a fifth CE and as for the ES this situation will need to change if someone like Maldonado (who has used five ICE, TC, MGU-K and MGU-H) is to take the least damaging route to getting the sixth units he will need to finish the season.

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Can Williams take the fight to Mercedes again?

After the 2014 season reignited in dramatic fashion in Spa, Monza will play host to the final European race of the season and a crucial battle in the war for the drivers’ championship.

With the highest straight-line and average lap speeds on the calendar, Monza is all about high power and low drag. And with top speeds considerably higher this season thanks to the more powerful turbo engines, we could well see drivers exceeding 350ph in eighth gear throughout the weekend.

Having played host to a round of the world championship in almost every season, Monza’s F1 heritage is arguably richer than any other venue and has played host to some of the sport’s most memorable races and triumphs as well as some of its most appalling tragedies.

However, part of that heritage has been lost this season with the decision to replace the gravel trap around the famous Parabolica with Tarmac run-off. While the decision has been made with safety in mind, it remains to be seen whether the challenge of one of the sport’s most iconic corners has been lost.

Although Monza includes some of the heaviest braking points of the season, brake wear is generally minimal due to the long straights between them. That can make sustaining brake temperatures a challenge, and the same goes for tyres as well – particularly as Pirelli have opted for the hardest rubber in their range.

Italian Grand Prix team-by-team preview

Red Bull

Daniel Ricciardo third win of the season may have been possible thanks to the two Mercedes drivers colliding, but it was yet another example of him capitalising on even the slightest opportunity – as well as out-performing his four-time champion team mate.

Red Bull travel to Monza knowing that it will be difficult for them to make it three wins in succession this weekend, but having already won at Montreal and Spa – two circuits where they should never have been in contention for the win – the reigning champions’ chances should not be discounted. The RB10′s low-drag package was surprisingly effective in Belgium.

Mercedes

Thanks to the collision that he was deemed responsible for at Spa, Nico Rosberg arrives at Monza knowing that he will leave with his lead in the drivers’ championship intact no matter what happens on Sunday.

Yet again, Lewis Hamilton is facing an uphill struggle to regain ground to his team mate in the championship battle. Although with every passing race, Hamilton knows he can ill-afford any further setbacks and will need to eat into his rival’s advantage this weekend.

Ferrari

No other team enjoys as much support at a single circuit as Ferrari do at Monza, but you could forgive the Tifosi for being less than optimistic of seeing a Ferrari driver on Monza’s famous podium come Sunday.

Ahead of their home race Fernando Alonso has kept the Ferrari faithful sweet by talking about how he intends to remain with the team for the next two seasons and potentially beyond.

Further encouragement for the team has come from the steadily-improving Kimi Raikkonen, who posted his best result of the season so far in the last two rounds.

But will Ferrari try to persuade their drivers to engineer a repeat of the slipstreaming tactics which didn’t go entirely to plan during qualifying last year?

Lotus

Lotus’s miserable season continued in Spa with two more mechanical-related retirements. And it says a lot that after Spa Romain Grosjean was more eager to talk about the team’s chances at Singapore than the next race at Monza.

“On paper it is not one of the races that we should do that well at,” he added afterwards “But as always we will be fighting hard and trying to get the maximum from the weekend, so that it gives us good momentum for the Singapore weekend later in September when we should be stronger and the track should suit the E22 a little better.”

McLaren

McLaren have been chipping away, making steady progress with their car, and Spa finally edged ahead of Force India in the constructors’ championship. But they have work to do to solidify their slender, two-point lead, and they look increasingly like ending the year behind Williams for the first time in a decade (their 2007 exclusion notwithstanding).

Force India

Force India’s points-scoring rate has dropped recently. But Nico Hulkenberg, who performed brilliantly at Monza last year, has high hopes for this weekend. “I expect us to be quite competitive there,” he said. “It should be better for us than Spa.”

“It’s all about power and top speed and we know the engine will be strong. We also have a new low downforce rear wing that we will use for Monza only.”

Sauber

Giedo van der Garde will make another practice appearance – his seventh of the year – as rumours continue to link him with a return to racing for the team next year.

For their current race drivers it’s hard to see Sauber finally scoring their first points of the season at a power track like Monza.

Toro Rosso

The second team to call Monza their home grand prix, Toro Rosso have happy memories of Monza having taken their sole victory here thanks to Sebastian Vettel who scored their single victory in 2008.

A strong performance from Daniil Kvyat in Spa earned the rookie his fifth points finish of the season.

Williams

Following on from another podium appearance by Valtteri Bottas in Spa, Williams will be expecting another strong showing on the calendar’s lowest-downforce circuit this weekend having identified this track as one of their strongest chances of competing for a win – perhaps even more so than their eye-catching performance in Austria.

“Monza could be a great track for our car,” said Bottas. “We have a track specific aero package that we will take, combine that with the strong power-unit and we could have a very competitive weekend.”

After Felipe Massa’s race in Spa was compromised after collecting debris from Hamilton’s punctured tyre, the Brazilian looks to bounce back around a circuit where he generally performed well during his Ferrari days.

Marussia

Marussia’s priority remains staying ahead of Caterham and, ideally, Sauber. As usual Jules Bianchi is their best hope in that respect, and having settled his ‘contractual issues’ in Spa, Max Chilton will again be in the second seat.

Caterham

Following Andre Lotterer’s short-lived grand prix debut at Spa, Caterham will allow Kamui Kobayashi to retake his race seat for the final European round of the season.

But Kobayashi will not get the privilege of running the entire weekend as Formula Renault 3.5 driver Roberto Merhi will have his first outing in a Formula One car in first practice.

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ALONSO HAILS “BEAUTIFUL BATTLE” BETWEEN LEWIS HAMILTON AND NICO ROSBERG

Fernando Alonso has described the rivalry between the two Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton as a “beautiful battle” which he is enjoying watching.

The Spaniard had earlier in the week suggested that the clash on the second lap of the Belgian Grand Prix would divide the two sides of the Mercedes garage.

“It is not only the drivers, it is the mechanics and engineers,” he said, “and the driver’s mind will change when you are against your team-mate because, even if you don’t want to, your mind will always be looking for something weird which is going in favour of the other driver.”

In Monza today, during the FIA press conference, the Ferrari driver rowed back from those comments, saying he had been misinterpreted, but he added that the two Mercedes drivers were in a “privileged position” in their fight for the world championship.

“They have a clear target, which is winning the world championship, both of them,” he said.

“They are in a privileged position, which is to fight for that goal. From the outside we will try to enjoy this beautiful battle as much as possible. The sport is made of these kind of things. They have a good problem: fight for the world championship.”

Rosberg has this week been strongly apologetic over the incident at Spa and has expressed his regret to not only Hamilton and Mercedes, but also to fans who travelled to the circuit in Belgium – and paid very significant money for the privilege – but were denied the possibility of witnessing a duel between them.

“It was definitely not a nice feeling to hear boos towards me,” he said of the reaction of some fans during the podium ceremony at Spa. ” I understand, because they travel a long way, some of them, to watch a great, exciting race; a big battle between Lewis and I, and they didn’t get that. I understand that and I accept that.”

He said this afternoon that “time and reflection” had made him realise he had something to apologise for.

“I took the week to think about it and had a look at it and discussed with the team on Friday and I just in the end decided that it was me who should take responsibility for it,” he said.

Hamilton said he wanted to move forward but stopped short of saying that he could accept that it was a “racing incident” and warmed to a question about the fairness of a driver being taken out of a race, while his championship rival adds 18 points to his lead over him.

“I think the FIA have a really tough job and particularly over the last couple of years they’ve done an exceptional job, I think, on the majority of the calls,” said Hamilton when asked about the stewards’ decision to make the collision down as a race incident.

“I think their problem is always that the rules… the scenario is always different, so the same rule doesn’t always apply exactly. Sometimes perhaps it’s difficult to say which rule applies to what situation but I think there’s a very good question, to be honest, because how do we move forward from that?

“Does that mean that we can all now say OK, we can race a lot closer and if the guy in front comes off and is out of the race, nothing’s going to happen, so then we will be more relaxed towards it or does that mean if it happens again there will be a penalty?” he continued.

“I think we’re always asking to be able to race. It’s very hard out there to manoeuvre a car at those high speeds without sometimes having contact but there’s a fine line. But I think it’s a really good question, I don’t know the full answer to it really.”

The atmosphere in the small press conference room was relatively intense, with Alonso seated between the two Mercedes drivers who arrived a few moments apart. Alonso said he did not want to “play the ambassador for peace” but added that he and Hamilton had had no problems as team-mates in 2007 and remained respectful of each other to this day and added that he was sure Rosberg and Hamilton would do the same.

Hamilton did not want to overcommit but clearly had some unresolved issues in his mind despite wanting to “move on”. For example, when asked if the pair had a baseline of trust from which to work he said that “trust is a big word” to use when racing against an adversary.

He would only say that the team is extremely professional.

Asked if psychological warfare was an important part of a title battle, Rosberg said only that “of course in sport it plays a part and that “your state of mind is always important in sport”.

However, he seemed less relaxed than of late and clearly this episode has had an effect on him. Hamilton, who has failed to put a perfect race weekend together since Spain, seems, however, to have gained something from the furore.

Whether he can capitalise on this and Rosberg’s inevitable caution in close quarters racing for the near future is the ten million dollar question. As the Briton said, there are still many points on the table, but he needs to start winning again and to rediscover his composure across a race weekend. Perhaps he can use the aftermath of Spa as a catalyst to do this.

[PaulP]

Times
01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.109
02 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.383 +0.274
03 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:24.697 +0.588
04 Felipe Massa Williams 1:24.865 +0.756
05 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:25.314 +1.205
06 Jenson Button McLaren 1:25.379 +1.270
07 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.430 +1.321
08 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:25.436 +1.327
09 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:25.709 +1.600
10 Sergio Perez Force India 1:25.944 +1.835
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:26.070
12 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:26.110
13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:26.157
14 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:26.279
15 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:26.588
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:26.692
17 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:27.520
18 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:27.632
19 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:27.671
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:27.738
21 Max Chilton Marussia 1:28.247
22 Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:28.562

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HAMILTON DOES HIS OWN THING TO WIN AT MONZA

Lewis Hamilton turned a bad start from pole position into victory at the Italian Grand Prix, after defying a suggestion from the Mercedes pit wall to slow down to conserve tyres and instead pressuring his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg into a mistake and succumbing the lead, and ultimately the win, to the Briton.

A botched start and some early ERS issues relegated Hamilton to fourth, but soon things stabilised on board his Mercedes W05 and he proceeded to make up for lost time. By lap ten he was second after making two slick moves to get by McLaren‘s Kevin Magnussen and the Williams of Felipe Massa.

He then set his sights on Rosberg who made an uncharacteristic mistake early on, over-shooting Turn 1 and losing time but retaining the lead, with Hamilton edging closer to the German with every lap.

When Rosberg pitted for fresh rubber on lap 25 Hamilton was just over a second behind. He made his pit stop a lap later and emerged around 1.5 seconds behind Rosberg in the lead.

At this point the suggestion from his team over the radio was that Hamilton fall back to around 2.3 seconds behind Rosberg, conserve tyres and attack at the end. But the 2012 Italian Grand Prix winner sniffed victory, and patience is not one of his virtues – he had different ideas – in fact quite the opposite ensued as he started a concerted attack on his teammate.

On lap 29 with Hamilton in the DRS zone, Rosberg missed his braking point into Turn 1 again – the pressure undoubtedly contributing to his mistake – and had to weave through the obstacles, losing chunks of time and the lead in the process.

It was ‘hammer time’ for Hamilton as he reeled off a succession of strong laps and thereafter controlled the race to score his sixth win of the season, and close the points gap at the top of the championship table by seven points to 22.

Once again the post race vibe between Hamilton and Rosberg was clearly frosty, the pair hardly acknowledging one another and again (as in Spa) Rosberg was booed on the podium as he received his trophy and spoke of his race with MC Jean Alesi.

Despite the tension, Hamilton was visibly pleased, “Today was another hard day, but I loved very minute of it. When you have those issues, you think: I’m never going to be able to catch up… But you can’t let it slip too deep into your thoughts.”

As for the early problem, he explained, “It’s a button we press which engages a launch map, so when you stop, you do your bite point find, select a gear and accelerate a bit. The map helps you control the RPM. You then let the clutch go and do the perfect start – but it wasn’t working. I’m grateful I was able not to lose that many positions at the start.”

As for the decision to go his own way, and defy his engineer’s suggestion to back off, Hamilton said, “I have a great team of people who work with me, who give me advice and guide me. It’s advice – not you have to do this. They give me a bit of information and I take that and decide how to use that.”

“I felt I had the pace at the time so I felt I had to use it. I was certain it might not come again. I knew that was the best time to put pressure on him. I did it a couple of races ago and he doesn’t seem to like it, so I’ll try it a bit more,” grinned the Briton.

“We’ve got a long way to go, but one step at a time. The support I’ve had from the fans and family has been incredible. I’m going to take that energy and try and move forwards. I’m just going to take it as it comes. Today I still had a problem. I’m still looking for that weekend where you don’t have any problems,” mused the 2008 F1 World Champion.

Rosberg was surprisingly cool and calm despite the circumstances of his race, “It’s a terrible feeling to lose the lead like that but in the end Lewis was really quick in the whole race. He came like a rocket and I had to push and I made the mistake. It was really tough, it is still tough now and maybe with the pace he had he would have won anyway, he drove really well and deserved it.

“It’s not a disaster though it’s only seven points. After the complications first and second can’t get better for the team and that is a big positive for the team and all the support too, which has been great. There’s still a long way to go; consistency is going to be one of the most important things. I will still go to every race and try to win it and for Singapore I am very optimistic,” added the German.

Behind the Silver Arrows pair Massa drove a solid race to claim his first podium and his best result for Williams, and in a case of poetic justice the Brazilian relished celebrating on the Monza podium, home of Ferrari the team which ousted him from their ranks at the end of last season.

Massa thumped his chest and pointed to the tifosi as he spoke on the podium, “I am very happy for the first podium of the season, I have not always been lucky but hopefully luck is now on my side for the rest of the season. Thanks to all the fans too, you are the best!”

Valtteri Bottas made it a superb day for the former world champion team, after a botched start he recovered and enjoyed some mighty battles on his way to fourth place and a healthy points haul for Williams.

Bottas summed up his afternoon, “I had a lot of wheelspin [at the start] – I dropped the first paddle and immediately lost traction and didn’t get it back until I had fifth gear. Our start was also compromised by Hamilton who had a very bad start.”

Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen were in the wars

“I enjoyed it but I would have preferred to have challenged for the race with the Mercedes. But it’s good that we got good points from both cars today. As a team we are not yet at our peak and I feel that next year will be better than this year,” added the Finn.

While their former driver celebrated on the podium, it was in fact a miserable day for Ferrari in front of the passionate tifosi as both Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen struggled all weekend on ‘home’ tarmac. It got worse in the race as insult turned to injury, for fans of the Reds, when Alonso retired from the race just after mid-distance. Raikkonen was again never able to match his teammate, but still toiled hard to finish ninth.

Spa winner Daniel Ricciardo once again stunned his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel by snatching fifth place from him with the chequered flag almost in sight. The Aussie, in what is becoming his trademark, coming on strong towards the end of the race after starting from ninth at a venue where Renault power was simply well below par.

Fernando Alonso parks his Ferrari

Vettel finished sixth after fending off a platoon of fighting Mercedes powered drivers who slugged it out all race long. Force India’s Sergio Perez – our Man of the Match – enjoying his own afternoon of poetic justice finishing seventh after he slugged it out and beat his former McLaren teammate Jenson Button and, his replacement in the Woking squad, Kevin Magnussen.

Wheel banging and kerb hopping were the order of battle which the Mexican won, with Button eighth and Magnussen (who received a five seconds penalty for his role in a feisty duel with Bottas) salvaging the final point.

At the end of the day Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda summed up the sentiment in the Silver Arrows garage, “After the start problem, which was down to the car, he really made a good recovery. We had plans before the race, what they should and shouldn’t do, and the whole thing was over after the start.”

“We have to ask [Nico] what happened. But Lewis gave him a lot of pressure. Both of them, they were lapping very close. Lewis made it. I’m happy for Lewis and for Nico,” added Lauda.

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ROSBERG: UNFORTUNATELY I GOT IT WRONG TWICE IN THE RACE

Nico Rosberg made a couple of mistakes that probably cost him victory at the Italian grand Prix despite making a rocket start off the line, nevertheless the German finished second to stay ahead in the world championship. He spoke after a tense afternoon at Monza.

Can you tell us what happened in Turn 1?

Nico Rosberg: It was a pity. It didn’t work out today but Lewis drove a great race and he deserves it. So it’s okay.

You got a perfect getaway, you were leading in the first stint, but obviously the talking point regarding you is the two straight on moments into Turn 1. One I think on lap nine and then obviously the decisive one, which led to Lewis taking the lead. Was it your mistake? What can you tell us about it?

NR: No, it wasn’t my mistake, it was the other guys’ fault… I’m just kidding! It was just Lewis was quick, coming from behind. I needed to up my pace and then as a result just went into the mistake. That was very bad and that lost me the lead in the end. Definitely very disappointing from that point of view. But then at the end of the day, also, first of all it’s a great day for the team, because after the recent difficulties it’s the first one-two for the team in a long time, I believe, if I’m not mistaken. And so that’s back to where we need to be, so that’s awesome. And then for me: of course I’m disappointed now right afterwards but in the end of it, still second place, still a lot of points, so it’s not a complete disaster.

The first one-two since Austria…

NR: Yeah, so that’s great. And the team deserves that, to put all the recent things behind us now and move forward.

Can you tell us more about the difficulty of braking at the first chicane?

NR: Monza, yeah, it’s one of the most difficult tracks for braking because of low downforce and the highest speed of the year. That isn’t any excuse or anything, that’s just the way it is. It is one of the challenges, y’know, of this weekend here. Unfortunately I got it wrong. Two times in the race.

You don’t look particularly downbeat despite coming second to Lewis. It’s almost as if you have expected that second place to him. Is it fair to say that you have not completely regained your balance from Spa? Or do you think it has nothing to do with it?

NR: Spa is behind me. I put it behind me before the weekend. No. In today’s race, just came to the mistake because Lewis was fast from behind. That’s it. There’s nothing unusual or anything. And me not being downbeat, I am very, very disappointed inside. But there’s no point now to go hanging mouth down and things like that. It’s still a one-two for the team and that’s a great day. And it’s not a disaster, that is a fact. I need to quickly look at the reality: second place, it’s OK. There’s a lot worse than that. I lost seven points to Lewis, so, you know, that’s the frame of mind that I’m trying to take.

Unfortunately for you there were some more boos on the podium. Was that disappointing again to hear? And how do you try to move on from that?

NR: It’s obviously not nice but what can I say? I hope that with time they forgive and forget. That would be great. I have apologised, I can’t really do anything more than that. Yep, that’s it.

If after the second mistake, if you were a little bit affected in the instruction that you received from the team because you lost in two laps two seconds from him, from 4.6 to 2.6 seconds in two laps.

NR: I don’t remember what happened. I think it was… traffic? Lapping somebody or something like that. That was the biggest problem but I’m not quite sure. But either way, Lewis in that phase was quick, so it didn’t really change that much but yes, maybe that shortened the process a little bit. But nothing in particular.

There are six races to go and you lead by 22 points. When do you think that it’s time to start to consider only the championship instead of winning races?

NR: I don’t know. For me the approach that works best at the moment is just trying to win the race that I’m at, that’s the way I feel most comfortable at the moment. We will see. Maybe I will tell you when I change my thinking.

The team told us at the end of the race that you were managing brake temperatures. Was that the problem at the first corner as well? Were the brakes the problem throughout the race?

NR: No, the brakes were no problem at all, up towards the end when you first heard it on the radio, that’s when it started to become… and it wasn’t a massive problem, just something that you have to manage a little bit. That’s always going to happen, because opening up the front brake ducts you lose quite a lot of aerodynamic performance. You always try to bring that to a certain limit and that may then put you slightly over in the race so it’s not the first time and last time that something like that is going to happen and I think it was just pretty much optimised for here.

Was it in any way marginal for a one-stop for you,?

NR: Not really, no. Of course there was quite a lot of degradation on the soft one but no, it was fine. And I agree, it would be better to have two stops for more exciting racing, but then again, for the fans and you watching on TV for sure the one-stop is much easier to understand because it’s very straightforward and simple, whereas as soon as you get into two-stop, it becomes different tyre strategies and this and that and it becomes near impossible to understand often in front of the TV, but also has some advantages.

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MASSA: THERE’S A LOT MORE TO COME

Felipe Massa has been dogged by bad luck this year, while having a very handy car at his disposal, but at Monza all the gods aligned to help him score his first podium as a Williams driver at a venue which is the home race of Ferrari who ousted him from the team at the end of last year – no wonder the Brazilian had the biggest smile after finishing third in the Italian Grand Prix.

You have made you first podium [this season] but it’s a place you know very well, Monza…

Felipe Massa: I’m quite happy for the first podium of the season. I was not very lucky in some of the races, but the luck is on our side I’m sure now, from now to the last race we’re going to be there fighting, so I’m so happy to be on the podium here and there’s a lot more to come. So thank you very much and you are the best. Beautiful, you are the best.

Your first podium for Williams and more importantly it takes you ahead of Ferrari now, with Williams third in the constructors’ championship…

FM: Yeah, definitely. It’s a great day for us. It was a great race, a great start. Also the pace, I think, was very good. So, not enough to fight with Mercedes but I think we had a very good pace, a very good car. The team did a perfect job. I’m really, really happy to be on the podium today. We missed a little bit during the season to be on the podium but so it’s special to be on the podium here in front of these amazing people. Also, a very positive result for us that we passed Ferrari here as well, which is very important for us, very good for us, so I think it’s amazing to see how Williams were last year and we are fighting with big teams. Definitely it’s really good for the whole team and we will keep fighting until the last race and I hope really we can get this third place in the constructors’ championship. It would be fantastic for the whole team. I’m so happy to be on the podium here in this amazing place that I really love.

In 2007 you were second driver in Ferrari with Kimi champion. Last year you were second driver in Ferrari with Fernando, double champion. Today you are on the podium Monza, Italia, without Ferrari, without Kimi, without Alonso. Is it your message to Ferrari, first question? And second question: what do you feel about the podium here without Ferrari?

FM: First of all I think is not a message to anyone, I think it’s just… you saying that I was second driver, I was trying everything to be the first driver all the time in my career. So, whatever team I was, had difficult times but it is part of our lives. Sometimes you have times that are a little bit more difficult than you expected but you need to fight against it, you need to go forwards. I always fight. It’s not a message. We are fighting with Ferrari as well, that’s not a message. We need to do everything we can to be in front of them. I’m not driving to Ferrari any more. I have an incredible heart for Ferrari, they are really inside my heart and they will always be because I had an incredible time there, a great time there. But now I am in another team and we need to fight with everybody, not just Ferrari but Red Bull, Mercedes, everybody. We need to try to be in front of everybody and, you know, today we did a fantastic job so we were in the podium. I think it’s a message that we’re competitive. It’s a message that we are there, that we are fighting. It’s not something that I need to… I have nothing against anybody. I just want to be in front of these people. I had an incredible time with them for many years. It’s not that I’m not in red anymore that I don’t have the same pleasure and happiness to be there in front of these incredible people.

You had a reasonably long first stints on the mediums. How marginal were the tyres to do a one-stop? Did any of you have any problems? Lewis mentioned that it was hard to follow Nico on used tyres at the end of the first stint.

FM: Well, I think a one stop was the strategy for everybody before the race. I think the tyres worked pretty well, maybe a little bit more degradation on the medium which I was suffering a little bit more at the end of the stint on the medium but no problem at all with the hard tyres. I think it was really pretty much okay to one-stop, at least for us.

Do you think that on a completely different track such as Singapore it’s possible to beat both Mercedes?

FM: Mercedes? Very difficult. In Singapore, especially, I think it will be very, very difficult, but Singapore is a race at which many things happen so we need to believe that we can do a good job there as well so I would say maybe from now to the last race, Singapore is maybe the track that is going to be more negative than the others for us. But at Singapore, you never know, many things happen there so I hope we can do a good job there as well. If we can beat Mercedes it will be a surprise but we will try everything we can.

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ITALIAN GRAND PRIX: FULL RACE REPORT

Lewis Hamilton recovered from a start-line glitch to take his sixth win of the season at the Italian Grand Prix, with title rival and Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg forced to settle for second place after an error from the German midway through the race handed the lead to the Briton.

Felipe Massa claimed his first podium finish since the Spanish Grand Prix of 2013 with third and fourth place for Valtteri Bottas means that Williams move past Ferrari to claim third in the Constructors’ Championship on a day when Fernando Alonso recorded his first non-finish of the season and Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth.

At the start, Hamilton made a poor getaway, seeming to have no power when the lights went out. He was passed immediately by Rosberg, McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, who made a superb start from fifth, and Williams’ Felipe Massa.

Hamilton quickly reported that he had a technical problem and his team immediately informed him that the race start mode of his car “was all in a muddle” and that they would try to rectify the software glitch. Behind the front four came Sebastian Vettel, Jenson Button and Sergio Perez who had passed Fernando Alonso.

Nico Rosberg leads from the start

Valtteri Bottas was the man who lost out most, however. The Finn made a terrible getaway and promptly dropped like a stone to 11th position. Daniel Ricciardo too had a problem, running wide at the first chicane. He dropped from ninth on the grid to 12th after lap one.

After five laps Massa was past Magnussen and the Brazilian was quickly followed by Hamilton, who had been told that he now had full ERS at his disposal.

At the front, Rosberg was now three seconds clear but the gap was beginning to diminish. It dropped rapidly on lap nine when Rosberg made an unforced error, out-braking himself into the first chicane. He was forced to take the escape road and slalom his way through the polystyrene boards.

A lap later Hamilton passed Massa around the outside of the first chicane, slipping past the Williams on the inside as the pair exited the section to take second.

That left the gap between Rosberg and his team-mate at just over two seconds. Behind them the order, on lap 12, was Massa followed by Magnussen, Vettel, Button, Alonso, Perez, Bottas in P9 and Kimi Raikkonen in 10th.

Jenson Button versus Sergio Perez was one of the highlights of the race

At this point, Bottas was the man on the move. On lap 14 the Finn made his way past Perez and then he breezed past Alonso on the pit straight on lap 16 to claim P7.

Further ahead, Magnussen was the cork in the bottle. Eleven seconds down on third-placed Massa, the Dane was holding up Vettel and Button. That bottlenecking allowed Bottas to close and he soon passed Button on the pit straight with ease.

Vettel made a first, very early stop on lap 19, taking on hard tyres and emerging in P15. Perez was the next in, the Mexican too taking on hard tyres, followed by Raikkonen on lap 21. The Finn rejoined in P13.

At the front Bottas passed Magnussen for fourth place and that was the cue for Magnussen to pit for hard tyres, in tandem with Alonso.

Leader Rosberg visited pit lane on lap 24, with Hamilton just over a second in arrears. The Briton was told it was ‘”hammer time”, but could he mnake uop the deficit? The answer was negative. Hamilton emerged just over a second and a half adrift of the German.

Hamilton was told by his pit wall that he would need to save tyres for an attack at the end of the race. The Briton, though, was not in the mood to wait and promptly set purple lap times to close in on his team-mate.

End of the road for Nico Rosberg

The pressure told immediately. On lap 29 Rosberg once again went too deep into the first chicane and was forced to take the escape road for the second time, handing the lead to Hamilton. The Mercedes messaging suddenly went into reverse – with Rosberg now being told to save tyres and fuel for a late-race assault on the lead.

Behind, Alonso’s race came to an end on the same lap, the Ferrari driver losing power on the pit straight. He pulled off track and stopped at the first chicane to record his first retirement of the season.

The order, then, on lap 33, was Hamilton, 2.9 seconds ahead of Rosberg, with Massa 13.7s further back. Vettel was now fourth, having used the undercut of his very early stop and the clear air that afforded, to get ahead of Magnussen. Bottas was sixth ahead of Perez, Button, Raikkonen and Ricciardo.

Bottas was pressuring Magnussen hard, however, and on lap 31 the pair went wheel-to-wheel into the first corner, with Magnussen on the inside. Bottas was forced to pull out of his attempted passing move and crossed the chicane.

The Finn eventually got past the Dane on lap 37 on the pit straight to claim P5. Magnussen’s afternoon got worse, as he was then hit with a five-second stop and go penalty for the earlier incident with the Williams driver.

Valtteri Bottas was in the thick of things all afternoon

Further up the road, Bottas made a move past Vettel to claim fourth place and just behind, Ricciardo on fresher tyres than those ahead, went past Button to claim eighth place.

The Australian was soon pressuring Perez and after setting up a move through the Curva Grande made it past the Force India into the second chicane on lap 41. That put Magnussen in the Red Bull driver’s sights and the Australian again used the first chicane to make a move, passing the Dane under braking.

Ricciardo’s race engineer Simon Rennie was soon on the radio telling his driver that he was running at eight tenths a lap quicker than early-stopping team-mate Sebastian Vettel and was told “to get him”.

Ricciardo, armed with tyres seven laps younger than his team-mate, closed quickly. He made a first attempt into the first chicane but Vettel braked late and refused to give way. The champion got a poorer exit from the corner and Ricciardo used the better grip to pull alongside on the run to the second chicane. He ducked down the inside and swept past to claim fifth.

At the front Hamilton had comfortably pulled away from Rosberg, with the gap at a steady 4.2 seconds. Rosberg seemed to have no answer to the Britain’s pace and was eventually forced to settle for second place.

Now the bottleneck was Vettel, with the German trying to nurse his worn hard tyres to the flag. Magnussen was just behind, appearing content to make it to the flag and take his penalty after the end of the race, as allowed by the regulations when no more pit stops are scheduled.

Perez, behind Magnussen cold sniff a move on the Red Bull driver but he could find now way past the Dane.

So, Hamilton took his sixth win of the season, ahead of Rosberg. Massa, who took his first podium finish Spain in 2013, and Bottas.

Ricciardo was fifth ahead of team-mate Vettel. Perez was classified seventh ahead of Button and Raikkonen, while Magnussen dropped to 10th after his penalty time was added.

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WILLIAMS CONFIRM MASSA AND BOTTAS FOR 2015

Finland’s Valtteri Bottas and Brazilian Felipe Massa will race for Williams again next season in an unchanged line-up, the Formula One team said on Sunday.

“The team is having a much improved 2014 season and the skill of our drivers and their feedback to our engineers has proved crucial in this,” said team founder Frank Williams in a statement.

“This announcement gives us excellent stability for 2015, but of course we are very much focusing our attention on maximising the full potential of the FW36 in the remaining seven races of this season.”

Massa joined Williams from Ferrari at the end of last year while Bottas has been with the team for five years and been one of the standout drivers of a season that has seen Williams back among the leaders after a woeful 2013.

The former champions are fourth overall in the championship ahead of Italian Grand Prix with 150 points after scoring just five last year.

The news also brings to an end speculation that the team’s reserve driver Felipe Nasr would pay to replace Massa in the team next year.

Felipe Massa and Valterri Bottas have been a strong combination this season

Press Release: Williams Martin Racing is pleased to announce that it will be retaining the services of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas as the teams’ Race Drivers for the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship season.

Felipe joined Williams Martin Racing for the start of the 2014 season and secured the team’s first pole position since 2012 at the Austrian Grand Prix. A proven race winner with 11 wins and 36 podiums to his name, Felipe competed in his 200th Grand Prix at Silverstone in July and next year will be his 14th season in Formula One.

Valtteri Bottas joined Williams in 2010 as a Test Driver and graduated to a race seat in 2013. He has secured four podium finishes so far this season and has matured into one of the sport’s most promising young talents, currently sitting fifth in the Drivers’ Championship.

Both drivers have proved crucial in the strong development of the Williams Mercedes FW36 and the team is confident that in Felipe and Valtteri it has one of the strongest driver pairings on the grid. Williams will be announcing its test and development driver roles for 2015 in due course.

Felipe Massa has had bad luck this season – here he collides with Kevin Magnussen in Germany

Speaking about the announcement Felipe Massa said; “I’m really enjoying my time at Williams Martin Racing and I feel settled here. Williams is such an iconic name in motor racing and I have a lot of pride when racing for this team. This season we have started to show our true potential and I’m driving a car that is looking strong and has improved a lot as the season has progressed which is very encouraging for the future. It’s important that we continue to push in the second half of the season and that we start 2015 with some really good momentum that we can build on.”

Valtteri Bottas added; “I’ve been a member of the Williams team for five years now and we have developed together throughout that time which is a great feeling. The team has also made some very impressive gains this season and I’m confident that I’m at a team that is moving in the right direction and can continue to be competitive. Sir Frank and Claire have put a lot of faith in me and I’m very grateful that they continue to do so. Felipe and I have a good working relationship and this early announcement will help us both input into the ongoing development of the FW36 and the FW37.”

Valtteri Bottas has been a revelation this season

Commenting on the team’s 2015 driver pairing Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal, said: “I’m delighted to confirm that Felipe and Valtteri will be racing for Williams once again in 2015. Felipe is a pleasure to work with and combines raw pace with a wealth of experience. We have known for many years that Valtteri is a very special talent and in the FW36 we have given him a car that is allowing him to demonstrate his skills.”

“The team is having a much improved 2014 season and the skill of our drivers and their feedback to our engineers has proved crucial in this. This announcement gives us excellent stability for 2015, but of course we are very much focusing our attention on maximising the full potential of the FW36 in the remaining seven races of this season.”

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MONTEZEMOLO: I AM WITH FERRARI ANOTHER THREE YEARS

Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo addressed rumours about his future on Saturday by emphasising his continuing commitment to the Italian luxury sportscar maker and indicating he had no immediate plans to step down.

Speaking to reporters on a brief visit to the Italian Formula One Grand Prix, Montezemelo recognised there was speculation about his possible exit from Maranello.

“I’ve heard a lot of rumours regarding myself. This is often happening in the summer in Italy, maybe this time is a little bit too much,” he said.

“I am working, I am here not to have a vacation, I am here because we are working very hard,” added the 67-year-old, who has been involved with Ferrari since the 1970s.

Montezemolo reminded the media that he had been re-appointed as chairman in March and had told shareholders and employees then that he was ready to serve three more years.

“We are preparing a big event for Ferrari in Los Angeles in October, for the Paris motor show with our cars, and I gave my commitment to shareholders and to the people of Ferrari in March to stay another three years. If there is any news, I will be the first to tell you,” Montezemolo insisted.

“The women and men in Ferrari to me are the most important part of my life and I took a commitment with them,” he added. “We are preparing an historic record at the end of this year in terms of financial and economic results. Ferrari is facing a fantastic moment.”

“So that’s it. If and when there will be some news about me, I will be the first – I emphasise the first – to let you know,” he declared.

Enzo Ferrari with- Niki Lauda and Luca di Montezemolo

Montezemolo had been talked of as the possible next chairman of Italian airline Alitalia when a tie-up with Abu Dhabi-based carrier Etihad is completed. However, Alitalia announced it had designated Silvano Cassano as CEO of the new company when it is formed.

Ferrari have had a troubled Formula One season, with their car outclassed by the dominant Mercedes. The sport’s most successful and glamorous team, and the only one to have raced in every season since 1950, replaced principal Stefano Domenicali with Marco Mattiacci in April.

Previously Ferrari’s North America chief executive, Mattiacci is seen by some in the paddock as being closer to the bosses of Ferrari owners Fiat than to Montezemolo, who acknowledged on Saturday his affection for Domenicali.

Montezemolo, an outspoken critic of Formula One’s new rules and quieter V6 turbo hybrid engines, also returned to that subject.

Luca di Montezemolo built the Ferrari team of the golden era of Jean Todt and Michael Schumacher

“We have to put the spectators – the people that watch the television and the tifosi in the circuits – at the centre of our attention,” he said.

“We have to do rules that are less difficult, less complicated. We have to work with the stakeholders of Formula One, sponsors, television, media, promoters to try to do something to improve the promotion, the marketing, the attention of young people.”

He called also for the lifting of a freeze on engine development and a return to more in-season testing, something he has long advocated.

In November 1991, FIAT Chairman Gianni Agnelli appointed Montezemolo president of Ferrari, which had been struggling since Enzo Ferrari’s death. Montezemolo made it his personal goal to win the Formula One World Constructors’ Championship.

He was instrumental in luring the key players of the Michael Schumacher era to Maranello, which resulted in the team’s most successful spell in Formula 1.

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RED BULL: FIFTH AND SIXTH WAS THE ABSOLUTE OPTIMUM

Red Bull report from the Italian Grand Prix, Round 13 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Monza.

Daniel Ricciardo : “The strategy helped today, it kept the tyres fresh enough to go those extra few laps at the end. I saw the cars in front of me pit and the pace was still good enough, so seeing that we didn’t have great pace when we were out of position then we thought we would try something different and that’s why we went long, which helped towards the end of the race. I was more comfortable with the prime tyre and was able to do some good moves, which kept me smiling. The start wasn’t ideal, it’s one of the longest runs up to Turn One here from the start line and it’s not a place where you want to have a bad one, but I dropped the clutch and didn’t get the traction, so we will have to look at that, but we kept a cool head and picked our way back through the field. I think fifth, even with a good start, was the best we could do.”

Sebastianl Vettel: “I think that was the most we could do today. On the primes we weren’t able to look after the tyres as well as we wanted to. The target is to get back to the front, at the moment the gap is quite big but we will have to work hard to close it again. We have had some difficulties this year, but they can only make us stronger if we learn from them. In terms of strategy we wanted to get the McLarens so we went aggressive with the early stop, but the tyres started going off at the end and all in all that was what we could do today.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal: “I think fifth and sixth was the absolute optimum today. We picked two different strategies, an aggressive one with Sebastian to undercut the McLaren, which worked and gave him track position but unfortunately made his tyres marginal at the end of the race. With Daniel we took the opposite approach as he was running in clear air. We ran him long in the first stint with a shorter second stint and then his passing moves to come back through the field were truly impressive and obviously with Sebastian struggling with tyre degradation due to the length of the stint, it became inevitable that the two were going to swap positions. But fifth and sixth place, at a circuit dominated by Mercedes-powered cars, is damage limitation achieved.”

Thierry Salvi, Renault: “As expected it was a hard race and we played with the strategy to nurse the tyres and stay as close as possible to the front. Sebastian pitted early to protect position, which left him with very worn tyres at the end, but he nevertheless managed to keep as much pace as possible. Daniel went longer on the first stint and was then able to keep his tyres in good shape until the end of the race. We’ve still got a lot of work to do but overall it’s a reasonable result for the team compared to the qualifying pace yesterday.”

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SAUBER: IT WAS A DIFFICULT WEEKEND

The Italian Grand Prix on the highspeed track in Monza became, as expected, a difficult race for the Sauber F1 Team. Adrian Sutil finished the 13th round of the FIA Formula One World Championship in 15th.

After having made contact with another competitor, Esteban Gutiérrez had to come in for an unexpected pit stop due to a flat tyre. Due to a penalty that was imposed by the stewards after the race, he was relegated from 19th to 20th.

Esteban Gutiérrez: “It was a really tough race. From the beginning on I struggled to get the hard tyres to work. We changed the strategy immediately, and I think that was a good decision. Back on track I was able to overtake a few cars, but that was it. We lost a lot of time with the incident I had towards the end of the race. Now, I need to look forward and concentrate on the next races.”

Adrian Sutil: “It was not a spectacular race for me. We were easily able to finish the race with a one stop strategy. Generally we were too slow today, that is why I could not finish better than 15th. The team worked well and we did not make any mistakes. We still have to continue working on the car in order to improve our performance. It was not an easy race, but we finished it without any incidents.”

Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: “It was a difficult weekend that ended as we expected it would. Under the circumstances the team worked well, even though we have some room for improvement with the consistency of the pit stops. Adrian extracted from the car what was possible today. The contact which Esteban had with a competitor was unnecessary. The tracks which are now coming up are less dependent on power, therefore, we hope we can come back to the level of performance we had in Hungary.”

Giampaolo Dall’Ara, Head of Track Engineering: “From the beginning it was clear that under normal circumstances it would be extremely difficult to make up positions. We, therefore, decided to choose a tyre strategy which was meant to give us an advantage if some unexpected things happened. However, in the end this didn’t pay off. Esteban struggled to get the hard tyres to work, therefore, we switched to a two-stop strategy. But in the race we were simply not fast enough. It looks as if we are stronger in qualifying, but then are losing ground to our competitors with our race”

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FORCE INDIA: WE HAVE ALL TO PLAY FOR

Sahara Force India scored six points in Monza as Sergio Perez battled hard to finish in seventh place at the Italian Grand Prix. Nico Hulkenberg finished the race in P12.

Sergio Perez: “The race was a lot of fun. We were always fighting somebody and always pushing hard. It was great racing and it’s good to score important points for the championship. The most important part of the race was the fight I had with Jenson, which was really nice and reminded me of the old days. I know he is a driver that you can fight really hard and it’s always clean. At the end of the race with Kevin, I knew he had a penalty and there was no need to attack him. It meant I could focus on keeping Jenson behind me, which was not easy.”

Nico Hulkenberg “It wasn’t a very busy race for me. I was racing alone most of the time and just doing my own race: not being towed around or benefiting from DRS made it a bit harder. I had a very good start, especially considering I was on the hard tyre, but I lost contact with the cars ahead of me quite soon because they were on the medium and I didn’t really have the same pace. It was quite difficult to manage the car, especially the rear end: I had some oversteering and it was tricky to drive. I pitted quite early as I wasn’t going anywhere on my hard tyres and we saw a good opportunity to jump people, but we still found it difficult to deal with the balance. We need to look ahead now to Singapore and work to bring more performance to the car. Singapore is a track we all enjoy: everything – the track, the atmosphere, the setup – is special.”

Vijay Mallya, Team Principal & Managing Director: “Six points keeps us where we need to be in our close championship battle with just a single point separating us from fifth place. Sergio was mighty today, showing once again how well he can race with some brilliant overtaking and defending. Nico made a great start, but he has not been completely comfortable with the car balance all weekend and especially in the race today. Despite his very strong start, points were out of reach. With six races remaining this season, I still believe we have all to play for and that we must keep pushing hard.”

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MCLAREN: WE’RE MAKING SURE AND STEADY PROGRESS

Eventual finishing positions of eighth (Jenson Button) and 10th (Kevin Magnussen) weren’t quite what the team was expecting following yesterday’s promising qualifying session, which saw us lock out the third row of the grid.

The start was electrifying: Kevin deftly jumped from fifth to second into the first corner, but was unable to match the pace of the faster cars behind him once they had started to make up ground.

Indeed, scrapping valiantly for position against faster opposition became the story of our race as both drivers pushed hard, enjoying close fights with Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa, Checo Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel.

Kevin’s race came undone when he was given a five-second stop-go penalty – he finished seventh on the road, which dropped to 10th once the time penalty had been added.

Into the closing laps, braking and traction issues limited Jenson’s ability to fight hard against Checo – despite some sterling wheel-to-wheel action – and he finished ninth, later elevated to eighth following Kevin’s penalty.

Jenson Button, MP4-29-01: “This wasn’t the result I was after – but the was good fun nonetheless. It’s just a pity that we didn’t quite have the race pace we’d hoped for: when you start fifth and sixth, you’re not just looking for a points finish, you want a bit more than that. If we’d had a clear run, I think we could have done a bit better – but, in the traffic, it was easier for the cars around us to pick us off than it was for us to pick them off. I had an amazing battle with Checo – we took the first Lesmo side by side, which doesn’t happen very often. It’s a pity I couldn’t get past him – I tried so many times – but he was so strong under braking that to match him into the turns I was locking up the fronts and the rears, which left me struggling for position on the exits. But I was really on the limit. It was superb wheel-to-wheel action – I hope it was great entertainment for the spectators and fantastic TV for the fans at home.”

Kevin Magnussen, MP4-29-04: “I made a great start – I got up to second into the first corner – but I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep that position, and inevitably I fell back. Obviously, it was nice to be up at the front for a while, and disappointing that we couldn’t stay up there, but as I say I knew it wouldn’t last for ever. It’s unfortunate to come away from the weekend having only scored a single point. Okay, we’re not battling for the world championship, but we’re still fighting for crucial positions in the constructors’ championship, and the points we lost today would have been very useful from that point of view. It’s frustrating to get another penalty, of course it is, but we’ll analyse them and see what we can learn. Let’s see if we can do something different next time.”

Eric Boullier racing director, McLaren Mercedes: “Kevin made a truly tremendous start from fifth place on the grid, which gave him momentum enough to slip neatly past Felipe into second place into Turn One. Thereafter he drove hard and well, making no errors, but was unable to prevent a number of faster cars from passing him over the next 53 laps. In the closing stages he and Valtteri were involved in a spirited and entertaining dice – the kind of wheel-to-wheel racing that Formula 1 fans thrill to see – and in our view he was unfortunate to be penalised for what we saw as a legitimate defence. But the stewards’ decision is final, and as a result of it Kevin ended up being classified 10th. Jenson drove a typically controlled yet combative race, finishing ninth on the road, which became eighth as a result of Kevin’s penalty. As a team we scored only five world championship points today, which was quite a lot fewer than we’d expected to score, but there are positives to take from the weekend too: our qualifying pace was strong and our race pace was solid, and as I said yesterday it’s clear that we’re making sure and steady progress. The next race, the Singapore Grand Prix, will be run on a tight and tortuous circuit whose layout could hardly be more different from the flat-out speed-bowl that is Monza, but, on fast circuit or slow, you may be well sure that we’ll be doing our damnedest to score as many points as possible in an effort to consolidate our fifth place in the constructors’ championship.”

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CATERHAM: IT WAS A GOOD RACE FOR US

Caterham report from the Italian Grand Prix, Round 13 of the 2014 Formula 1 World Championship, at Monza.

Kamui Kobayashi: “I’m happy with my race. We finished in front of Marussia, which is a good result for us. The new updates that were introduced in Spa are working well and we are definitely improving. Monza is quite a unique track, so let’s see how we get on at other circuits, but I am happy with our result – the team has worked very hard and done a great job, it’s been a very smooth weekend.”

Marcus Ericsson: “Starting from the pit-lane because of yesterday’s penalty wasn’t ideal, but in the end I think it was a decent race. I didn’t do any mistakes and I was very consistent on the lap times. Unfortunately the pace isn’t there to finish higher up, but I feel that I did everything I could today. Now we just need to carry on working as hard as always and prepare for the flyaway races.”

Cedrik Staudohar, Renault Sport F1 track support leader: “Today was a good race for us, with both cars getting to the end and a big fight between Kamui and Bianchi. In the end we were clearly ahead, which shows the progress we’ve made over the last couple of events. On the engine side we had to manage temperatures at the beginning of the race but everything stayed manageable and under control. We hope to be able to bring improved engine performance to capitalize on this race with an even better result in Singapore.”

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ALBERS ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE FROM CATERHAM

Christijan Albers has left his position as Caterham team principal with immediate effect, less than two months after taking over the day-to-day running of the team.

Albers was appointed as part of a management takeover in early July, following the sale of the team by former boss Tony Fernandes to a consortium of Swiss and Middle Eastern investors.

“Over the past months I have dedicated all my energy to ensure the takeover of the team would go as smoothly as possible and to achieve the best possible result for our investors, sponsors and all the people involved with Caterham F1 Team,” said Albers following Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

“As such I worked tirelessly to reconstruct the team while, at the same time, making technical updates on the car. In doing this we created both a better foundation for the team’s future and achieved significant improvements on the speed of the car.

“Due to private reasons and in order to be able to spend more time with my family, I will resign from my position as CEO of Caterham F1 Team. I wish the team all the best in the future.”

Caterham have endured a tough 2014 season, with Marcus Ericsson’s 11th place in Monaco their best result to date. They have yet to score a world championship point and lie 11th in the constructors’ standings.

“Christijan has been an asset to the team since the moment he joined,” added Ravetto. “It’s been a challenging last few months, but we have moved forward together and we want to thank him for his hard work and commitment to the team. We wish him the best for the future.”

Deputy Manfredi Ravetto will assume Albers’ duties with immediate effect.