2014 Italian GP - Monza, September 5-7

[prince]

Maybe this was the punishment Merc served him, let Lewis pass without a fight.

Agreed before the race.

Did you see Toto's face after that it was not one of winning but one of power.

I guess there were better options of punishing, which Mercedes was STUPID not to exercise.

1. No matter what, stay behind Lewis at the start.
2. Once Lewis passed everyone else and was in 1sec difference, AT LEAST then allow Lewis to pass.
3. Give a slow Pit Stop to Nico to ensure Lewis gets ahead.

[roadie]

Thoughts on the penalty for MAG?

Seems deserved to me. He often forces cars off track when they are alongside, but outside him.

[FW17]

3. Give a slow Pit Stop to Nico to ensure Lewis gets ahead.

Merc wants to maintain a clean image as possible, NR makes an obvious mistake

[FoxHound]

If Nico was told at any point to gift a position, would the worms that eminate from that rotten apple not find their way to the press as they invariably do?

[Waywardism]

I sure would love to have a look at Rosberg's mistakes from the on board cam where he ran on in the first chicane.

Looked indeed a bit strange. As if he didn't even try to turn in. Didn't lock the brakes either.

He did lock the brakes slightly, but decided not to try too hard.

It's not the first time we've seen this from Rosberg, reminds me of Canada. I just think he's the type of quick-thinking guy who will bail at the earliest moment so as to lose as little momentum as possible.

I thought the penalty on Magnussen was very harsh. Even worse though is the lack of consistency yet again, if Mag gets a penalty then surely Button does too for the exact same thing with Perez. The stewards showing us once again that they are a complete joke.

It was great to see some of the battles today. I think Perez did exceptionally well on his old tyres against Button, maybe Vettel should get some tips.

Good to see Ricciardo having another good race after his poor start, he has great race craft. He loves his little dummies. I was surprised how he pulled that off against Vettel, I mean he was half way up the right-hand side of him, dabbed the brakes and switched over to the left and still had the momentum to make the move, amazing!

Great comeback drive from Bottas, although it didn't look too hard for him to be honest, that Williams has insane top speed.

Also a great drive from Hamilton, a thoroughly deserved win there and I think it was inevitable with or without Rosberg's mistakes.

Overall a very entertaining race. Bring on Singapore!

[mipade]

Do you guys think Bottas would have been a contenter for the victory if he had a better start??

[Kingshark]

No chance. Mercedes were once again far too strong for anyone in race pace.

[Waywardism]

Yeah he said so himself on the BBC coverage, Mercedes way too strong.

[Just_a_fan]

I wonder if Nico's two off were because he was watching his mirrors expecting a dive up the inside. He knows he couldn't afford any kind of incident with Hamilton today so definitely wouldn't have wanted to turn in on him if he came steaming up the inside in to T1.

I was glad to see how well Hamilton and Massa drove around each other today and how they chatting in the cool down room. A couple of years ago Hamilton's move around the outside in to T1 would have ended in recriminations...as it was, excellent professional driving from both of them. Well done lads!

An excellent recovery drive from Hamilton today led to a well deserved win. Likewise, Bottas did an excellent job too.

[Just_a_fan]

Good to see Ricciardo having another good race after his poor start, he has great race craft. He loves his little dummies. I was surprised how he pulled that off against Vettel, I mean he was half way up the right-hand side of him, dabbed the brakes and switched over to the left and still had the momentum to make the move, amazing!

I find myself asking whether the last 4 years would have been so productive for Vettel had he had a young Aussie next to him rather than a 'old' Aussie...

[Kingshark]

I wonder if Nico's two off were because he was watching his mirrors expecting a dive up the inside. He knows he couldn't afford any kind of incident with Hamilton today so definitely wouldn't have wanted to turn in on him if he came steaming up the inside in to T1.

No one was even close to Nico on his first off.

[henra]

I find myself asking whether the last 4 years would have been so productive for Vettel had he had a young Aussie next to him rather than a 'old' Aussie...

Difficult to say, but I doubt it would have changed too much. Mark Webber wasn't bad. He is unfairly underrated due to some bad luck and hitting on a Vettel in his sweet spot.
Mark must be kicking himself in his posterior, since I'm almost convinced he might as well have been fairing better than Vettel this year. (Cue the first couple of races in 2012 when the EBD wasn't working properly on the RB8 - Mark Webber was quicker than Vettel almost all the time until RB fixed the EBD).
The old cars simply suited Vettels driving style perfectly. He could aggressively accelerate flat out of the turns without cooking the rears. This aggressive style gave high power and thus exhaust pressure (and thus DF) through a big portion of the turn. The torque characteristic and EBD effect prevented the tyres from slipping and thus cooking.
Trying the same with the 2014 cars will inevitably lead to the kind of trouble you see Vettel in regularly these days.
Although Ricciardo would have been surely quick in the EBD cars as well he would have encountered a Vettel perfectly in his 'operating window'. Now he faces a Vettel clearly outside his operating window.
Inside that Window Vettel was insanely quick. That said, his operating window seems to be rather narrow. This is quite the opposite of a Fernando Alonso who might not have the ultimate one lap pace but probably has the widest operating window of all current Drivers. He will make a wheel barrow look fast.
The fact that Vettel has beaten Ricciardo in the last couple of qualifyings indicate that he slowly starts to adapt to the new cars. I seriously doubt though, that he will soon (if ever) regain his old shape in the new era's cars.

[bdr529]

I wonder if Nico's two off were because he was watching his mirrors expecting a dive up the inside. He knows he couldn't afford any kind of incident with Hamilton today so definitely wouldn't have wanted to turn in on him if he came steaming up the inside in to T1.

No one was even close to Nico on his first off.

Don't let the truth get in the way of a good conspiracy

[QLDriver]

Over practically the whole race the lap time differential between Hamilton and Rosberg was <2/10 max. Then Rosberg lost 6s in a few laps (<<10) and then it stabilised again. Might simply have been a temporary technical Problem.
It seems to me Merc still can't go 100% over the whole race (even leaving Fuel limit aside). It's just a question when and which of the two drivers it hits first. They have significant excess pace but can sustain it only for a limited number of laps.

It struck me that Hamilton was just managing the gap at the end - any time that Nico was closing on him, the gap seemed go out by a couple of tenths again to keep it comfortable. Remember, Lewis is short of engines, so anything he could do to preserve engine life was worth it.

[prince]

Does someone have information on the PU usage of each driver?