Vettel Wins Eighth Title In Monza
Vettel picks emotional win in Monza
Sebastian Vettel has won his eighth title of the season when the German came first in Monza on Sunday. The current world leader set a one hour 20 minute and 46,172 second time, cementing his leading position with 25 more points.
Defending champion Fernando Alonso, who started on fourth position, came third, more than 16 seconds behind the winner, while Jenson Button, who fought Michael Schumacher for the second position most of the time, was 9,590 seconds slower than Vettel.
The former world champion Alonso, who had declared he would aim a podium position, moved second in the world standings, dethroning Mark Webber who abandoned the race after only four laps. Lewis Hamilton came fourth with a 17,417 second gap, being followed by another former world champion Schumacher and Felipe Massa from Ferrari who set a 32,677 and 42,993 second gap against Vettel.
Six drivers came one lap behind, including Jaime Alguersuari, Paulo Di Resta, Bruno Senna and Williams’ drivers Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello. Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli as well as Virgin’s Timo Glock set a two lap gap. Nine drivers abandoned the race earlier than expected.
Hispania’s Vitantino Liuzzi, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov from Renault pulled over right after the start, while d’Amrosio from Virgin retired after one lap. Also, Sauber’s drivers Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi abandoned after 32 and 21 laps respectively due to car accidents. Finally, Adrian Sutil retired after nine laps.
It was an emotional win for Vettel who won his first career title in Monza a few years ago. He has gone 112 points ahead of his main follower Fernando Alonso who was chasing his second straight title in Italy. The Spaniard has only won one title so far this term in Great Briton but the three second places as well as the three third places propelled him second in the rankings.
Mark Webber, who has now won a title this season, fell fourth having the same number of points as third placed Jenson Button who has won two titles this year in Canada and Hungary. Lewis Hamilton is fifth with 158 points, being followed by Brazilian Felipe Masa with 82 and Nico Rosberg with 56.
Michael Schumacher, whose tactics were accused by McLaren, is eighth in the table with 52 points. The German should have been penalized, according to McLaren who blamed the veteran for both not allowing Hamilton to take his face and using too many defensive manoeuvres.
Said team boss Ross Brawn: “Pretty harsh. I’m not the least impartial but the fact is I think he was warned twice by stewards during the event so they presumably saw it as a bit tough. I think the one (move) where he had Lewis on the grass was scary as hell.”
Concerning the team table, Red Bull lead it with 451 points. The Austrians are very close to finishing the season first for the second time in a row. McLaren, who have only won four titles this year, are second with 325 points, being followed by Ferrari who have gathered 254 points.
Mercedes, who won ten points in Monza this past weekend, are fourth with 108 points, Renault fifth with 70 and Force India sixth with 36 points, one more than Sauber. Toro Rosso, who won seven points yesterday are eighth, while Williams lie ninth with five points. Three teams, including Virgin, Hispania and Lotus, have not won a point this year.
The next Grand Prix starts on 23 September and will take place in Singapore where Red Bull have been the main favorites recently.
