Red Bull were comfortably quickest in the second practice session at Monza. However team principal Christian Horner isn’t taking anything for granted.
Sebastian Vettel headed the Friday ties by over six-tenths of a second but Horner pointed out the Italian Grand Prix hasn’t been their strongest event in recent years:
“Monza traditionally, bar 2011, has been a difficult hunting ground for us,” he said, “it’s exposed some of our weaknesses in previous years.”
“But we’re going to do the best that we can and for sure we know that Ferrari will be quick here, we know Mercedes will be certainly quick and McLaren aren’t too far away either this weekend.
“So I think it’s set to be a very competitive grand prix. We’ve seen so many times that Friday means very little so hopefully we can be on the podium here, that would be a strong result for us here.”
As we’ve become used to seeing in recent seasons, the RB9s are propping up the table in terms of straight-line speed. That could be a problem for them on Sunday if they are out-qualified by a Mercedes or two. As always, the sheer downforce of the RB9 more than makes up in the corners what it loses at the end of the straights.
Lotus led the charge against Red Bull and their drivers posted identical times in differently-configured cars. Kimi Raikkonen was using a version of the E21 with a longer wheelbase, and commented it “doesn’t feel much different to me”.
The team have indicated the car won’t reappear this weekend. It’s possible that was their intention all along, and the car’s real purpose was an evaluation with next year’s chassis in mind. Or they may have taken note of Romain Grosjean’s faster sector times in the normal car (see below) and concluded the longer version didn’t offer a sufficient step forward.
Felipe Massa warned the Ferrari faithful that it “won’t be an easy weekend” for them at home. “Our main rivals have set great lap times on both compounds and in race trim.”
As is always the case at Monza tyre degradation is low. Pirelli motor sport director Paul Hembery’s prediction that most drivers will prefer a two-stop strategy “with some cars perhaps trying a one-stopper” may prove to be an overestimation. Given how long some drivers were able to make their tyres last I suspect we’ll see most drivers one-stopping, as was the case last year.
One driver who was especially satisfied with his car’s pace over a race stint was Valtteri Bottas. “The positive thing today was the long run as we were competitive compared to Toro Rosso and Sauber,” he said, “and I think we can really challenge them in the race this weekend.”
Here’s all the data from practice for the Italian Grand Prix:
Longest stint comparison
This chart shows all the drivers’ lap times (in seconds) during their longest unbroken stint:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | |
Sebastian Vettel | 89.16 | 88.676 | 88.534 | 88.385 | 88.675 | 89.065 | 88.7 | 88.647 | 88.486 | 88.486 | 88.279 | 88.361 | |||||||||
Mark Webber | 89.495 | 89.117 | 89.194 | 89.141 | 88.974 | 88.944 | 88.906 | 89.645 | 94.501 | 88.552 | 88.763 | 88.722 | 88.773 | 89.422 | 96.04 | 88.847 | 89.977 | 89.607 | |||
Fernando Alonso | 93.68 | 89.654 | 89.477 | 89.356 | 89.918 | 89.703 | 89.182 | 89.029 | 89.021 | 88.916 | 88.833 | 88.718 | 90.306 | 89.336 | 89.522 | 89.445 | 103.542 | 93.343 | 90.162 | 90.13 | 90.2 |
Felipe Massa | 90.47 | 89.831 | 89.597 | 89.818 | 89.757 | 90.169 | 90.231 | 89.718 | |||||||||||||
Jenson Button | 89.892 | 89.819 | 89.661 | 89.573 | 89.582 | 89.425 | 90.553 | 89.764 | 89.709 | 90.037 | 89.47 | 89.322 | |||||||||
Sergio Perez | 89.746 | 89.786 | 94.25 | 89.524 | 89.665 | 89.418 | 89.633 | 89.663 | 90.304 | 89.361 | 89.569 | 89.228 | 89.549 | 89.828 | |||||||
Kimi Raikkonen | 88.61 | 88.792 | 88.69 | 88.884 | 88.709 | 88.898 | 88.568 | 88.729 | 88.825 | 88.362 | |||||||||||
Romain Grosjean | 89.47 | 89.247 | 90.116 | 89.765 | 89.718 | 89.442 | 89.851 | 89.762 | 89.326 | 89.851 | |||||||||||
Nico Rosberg | 89.983 | 93.052 | 89.792 | 89.82 | 89.687 | 94.526 | 89.514 | 89.58 | 89.919 | 89.492 | 89.214 | 89.282 | 89.275 | 89.217 | 89.269 | 89.598 | 89.592 | ||||
Lewis Hamilton | 90.768 | 89.889 | 89.528 | 92.606 | 89.37 | 89.284 | 89.468 | 92.973 | 89.286 | 96.203 | 89.402 | 97.709 | 90.015 | ||||||||
Nico Hulkenberg | 90.404 | 90.284 | 90.381 | 90.317 | 90.332 | 90.323 | 90.058 | 90.082 | 93.359 | 90.068 | 90.306 | 89.814 | 89.789 | 89.719 | 89.634 | 89.834 | |||||
Esteban Gutierrez | 90.593 | 90.783 | 90.239 | 90.08 | 90.012 | 89.947 | 90.079 | 89.891 | 89.933 | 90.251 | 92.741 | 89.847 | 89.758 | 89.674 | 89.546 | 89.468 | 89.356 | 90.139 | |||
Paul di Resta | 91.263 | 90.674 | 90.356 | 90.161 | 90.385 | 90.204 | 89.87 | 89.793 | 89.619 | 89.654 | 89.511 | 89.315 | |||||||||
Adrian Sutil | 89.038 | 89.052 | 89.162 | 89.146 | 89.618 | ||||||||||||||||
Pastor Maldonado | 91.778 | 90.927 | 92.265 | 90.482 | 91.332 | 91.407 | 90.219 | 99.672 | 90.168 | 89.966 | 89.881 | 90.451 | 90.269 | ||||||||
Valtteri Bottas | 90.248 | 90.239 | 89.986 | 90.377 | 90.335 | 90.114 | 90.047 | 89.927 | 90.397 | 89.83 | 89.81 | 89.786 | 89.546 | 89.505 | 89.548 | 89.832 | 90.027 | ||||
Jean-Eric Vergne | 90.594 | 90.269 | 90.046 | 89.955 | 89.947 | 90.126 | 90.545 | 91.016 | 89.926 | 89.878 | 90.069 | 90.006 | |||||||||
Daniel Ricciardo | 90.618 | 90.467 | 90.268 | 90.226 | 90.173 | 90.006 | 90.177 | 92.887 | 89.975 | 90.203 | 89.99 | 90.025 | 89.692 | 89.729 | 89.807 | 89.78 | 90.653 | 89.37 | 89.859 | 91.252 | |
Charles Pic | 91.634 | 93.123 | 91.553 | 92.128 | 91.46 | 91.315 | 92.581 | 92.014 | 91.709 | 92.082 | 91.616 | ||||||||||
Giedo van der Garde | 93.391 | 92.412 | 92.112 | 91.8 | 91.927 | 92.273 | 91.918 | 93.672 | 91.622 | 91.609 | 92.109 | ||||||||||
Jules Bianchi | 91.463 | 91.403 | 91.812 | 91.305 | 92.396 | 92.313 | 91.129 | 91.112 | |||||||||||||
Max Chilton | 91.457 | 91.865 | 91.018 | 90.876 | 91.109 | 91.788 | 91.368 | 91.508 | 91.231 | 90.947 | 91.368 | 91.922 | 91.162 | 92.423 | 92.391 |
Sector times and ultimate lap times
Pos | No. | Driver | Car | S1 | S2 | S3 | Ultimate | Gap | Deficit to best |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 27.634 (1) | 28.629 (1) | 28.171 (1) | 1’24.434 | 0.019 | |
2 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 27.698 (2) | 28.786 (3) | 28.380 (3) | 1’24.864 | 0.430 | 0.252 |
3 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 27.701 (3) | 28.879 (5) | 28.362 (2) | 1’24.942 | 0.508 | 0.134 |
4 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 27.864 (12) | 28.776 (2) | 28.412 (4) | 1’25.052 | 0.618 | 0.064 |
5 | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 27.744 (8) | 28.837 (4) | 28.572 (7) | 1’25.153 | 0.719 | 0.214 |
6 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 27.721 (6) | 28.887 (6) | 28.558 (5) | 1’25.166 | 0.732 | 0.174 |
7 | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 27.797 (9) | 28.890 (7) | 28.643 (9) | 1’25.330 | 0.896 | 0.000 |
8 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 27.724 (7) | 28.986 (9) | 28.673 (10) | 1’25.383 | 0.949 | 0.149 |
9 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 27.874 (13) | 28.925 (8) | 28.642 (8) | 1’25.441 | 1.007 | 0.078 |
10 | 6 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 27.715 (4) | 29.120 (11) | 28.778 (13) | 1’25.613 | 1.179 | 0.014 |
11 | 12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 28.040 (17) | 29.120 (11) | 28.558 (5) | 1’25.718 | 1.284 | 0.170 |
12 | 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 27.855 (11) | 29.108 (10) | 28.809 (14) | 1’25.772 | 1.338 | 0.058 |
13 | 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 27.715 (4) | 29.263 (14) | 28.944 (15) | 1’25.922 | 1.488 | 0.106 |
14 | 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 27.990 (16) | 29.229 (13) | 28.770 (12) | 1’25.989 | 1.555 | 0.149 |
15 | 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 27.941 (14) | 29.416 (17) | 28.703 (11) | 1’26.060 | 1.626 | 0.164 |
16 | 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 27.852 (10) | 29.282 (15) | 29.129 (18) | 1’26.263 | 1.829 | 0.336 |
17 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 27.945 (15) | 29.388 (16) | 29.052 (16) | 1’26.385 | 1.951 | 0.000 |
18 | 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 28.284 (19) | 29.509 (18) | 29.115 (17) | 1’26.908 | 2.474 | 0.290 |
19 | 23 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 28.382 (22) | 29.528 (19) | 29.486 (21) | 1’27.396 | 2.962 | 0.152 |
20 | 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 28.375 (21) | 29.930 (22) | 29.258 (19) | 1’27.563 | 3.129 | 0.208 |
21 | 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 28.246 (18) | 29.847 (21) | 29.480 (20) | 1’27.573 | 3.139 | 0.123 |
22 | 22 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 28.325 (20) | 29.681 (20) | 29.588 (22) | 1’27.594 | 3.160 | 0.463 |
Complete practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | Total laps | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’25.753 | 1’24.453 | 65 | ||
2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’26.103 | 1’25.076 | 66 | ||
3 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1’25.941 | 1’25.116 | 58 | ||
4 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’26.295 | 1’25.116 | 63 | ||
5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’25.600 | 1’25.330 | 63 | ||
6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’25.565 | 1’25.340 | 63 | ||
7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’25.704 | 1’25.367 | 67 | ||
8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’26.449 | 1’25.519 | 45 | ||
9 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’26.035 | 1’25.532 | 65 | ||
10 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 1’26.007 | 1’25.627 | 63 | ||
11 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’26.594 | 1’25.830 | 53 | ||
12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’26.194 | 1’25.888 | 65 | ||
13 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’26.028 | 37 | |||
14 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1’26.149 | 1’26.138 | 57 | ||
15 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’26.155 | 1’26.224 | 57 | ||
16 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’27.224 | 1’26.385 | 59 | ||
17 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’26.387 | 1’26.599 | 64 | ||
18 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1’26.802 | 1’27.198 | 65 | ||
19 | James Calado | Force India-Mercedes | 1’27.041 | 24 | |||
20 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’27.869 | 1’27.548 | 57 | ||
21 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1’27.818 | 1’27.696 | 61 | ||
22 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1’27.771 | 38 | |||
23 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’28.057 | 32 | |||
24 | Heikki Kovalainen | Caterham-Renault | 1’28.192 | 21 | |||
25 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’29.526 | 26 |
Speed trap
# | Driver | Car | Engine | Max speed (kph) | Gap | |
1 | 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 339.1 | |
2 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | Ferrari | 338.4 | 0.7 |
3 | 18 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso | Ferrari | 337.7 | 1.4 |
4 | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | Ferrari | 337.6 | 1.5 |
5 | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | Mercedes | 337.5 | 1.6 |
6 | 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India | Mercedes | 337.3 | 1.8 |
7 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 337.3 | 1.8 |
8 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus | Renault | 337.2 | 1.9 |
9 | 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India | Mercedes | 336.8 | 2.3 |
10 | 22 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia | Cosworth | 336.1 | 3 |
11 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | Renault | 335.7 | 3.4 |
12 | 12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber | Ferrari | 333.3 | 5.8 |
13 | 23 | Max Chilton | Marussia | Cosworth | 333.2 | 5.9 |
14 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber | Ferrari | 333.2 | 5.9 |
15 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren | Mercedes | 331.8 | 7.3 |
16 | 6 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | Mercedes | 331.7 | 7.4 |
17 | 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham | Renault | 330.2 | 8.9 |
18 | 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham | Renault | 330.1 | 9 |
19 | 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | Renault | 329.9 | 9.2 |
20 | 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams | Renault | 329.8 | 9.3 |
21 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull | Renault | 329.1 | 10 |
22 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull | Renault | 328.9 | 10.2 |
2013 Italian Grand Prix
- Hulkenberg voted Italian GP Driver of the Weekend
- Race rating slump continues at Italian Grand Prix
- 2013 Italian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2013 Italian Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
- 2013 Italian GP Predictions Championship results
Images © Red Bull/Getty, Lotus/LAT
Sankalp Sharma (@sankalp88)
6th September 2013, 19:04
My money is still on Hamilton for pole and Vettel for win!
OmarR-Pepper (@)
6th September 2013, 20:50
Yes, that prediction is paying off lately @sankalp88
MNM101 (@mnm101)
6th September 2013, 19:21
Now just wait for Hamilton to get pole and be surprised and amazed afterwards, and on Sunday Seb will get past during the first stop at the latest and Nando follows home in 2nd
Jon Sandor (@jonsan)
6th September 2013, 20:50
It’s like we’re in one of those Star Trek episodes where the Enterprise is stuck in a loop in time and the same events happen over and over. I can’t remember how they escaped. Something to do with a tachyon stream I think.
PhilEReid (@philereid)
6th September 2013, 21:33
@jonsan well, it appears we know what to do now then.
Nigel Bates (@nigel1)
6th September 2013, 22:20
Fraid not.
I think this year’s regs prohibit intentional use of tachyon streams.
PaulT (@pault)
6th September 2013, 23:19
@jonsan @philereid @nigel1 Warning, Warning, the Trekkies are taking over! Oh, wait a minute, that was Lost in Space………..
andrewp (@andrewp)
6th September 2013, 23:06
Wasn’t that the one where they had to send the number ‘3’ to themselves to break the loop. And Alonso is driver no.3.
David not Coulthard (@)
7th September 2013, 5:28
Or Curva Grande……
Jon Sandor (@jonsan)
6th September 2013, 19:31
Kimi’s long-run pace looks basically the same to Seb’s, with Alonso not far behind. But with rain forecast for Sunday all of this will go out the window anyway. Button for the win?
Bobby Balboa (@bobby-balboa)
6th September 2013, 19:55
I’d be happy with a Button win. Put a few smiles on the McLaren boys faces and keep their records going for a while longer
OmarR-Pepper (@)
6th September 2013, 20:51
They need a loooooooooooooot of luck, not a real challenger at any of the main data stats (stint, speed, fastest lap)
Breno (@austus)
6th September 2013, 21:39
So I guess vettel is cautiosly running away with the title.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
6th September 2013, 21:44
Fastest in every sector (faster than everybody even on the hard tyres) and fastest long run. First down to Vettel…
John H (@john-h)
6th September 2013, 21:52
I see Red Bull are at the bottom of the speed trap times again. Surely some of the other teams should scrub a bit of straight line speed and run an ounce more wing after seeing the lap times Red Bull are putting in?
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
6th September 2013, 22:24
@john-h it ispractice though, so we don’t really know how competitive that really is. 10km/h isn’t massive either – it’s been much bigger before! They’d still be within a chance of overtaking with a good exit from parabolica (which RB have been doing) and late braking for the chicane with DRS assistance however, so absolutely scrubbing some speed shouldn’t kill them.
Feuerdrache (@xenomorph91)
6th September 2013, 22:34
It hasn’t only to do with downforce. Vettel has been at the top during the intermediate speed traps: S1, S2 and S/F – looking at the F1 live timing results. It’s similar to when RedBull were the fastest out of Eau Rouge two weeks ago.
RedBull are running a shorter gear ratio which means they will be quite long at the limiter on the start/finish-straight in qualifying. Overall this will give them quite an advantage (due to good acceleration) with heavy fuel like in 2011.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
6th September 2013, 23:49
@xenomorph91 precisely: as long as their drivers are challenging for the lead quickly I don’t think top speed will be a huge problem.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
6th September 2013, 23:19
If there’s just one track on the schedule where they should dispense with DRS, well, this is it.
Dave (@dworsley)
7th September 2013, 5:18
Not really, it is pretty hard to overtake at Monza and DRS effect is reduced dramatically here.
HK (@me4me)
7th September 2013, 9:47
Seems to me like Redbull are more confident, and run their old strategy of trying to get pole, and be fastest at the start of the race and pull a gap before DRS is enabled. Thereby sacrificing top speed. In SPA, they went the other way, which is interesting cause that work very well indeed. Redbull and the RB9 are very adaptable it seems.