Italian GP Preview - Shut Up And Drive

Wednesday 5th September 2007

With Ex-World Champs Nikki Lauda and Emerson Fittipaldi on his case. Fernando Alonso has been advised to let his driving do the talking in Monza.

And so to Monza. Even though Imola and Fiorano may be the physical homes of Ferrari, Monza is the spiritual home of the Scuderia. It is the cathedral at which all tifosi come to worship, though this year they may need to pray for some divine intervention. McLaren were fastest on all four days of last week's Monza test, and though Felipe Massa crept up to a whisker of Pedro de la Rosa's Friday time, it's one thing being close to the test driver, it's another thing being close to Alonso or Hamilton.

The Italian circuit isn't a technical challenge, neither is it subject to high wind which can make getting the perfect set-up difficult. What it does have is high kerbs and long straights and the key to a quick lap is being able to monster the car over the kerbs, taking the shortest route possible and getting back on the throttle again.

In the Turkish GP we saw that the Ferraris didn't do well over the kerbs of the final two corners and their challenge this weekend will be to minimize the loss to McLaren without straining their engines too much.

That's because the next two races - Monza and Spa - will be the hardest of the season in terms of running at maximum revs for longest. This, coupled with the fact that we had testing at the circuit the week before is likely to mean reduced running on Friday and Saturday, but particularly Friday. It may also mean that we get a 2x2 grid with teams qualifying very close together.

The good news for the Ferrari drivers is that team boss Jean Todt has given them the freedom to race each other at Monza and that either can win the race if they want to. The fact that Felipe Massa is just one point ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the World Championship makes that decision a whole lot easier. However with the track likely to favour McLaren this weekend all eyes will be back on the intra-team duel between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Alonso is coming under increasing pressure to shut up and drive. Following his claims in Istanbul that he was still "not comfortable" within the team and that "I remember the car I drove and the results they had in 2006 and now I brought to the team half a second, six-tenths, whatever, and I don't see anything giving me back."

Martin Brundle accused him of acting like a spoilt child and former World Champions Emerson Fittpaldi and Nikki Lauda are also puzzled by how much Alonso wants to whinge about the situation instead of letting his driving do the talking.

"Fernando is very nervous. He has to focus on his driving and go for it, not be complaining so much about Lewis," said Fittipaldi. "He's very talented and he should be focused more on driving, and then he can get back to being more competitive again."

Lauda is of the same view.

"Instead of complaining, moaning and bitching, which is what Alonso is doing at the moment, all he needs to do is concentrate on driving quicker. He is using all kinds of excuses. He should have done this after the second or third race of the season after he realised how quick Hamilton is. He didn't do that.

"My worry is if he continues to find the reasons somewhere else, and not in his right foot, he will lose out because Hamilton is doing a perfect job, simply concentrating on his driving and he's quick."

Certainly on the evidence of the last race Alonso made more mistakes than Hamilton, but the Brit's untimely puncture handed him two points back - and whereas the gap might have been nine coming into this race, in reality it's only five.

At Monza McLaren will be very unhappy if they don't come away with a 1-2, but which driver it will be is down to strategy and a good start. In the past few races McLaren have been slow away from the line and at Monza it will be crucial because overtaking is so problematic. This may well encourage the team to fuel both drivers relatively light to make sure they can carry forward their speed advantage and not get stuck behind other cars.

Psychologically Alonso is at a disadvantage because last year he had a disastrous race at Monza, a DNF brought on by over-stressing his engine in an attempt to catch Robert Kubica's BMW. This after being put down the grid for the slightest of offences (if at all) conjured up by the race stewards which had most of the pitlane in uproar. Felipe Massa's insistence that he had been held up by Alonso in qualifying did him few favours and may be a grudge held over by Alonso just as Barcelona clearly is.

If Ferrari can out-psyche or out-strategise McLaren this weekend then it will be a major victory for them - what they must avoid is getting mixed up with the BMW and Renault battle. Because the first turn at Monza can be very hectic with cars missing the chicane, some cars running through slowly and others making huge strides forward. It tends to be that there is room for two lanes of cars to go through the turn and if your lane is delayed by a driver making a mistake, everyone in your lane has to brake. Last year things were surprisingly orderly, but it was an exception. It's a corner that is always worth watching Ralf Schumacher go through and for Ralf fans, this might be the last time.

As for the other teams it will be very much the same as previous races. BMW, like all the other cars will be on a low downforce set-up to try and get in between the Ferraris. Renault will be trying to peg some of BMW's advantage back. Williams will be trying to keep in front of Red Bull (with Rosberg at least). Red Bull will be hoping to complete the weekend glitch-free after their hydraulics problem re-emerged last race. Toyota and Honda will be praying for points, while Super Aguri will be keeping an eye on Toro Rosso and Spyker to make sure they don't ruin their 9th (and it could be 8th) World Championship place.

Unless we have the kind of downpour that inundated the Moto GP testing at Misano the other week, it will be a strategy-fest, not an overtaking fest. But as each remaining race passes so the stakes will be cranked up that much higher.
FH

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