2023 Italian Grand Prix Heroes and Zeroes

[Jericoke]

Heroes
Max/Newey:  10 straight wins?  These two are the most epic partnership in F1 history.

Ferrari:  Sainz and LeClerc both had a great day, and put on a pretty good intrateam fight that could've been a huge mess, but the team managed to manage an entertaining 3rd/4th.

Russell: had a good race, normally would have gotten some great TV time with a well fought 5th place but instead... was he on TV at?

Albon:  The legend grows.  I think that Williams is learning to fight at the pointy end, and so the Williams/Albon partnership is providing some results that they might expect 'on paper'.

Zeroes:
Quick comment, the top of the field put on a fantastic show, different from most of the season where the interesting things were happening in the mid field.  For some reason Monza flipped the script, and down grid things weren't great.  (Or maybe we didn't see it?)

Hamilton:  rookie mistake against Piastri.  Like seriously, what happened there?

McLaren, Aston Martin:  sure, the Mercedes engine wasn't going to win the race, but it wasn't what was holding you back either.  Monza is a different beast from most other tracks, but I think it really shows who knows how to race and who doesn't.

Haas, Alpha Tauri, Alpine:  hasn't been a great season for these teams, but if McLaren and AM dropped the ball, then these three stomped on the ball and set it on fire.  (No offense to Tsunoda actually having a car on fire)

Stroll:  the early season showed promise.  I really thought my fellow Canadian was finally going to prove why he belongs on F1.  I can't hold out hope any further.  He might stumble into a podium or two if the team can improve, but he's not a future champion.

Honorable mention for the FIA.  I'm not exactly sure what they did with the tires this weekend, but I think what they did improved the show.  I say 'test successful'.

[Dare]

You have to ask if Stroll's Dad didn't own the
team would he be driving for them?

I wonder if Max considers it a so so season because
Sergio won 2 races.

I looked at the race points and wondered why Piastri
wasn't awarded a point for fl? Was it because he was
out of the top 10

[Alianora La Canta]

Heroes:

Verstappen: That win could easily have been a DNF but Max made managing the fault look easy.

Albon: The consistency he's managing with the Williams is incredible.

Piastri: Got stuck in two collisions (one arguably his fault, the other definitely not), kept going and still found time to get fastest lap.

Honourable mention: Leclerc: Less for what happened on track (he's had stronger drives, even considering Ferrari's antics) and more for what he did outside the car. After qualifying, he told the crowd to stop booing Verstappen (which surprisingly worked). He also spent over an hour signing things for the tifosi after the race and, despite finishing off the podium, reacted to the race almost as if he'd won it.

Zeroes:

Alpine: I'm not even sure I dare ask what was going on there...

Ferrari: threw away a 2-3 by missing every opportunity presented. Sainz over-used his tyres on both stints, but stayed on them 5 laps too long on Stint 1 and 10 laps too long on Stint 2 by his own admission. The first of them was early enough that switching to a two-stop would probably have been faster for him than what Ferrari actually did. This would also have released Leclerc to make good use of his one-stopping tyres rather than being stuck, and would likely have let both Ferraris split the Red Bulls through pressure. (Before Carlos fans tell me off for this, I think Sainz could have eventually overhauled Leclerc to gain P2 had this been done). Also was not happy with the Ferraris colliding late in the race (it was, to say the least, an interesting definition of "no risk" from the pair of them). While Sainz arguably had some involvement in all of this, I think Ferrari's strategists and radio engineers have to shoulder the majority of the blame for this, due to their lack of clear insight into the developing race and at times, self-contradicting instructions.

Perez: Please stop whinging about fellow racers racing you. That's why they're there. I remember last season, you were like that and enjoyed it.

Whatever changed this spring has not been to Checo's benefit, either in his driving or his approach. I think it's going to cost him his seat.

Dishonourable mention: Alpha Tauri's engine: It's never nice to see someone lose their engine before the race even begins. Poor Yuki.

Other mentions:
Liam Lawson looks increasingly like a safe pair of hands for the Alpha Tauri seat next year (to replace Daniel Ricciardo, who I think is going to replace Checo Perez unless something really dramatic happens).

I think if Stroll's Dad didn't own the team, he'd have been given proper time to heal at the start of the season. Between that and the cyst getting removed during the summer break, I suspect there's something medically amiss for Lance. Hopefully he is able to fully recover from everything over the winter.

Yes, Dare, only drivers inside the top 10 can get fastest lap points, and if the person who has fastest lap is not in the top 10 (as was the case for Piastri), it is not awarded at all.

I think Max considers it a so-so season due to lack of direct rivals, but he can't bring himself to go slower in order to obtain any. Red Bull can't bring itself to allow a team-mate to be a direct rival and the FIA apparently can't bring itself to correct its previous mistakes (to allow anyone else to be a direct rival).

George was on TV a few times, mostly when he was near the leading group at the start. He mostly minded his own business after that, hence the lack of TV attention.

[Dare]

I think Sergio's problem is Red Bull doesn't want him to lose
but coming in 2nd isn't good enough. No wonder he's not happy this year

[John S]

Heroes:-

Red Bull & particularly Max, would have been easy early on to jump into a closing gap whilst battling with Carlos, he resisted this and when the chance offered itself he took it cleanly & expertly. 10 in a row is not easy to acheive, even with the best car & more races in the season - 11,12 or more anyone? 

Perez too also deserves praise for his patience in picking the moment to pass Sainz. Sure he appeared a whinger complaining about Sainz, but then all the drivers report what car in front is doing, they're sneakily trying to get a penalty awarded - I hate this snitching on opponents.  They all do it all the time but we only get a few radio clips chosen for their controversy by some backroom editor, so I don't think Checho is worse than others.

Ferrari for throwing everything including the proverbial kitchen sink at the Home Race. Sainz was electric all weekend and it's fitting that he got on the podium. 

Alia has said a 2 stopper would have yielded a 2/3 for the reds, can't see it myself as Perez would still have caught & passed Leclerc therefore the most a late charging Sainz could have got is 3rd which he managed anyway.
In race Sainz had to defend against Verstappen in first stint and then Perez on his 2nd set, leaving his tyres in bad shape. As a result, at the end of the race Leclerc would have seemed faster since he had plenty of oppotunity to be kinder to his tyres.
Not sure that late race Charles speed was sufficient to catch (or prevent Perez in a Carlos 2 stop scenario) if it was I'm sure Fred would have ordered a change of places shortly after Perez got thru on Carlos.

Great for us fans that Fred let Carlos & Charles go at it, this is true spirit of F1 as a racing series rather than the banking of points that we are used to.

Big shout out to Alex, how does he manage to fend off cars lap after lap in a less than sorted car. He should be equal to Carlos for driver of the day.

Zeros:-

Lewis - poor quali performance and extremly poor spatial awareness. With his shunting into Oscar he's back to his old tricks of intimidating rookies who are showing possible WDC credentials, remember his crowding and general pushing off of Albon in Red Bull in 19 & 20 season.

Haas & Alfa/Sauber, guys you've got the same engine as boys up front - must be your car or drivers then. 

Alpine - WTF is going on!!!!! All I can suppose is that they are playing some game to prove their engines are more than 3% behind rivals to get some concessions denied at last round table meeting of TPs. 

   

[lkjohnson1950]

Honestly, I turned the race off about 6-8 laps after Max took the lead. Ferrari strategists failed to take a gamble with Carlos. They should have pitted him immediately after Max's pass and switched to a 2 stopper. What did they have to lose by trying something different? I would have put him on another set of mediums and gone for softs at the end. At worst they would have finished 3 and 4 with the order reversed.

[cosworth151]

One more big loser-

American F1 fans: The second largest cable TV provider here in the States didn't carry anything from Monza all weekend. Charter-Spectrum, with over 16 million subscribers, is in a snit with Disney. They aren't carrying any Disney networks, including ESPN.

I'm sure some of the old timers here remember when we used to have to search the web on Sundays for bootleg feeds of the race. Thanks to Spectrum & Disney we had a reminder of those days. 

[Dare]

I have ESPN+ with a Disney and Hulu package. It never
shows qualifying and after the podium celebration they
cut the coverage.

[John S]

I have ESPN+ with a Disney and Hulu package. It never
shows qualifying and after the podium celebration they
cut the coverage.

Hey Dare, I just can't get this image of an old man dancing in a grass skirt
to Hawaian sounds out of my head now! 

Oh wait a minute you said Hulu not Hula.   
- Still can't shake the image though!     

[Willy]

I watched some of the race but after Max took the lead I zoned out.

I was happy to see Perez get picked up by RB when nobody else would but now two seasons in, running along side (in back really) of Max can't be an easy situation to be in.
Every resource and function of the team is to see that Max wins every race possible and another WDC.
I realize that is the main function of every team down the grid but most are not cheating to do so as I wholeheartedly believe RB are doing.
It will take fully independent accountants looking at the real set of books (not the ones RB will provide) to find out where they are cheating. No other team has the depth of pockets that RB has and entitlement as well.
Can you tell how much I dislike that team?
 

[Jericoke]

I watched some of the race but after Max took the lead I zoned out.

I was happy to see Perez get picked up by RB when nobody else would but now two seasons in, running along side (in back really) of Max can't be an easy situation to be in.
Every resource and function of the team is to see that Max wins every race possible and another WDC.
I realize that is the main function of every team down the grid but most are not cheating to do so as I wholeheartedly believe RB are doing.
It will take fully independent accountants looking at the real set of books (not the ones RB will provide) to find out where they are cheating. No other team has the depth of pockets that RB has and entitlement as well.
Can you tell how much I dislike that team?

Sergio was key to Max winning the 2021 championship.  He did his job there.  RBR hasn't needed him for anything since then.  I don't know if Max has gotten better, and left him behind, or Sergio's skills have slipped, or the team is leaving him out to dry while they focus on Max.  There might be better choices for that seat, but they're not going to bring anything to the team that they need.  If I was an established racer, I wouldn't want to race for RBR against Max, you won't win.  If I was a rookie racing for RBR, it's going to be a LONG time before getting a shot at winning.  Certainly if you look at the Russel situation at Mercedes, he's hoping to play his role and then replace Lewis as team lead when the time comes.  The wait for Max to leave is going to be a LONG wait.

I think that every dollar/euro/pound/swiss franc (franc? does anyone else use francs any more?) going into and coming out of an F1 team should be handled by an independent accountant.  Sure, there's always going to be ways to game the system, but you can't do BS like 'oh, I thought catering wasn't covered'

[lkjohnson1950]

According to Coulthard and company, the data shows Max consistently brakes later than Sergio. DC says that's a sign that Sergio doesn't have enough confidence in the car. Possibly, if he gets a couple good races under his belt, he should be able to close the gap a bit.

[Andy B]

I give myself a ZERO for passing through Monza station while the race was on while heading for home after an 8 week trip.

[John S]

I give myself a ZERO for passing through Monza station while the race was on while heading for home after an 8 week trip.

Well you're ahead of me Andy, I've never been within 150 miles of Monza. 

Hope the European trip was good.

[lkjohnson1950]

You're doing better than me, John. I've never been closer than New York.