Formula1 - Italian Grand Prix 2013

The starting grid was the surprise at this year's Monza event. After a botched qualifying session, Hamilton and Raikkonen didn't even make it into the top ten and started from 11th and 12th place. Nico Hülkenberg on Sauber surprised by finishing on the second row. This was followed by Ferrari boss Montezemolo's comment that it couldn't be the car, alluding to the Ferraris' engine performance. As all insiders know, Sauber gets the engines from Ferrari.

Alonso's taunts were not yet over at that time. Too often, Alonso publicly criticized Ferrari, especially in the last few races. Whether he was criticizing the crew or wishing for a more competitive car. Nevertheless, Ferrari had come up with something special for qualifying. Alonso was to gain time in the slipstream of his teammate Massa. But ironically, Massa took fourth place on the grid and Alonso fifth.

The race was unspectacular
The teams had settled on a one-stop strategy. A little drizzle before the start didn't change that at all and the weather remained stable until the end of the race.The Red Bulls didn't get away particularly well, but they did a good job of blocking any overtaking by the chasers, so Vettel was the first to shoot into the corner after the start. Alonso quickly made up a few places and moved into third after three laps, then passed his stablemate Massa. Massa was able to follow him. Nico Rosberg delivered a decent finish for the Mercedes racing team with sixth place on the grid in qualifying and also showed a very stable performance throughout the race. Raikkonen was the loser on the first lap. After a collision in the first corner, he had to pick up a new front wing and this almost put him at the rear.

In the first half of the race, Alonso and Massa drove towards the podium in second and third place. But with a quick pit stop on lap 24 and a fast lap, Australian Mark Webber managed to position himself between the Ferraris again in his Red Bull. As the race progressed, Vettel opened up a lead of more than five seconds over his closest pursuers. Alonso, on the other hand, could do nothing about it. The dominance of Vettel/Red Bull was too strong this weekend. Even the only pit stop did nothing to change this and Vettel crossed the finish line safely as the winner.

Alonso followed seconds later in second place, with Webber third and Massa's fourth place confirming that the Ferraris are still a force to be reckoned with. Hamilton ended up in a disappointing 9th place and Räikkönnen finished outside the points in 11th place, which doesn't help the fight for the World Championship title either. Meanwhile, rumors that Räikkönen will return to Ferrari intensified this weekend. Daniel Ricciardo, on the other hand, was confirmed as Mark Webber's successor at Red Bull.

A few days after the weekend, Kimi Raikkonen was confirmed as a contract driver for Ferrari for 2014 and Massa said goodbye to his fans via Twitter.

Race ranking

1 Sebastian Vettel,Time: 1:18:33.352
2 Fernando Alonso,Time: + 5.467
3 Mark Webber,Time: + 6.350
4 Felipe Massa,Time: + 9.631
5 Nico Hülkenberg,Time: + 10.355
6 Nico Rosberg,Time: + 10.999
7 Daniel Ricciardo, Time: + 32.329
8 Romain Grosjean,Time: + 33.130
9 Lewis Hamilton, time :+ 33.527
10 Jenson Button,Time: + 38.327
11 Kimi Raikkonen,Time: + 38.695
12 Sergio Perez,Time: + 39.765
13 Esteban Gutierrez,Time: + 40.880
14 Pastor Maldonado,Time: + 49.085
15 Valtteri Bottas,Time: + 56.827
16 Adrian Sutil,Time: + 1 lap 52
17 Charles Pic,Time: + 1 lap 52
18 Giedo van der Garde,Time: + 1 lap 52
19 Jules Bianchi,Time: + 1 lap 52
20 Max Chilton,Time + 1 lap 52
Jean Erc Vergne retired due to gearbox problem
Paul di Resta retired, accident

Ranking World Cup riders

1 Sebastian Vettel, 222 points
2 Fernando Alonso, 169 points
3 Lewis Hamilton, 141 points
4 Kini Raikkonen, 134 points
5 Mark Webber, 130 points
6 Nico Rosberg, 104 points
7 Felipe Massa, 79 points
8 Romain Grosjean, 57 points
9 Jenson Button, 48 points
10 Paul Di Resta, 36 points
11 Adrian Sutil, 25 points
12 Sergio Perez, 18 points
13 Daniel Ricciardo, 18 points
14 Nico Hülkenberg, 17 points
15 Jean-Eric Vergne, 13 points
16 Pastor Maldonado, 1 point
17 Valtteri Bottas, 0 points
18 Esteban Gutierrez, 0 points
19 Jules Bianchi, 0 points
20 Charles Pic, 0 points
21 Giedo Van der Garde, 0 points
22 Max Chilton, 0 points

Ranking WM Teams

1 Red Bull, 352 points
2 Ferrari, 248 points
3 Mercedes-Benz, 245 points
4 Lotus, 191 points
5 McLaren, 66 points
6 Force India, 61 points
7 Toro Rosso, 31 points
8 Clean, 17 points
9 Williams, 1 point
10 Marussia, 0 points
11 Caterham, 0 points