FERNANDO......ALONSO!!!!!!!!

Justin:

First off, a nod to my esteemed colleague for joining me for the qualifying on Saturday, and also for him squeezing out a blog between quali and his birthday meal that same night. Sometimes I wonder just how he does it.

Qualifying was fantastic fun and proved to be a real humdinger in quali 3 when the top guys were really going for it. Fernando produced a good lap on his first outing pretty much.

The race....oh what a race! I can see some of those F1 fans less in the know saying that this was a much more boring race than the mayhem of Spa, for example. Bah, I rubbish anyone even daring to say this! Monza gave us two world champions at the very top of their games driving the hell out of their cars as one chased the other for the majority of the race.

The start saw Alonso squeezing Button off the line as much as was allowed before "firm but fair" became "shumacher-esque". I think my blogger might agree that in F1 circles its widely regarded that Alonso is rather hard on the track, but never really crosses the line to unfair racing in the way Schumi so often did.

Anyway, Button got away magnificantly and glided past Alonso in the first chicane, at which point Massa had a good look at Alonso and the two Ferrari's exited side by side....Alonso was clearly having absolutely none of Massa going by him. At this point Hamilton steamed through and clipped Massa's back wheel, thus ending his own race with a broken track rod. I was cheering at this point!

As they all came away from turn one, a part flew off Button's car (alonso had nerfed him), to which we later found out to be part of the difuser. It's unclear really as to how much this damaged his chances. The race was engrossing and thrilling as Alonso loomed large in Button's mirrors for 30 odd laps, never more than 2 seconds away, and for the most part he spent his time around a second or less away from Button's tailpipe. This of course gave Alonso two huge wobbly moments in the dirty air of Button's car, and then came the pit stops.

Mclaren pitted Button first and it was a very fast tyre change (4.2 seconds), but Alonso was released from following Button and produced a stunningly fast in lap and the Ferrari pit crew gave him an even quicker pit stop of 3.4 seconds. He emerged alongside Button and just about grabbed the lead as they squabbled into the first corners. Fantastic racing!

Yes, my readers and co-blogger, I am entitled to rant about just how good Alonso is. He had been outdriving his car for parts of this season and had made mistakes, mistakes he never usually makes. But Monza reminded us just what he is capable of. Sheer genius and raw pace and ability with an unbreakable determination to win.

This win gives us an important player right back into the title fight after he had looked out of it after Belgium. Hats off to my colleague who said that he didnt feel Button, Vettel and Alonso were really out of it after Belgium.

Thats why I love F1....F1 is IF spelt backwards!!!! After Webber and Hamilton conquered Belgium they looked like running away with the title run in between them. Monza then serves up Alonso and Button scoring heavily with Lewis and Mark scoring nothing and not too much, along with Vettel scraping a few points...so everyone that needed a good day, got one, essentially.

Hat's off to Jenson Button too. We watched quali together and Jenson looked suitably satisfied to have made his team-mate look stupid by choosing a totally different and interesting setup for Monza (2nd on the grid to Lewis' 5th). Having Fernando in your mirrors for 35 laps and driving without error proves once again just how classy Button is behind the wheel.

My esteemed colleague and I were discussing Button and Hamilton....Jenson has an effortless poise about him...a calm strategist in the Prost mould...he always seems to make the right decisions and choices, be it in car setup or tyres during a race.....it's an interesting view versus Hamilton's aggressive style.

Interesting and amusing scenes after the race, just before the podium ceremony...Button asking Stefano Domenicalli what the points standings were. It's also worth noting two things from the drivers press conference. A) Button remarking "it's good to finish where we did for both our championships, well, all three of us, regarding our title chances"...observing that Massa had come third. A cheeky remark perhaps, or more just that Button despises team orders and would rather retire than play second fiddle (an interview in the guardian paper). B) When Massa spoke, Button, being the all round nice guy with manners, actually looked at him.....Alonso did not...he sat there impassive....dismissive....as in....I'm back....and who the hell is this guy on my left?! He doesnt give a shit about Massa....and why would he really? Compare that to the "relationship" Jenson and Lewis have....which will surely be tested sooner or later.

Red Bull got all they could out of the weekend I guess....Vettel stopped on the second to last lap and came out 4th whilst Webber grabbed 6th.

Nico Hulkenberg did well in the race, providing a mobile roadblock for Webber everywhere he looked. I'm not sure driving off the track 3 times is a decent way of defending a position.

Elsewhere...Eddie Jordan was getting way too excited about "more than a few" drivers and drivers agents coming and going from the Mercedes motor home during qualifying..see Jordan's rantings here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8991896.stm

I think it's probably 50/50 as to whether Schumi quits this season.....

So......Webber...187....Lewis 182.....Alonso 166...Button...165...Vettel 163...5 races....next stop Singapore.

2010 is a classic as we've said many times.....but...5 guys...5 races.....there can be only one guy at the end!