The fat lady is preparing her vocal chords and we expect she will be singing Sebastian Vettel’s tune at the next Grand Prix. That’s right, following yet another peerless drive from Vettel to win the 2011 Italian Grand Prix, he can formally wrap up the 2011 drivers’ title at Singapore in a couple of weeks if results go his way.
In Monza overnight Vettel’s only concerns came following a bullet-like start from Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) to steal the lead. The Safety Car quickly came out after Tonio Liuzzi’s (HRT) slip’n’slide move on the grass cleaned up a few midfield runners.
When the lights went green Vettel had the Ferrari in his sights and pulled a sterling move on the outside of Curva Grande to reclaim the lead. The 24-year-old is silencing the doubters who claim he cannot race wheel-to-wheel when the going gets tough. He may still have a bit to learn in that regard, but his last two races have shown he is head of the class.
In all of the chaos around him Jenson Button (McLaren), who had a poor start, quietly worked his way into second place with a mature drive. Again Alonso struggled on the harder tyres and held on for third, denying Lewis Hamilton’s (McLaren) late race charge for a podium place.
It was a bad day for the Australians, with Daniel Ricciardo (HRT) stalling on the start line. He was able to eventually get going again and complete a total of 39 laps but he was “not classified” so it was a data gathering exercise for the team and no more. Mark Webber (Red Bull) meanwhile put himself between a rock and Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and lost his front wing in the process. A few corners later, with parts of the wing lodged in his undertray, he lost steering and went off into a tyre barrier ending his race.
Webber’s DNF has relegated him from second to fourth in the drivers’ standings. He’s on 167 points, behind Button (167pts, ahead on wins), Alonso (172pts) and the 2011 champion-in-waiting Vettel (284pts).
More from the top three after the break.
[Pic: Ferrari]
