The
Renault RS27 engine powered Red Bull Racing's Sebastian
Vettel to a dominant victory in today's Italian Grand
Prix, nearly ten seconds ahead of second-placed Jenson
Button. Vettel sealed a near lights-to-flag win as he
raced to his second career victory at the Italian Grand
Prix and take his total in the drivers' championship to
a massive 284 points.
Bruno Senna secured his first-ever points in Formula
1 with ninth position for Lotus Renault GP, while Team
Lotus notched up yet another double finish with Heikki
Kovalainen 13th and Jarno Trulli 14th.
Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber retired on lap six
following an incident with Felipe Massa, while Vitaly
Petrov also had a DNF. The Russian Lotus Renault GP
driver was caught up in the accident at the first corner
that involved several cars and retired on the spot.
The win is the first Renault engine victory at the
Italian Grand Prix since 1995 and its 138th win in F1.
Key race weekend points:
Red Bull Racing
Vettel secured the 13th pole of the year for Red Bull
in qualifying and although lost the lead at the start
of the race to Alonso, was able to move back into the
lead after the safety car was withdrawn on lap four.
He then used a two stop pit strategy to cruise to his
eighth win of the year and could now mathematically
secure the title at the next round in Singapore. Mark
Webber tried to make a move on Felipe Massa on lap six
that damaged his front wing. The wing then failed going
into the Parabolica and the Australian went wide into
the gravel trap and into the barriers. Red Bull still
leads the constructors' championship with 451 points
to McLaren's 325. Webber is now fourth in the drivers'
rankings, equal on points with Jenson Button.
Lotus Renault GP
After a strong qualifying, which saw both Lotus Renault
GP cars start in the top ten, both drivers were affected
by the first corner incident. Senna was forced to take
evasive action to avoid the spinning cars and slipped
back to 15th, while Petrov was hit and retired on the
spot. Senna fought back up the field and thanks to a
high top speed down the straights, which peaked at 347kph,
opened his points account with a strong ninth position.
The team now has 70 points and a clear fifth position
in the championship.
Team Lotus
Trulli started his home Grand Prix from 19th position,
just in front of Kovalainen. Both were in a strong position
in the top 13 after the restart, but on lap five Trulli
was hit by Felipe Massa and forced to pit for a new
front wing. He rejoined the race and, with a switch
to a one stop strategy, pushed hard to move into 14th
by the end of the 53 lap race, just behind his team-mate.
Rémi Taffin, head of Renault Sport F1 track operations,
gives his views on the race weekend:
Monza is the hardest circuit of the year for engines,
with close to 75% of the lap spent at full throttle.
A high top speed is the goal and yesterday we peaked
at nearly 350kph down the pit straight. Bruno Senna
also recorded the top speed of the field at 347kph today,
which is a testament to the hard work everyone's put
in at Viry.
Going into the race a lot of people mentioned this
was a 'bogey' circuit for the Red Bulls but Sebastian
was practically untouchable out there. Monza is the
ultimate test for the engine, so a win here is - for
an engine supplier - such a sweet feeling. We've had
an incredible weekend with the announcement of the extension
of the Red Bull Racing-Renault partnership, so this
win just tops it off.
We would also like to extend our congratulations to
Bruno Senna on securing his first F1 points in ninth.
Lotus Renault GP has been strong here all weekend and
could have even scored more if it had not been for the
first corner accident, in which Vitaly was involved.
Team Lotus have yet again showed they are going in
the right direction by equalling their best finish this
season. The relationship keeps getting stronger every
race as we learn how to work together and we'll be fully
behind them when they introduce some more new developments
later on in the season.
Renault statistics in F1:
138 wins, 189 poles
* including Supertec, Mecachrome and Playlife statistics
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