Formula 1 Goes to Monza

       The F1 convoy has rolled onto the home of Ferrari, Monza and with Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa languishing 5th and 6th respectively in the drivers' world championship these is a important weekend for them.  Ferrari need a victory this weekend to return some recently lost pride and for Alonso to keep him in the championship, I assume they won't be letting Alonso pass Massa this time, so due to the fact they are out of the constructors championship they would almost be wanting Massa to be slower than Alonso.  But Ferrari and Alonso aren't the only ones who really need a win this weekend.

       After their crash together last race in Spa-Francorchamps both Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button both need finish ahead of Hamilton and Webber and need podium finishes, preferably on the top step to decrease the points gap.  With Button and Vettel 35 and 31 points behind respectively and with only 6 races left this season, another finish behind the top two will all but end their hope of winning the title this season with the points difference between 1st, 2nd and 3rd much bigger this year.
       Button led the way in the opening practice session on Friday morning, but the second, in the afternoon saw the field close up behind pacesetter, Sebastian Vettel.  Vettel's Red Bull, the Ferrari's of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and the two McLarens were covered by just 0.371 seconds.  Webber, whose car stopped out on the circuit with 15 minutes remaining following a water leak, was 0.576secs behind his team-mate. 
       In the third and final qualifying session this morning Hamilton, the championship leader, was just 0.047 seconds quicker than Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who was just ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Jenson Button and Mark Webber, were fifth and seventh.  Webber's preparations for qualifying were hit when he stopped on the track in his Red Bull after a loss of power.
      The talking point in the paddock is at the Mclaren garage Hamilton has a difficult choice to make in terms of which specification of car to run in qualifying.  Hamilton ran his car in traditional low-downforce Monza specification, with small wings to reduce drag and boost straightline speed.  Button, by contrast, ran the team's much-copied F-duct aerodynamic device.  The F-duct reduces the car's drag on the straights, but the device has its own inherent drag elsewhere, and the balance between running it and not running it is finer at Monza,  than anywhere else.
       I think with that both Webber and Hamilton both having one eye on each other they won't be on pole I think they will fill out the second row, I think that Vettel will take pole for Red Bull once again with Alonso in 2nd place, then Button in 5th.  If the qualifying plays out the way I see it going then Vettel will win on Sunday and get back in the race and Button will finish behind Hamilton and Webber and will be out of the title race.