With just six more races remaining in the 2010 Formula One Championship, we have reached to the point which is most revered by most F1 fans. Yes, we are talking about the Italian Grand Prix that is happening this weekend. And looks like the crowd will go all out to cheer on Ferrari drivers, Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Brazilian Felipe Massa.
Alonso was quite well placed on championship standings until the Belgium race at the end of August created a slight havoc. An unfortunate spin in the wet dumped him out of points paying position in the Spa race. Hamilton took maximum points and Alonso is now 41 points behind him in the driver’s standing. Alonso’s prospects of a third title also looks very bleak right now.
Team Ferrari is going to slip further down when the World Motor Sport Council announces its judgment over Ferrari’s team-order debacle in Germany. We think that Ferrari will get nothing more than a feather slap on the wrist, or some monetary fines. But, in worst case scenario, WMSC may deduct team and driver points too.
Red Bull team driver Sebastian Vettel and McLaren’s Jenson Button, after a difficult weekend at Spa, would want to rekindle their hopes of the championship title. Any further slip-ups would ruin their chances of being in the run for championship titles.
After the much disastrous race at Spa, Button would be looking for a calm, mature victory at the track where he claimed his first ever Formula 1 victory. In 2008, the German took pole position and the win in wet conditions in a Toro Rosso.
We can expect a good performance from the McLaren team this weekend. The long straights of the Monza track would suit the car with the most effective f-duct, and the Woking-based outfit. The team would want to score the largest point before F1 moves to Singapore.
Additionally, the teams we will be watching out for this weekend include Renault and Force India. Both showed very impressive performances at Spa. After his fifth place finish at the previous race, it would be interesting to watch Adrian Sutil in Monza. Earlier rumours suggested that Force India was going to lose their engine supply to Red Bull. Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug, however, has denied these claims.
Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello boast of having eight wins at this circuit, and five of them came in Ferrari (3 for Schumacher and 2 for Barrichello). But since Schumi is driving a Mercedes now, we are not very sure of history repeating itself on this track.
Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.