2007 Italian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Fernando Alonso conquered Monza with a commanding Italian Grand Prix victory, leading Lewis Hamilton home in a McLaren one-two. Kimi Räikkönen salvaged third for Ferrari after a heavy practice accident, while Felipe Massa’s retirement dealt a blow to his title ambitions.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Fernando Alonso	McLaren
Pole time	1:21.997
Fastest lap	Fernando Alonso	McLaren
Fastest-lap time	1:22.871 on lap 15
First	Fernando Alonso	McLaren
Second	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren
Third	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
7 September 2007	Practice 1	10:00
7 September 2007	Practice 2	14:00
8 September 2007	Practice 3	11:00
8 September 2007	Qualifying	14:00
9 September 2007	Race	14:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Lewis Hamilton arrived at round 13 leading the 2007 F1 World Championship on 84 points, with Fernando Alonso on 79. McLaren headed the constructors’ standings after the preceding race with 148 points.

Race entries

The 11 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Italian Grand Prix.

Free Practice

Ferrari began its home weekend with Kimi Räikkönen and Felipe Massa at the top on Friday morning, but Lewis Hamilton was close enough to show McLaren would be a serious threat. Jenson Button put Honda sixth, while Spyker’s updated car gave Adrian Sutil encouragement against the usual midfield opposition. Vitantonio Liuzzi’s troubled Toro Rosso session left him at the back with more work to do.

McLaren took control in the afternoon, Fernando Alonso setting a time well clear of Lewis Hamilton and the Ferraris slipping down the order. Anthony Davidson stopped on track, and Vitantonio Liuzzi continued to struggle with his car’s handling. The reversal from the morning made the different programmes important to consider, but McLaren had supplied a strong signal before Saturday’s decisive running.

Kimi Räikkönen crashed heavily under braking for Ascari on Saturday morning, his Ferrari striking the wall and then the tyre barrier. He escaped serious injury but was left with neck discomfort and a badly damaged car. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton again led, while the incident disrupted Ferrari’s final preparations and put extra pressure on the team before qualifying.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2007 Italian Grand Prix FP1, 7 September 2007

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:22.446	20
2	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.144s	17
3	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.172s	18
4	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+0.394s	12
5	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+1.026s	21
6	7	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.222s	21
7	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	+1.225s	22
8	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.257s	22
9	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.440s	17
10	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1.519s	29
11	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	+1.630s	21
12	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+2.118s	19
13	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+2.141s	15
14	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+2.149s	22
15	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+2.214s	20
16	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	+2.243s	29
17	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	+2.248s	17
18	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+2.364s	19
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	+2.684s	24
20	19	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+2.993s	25
21	21	Sakon Yamamoto	Spyker	+3.002s	25
22	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+3.316s	25

Free Practice 2 Classification

2007 Italian Grand Prix FP2, 7 September 2007

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:22.386	30
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.823s	33
3	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	+1.198s	38
4	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.213s	44
5	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+1.293s	33
6	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+1.336s	27
7	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+1.435s	38
8	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+1.447s	12
9	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	+1.462s	32
10	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	+1.495s	32
11	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1.533s	39
12	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+1.536s	29
13	7	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.751s	36
14	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.942s	31
15	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+2.076s	40
16	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+2.219s	31
17	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+2.942s	27
18	19	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+3.073s	36
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	+3.145s	24
20	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+3.181s	26
21	21	Sakon Yamamoto	Spyker	+3.477s	40
22	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	+3.635s	6

Free Practice 3 Classification

2007 Italian Grand Prix FP3, 8 September 2007

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:22.054	10
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	+0.146s	11
3	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+0.561s	11
4	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	+0.801s	15
5	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	+1.233s	14
6	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	+1.400s	13
7	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	+1.542s	15
8	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	+1.618s	16
9	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	+1.618s	12
10	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	+1.654s	13
11	7	Jenson Button	Honda	+1.749s	15
12	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	+1.776s	14
13	19	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	+1.799s	14
14	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	+1.823s	12
15	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	+1.888s	12
16	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	+1.968s	16
17	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	+2.001s	12
18	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	+2.113s	13
19	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	+2.154s	15
20	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+2.388s	3
21	21	Sakon Yamamoto	Spyker	+2.682s	17
22	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	+2.889s	18

Qualifying

Fernando Alonso edged Lewis Hamilton by 0.037 seconds to secure pole and a McLaren front-row lockout. Felipe Massa qualified third, while Nick Heidfeld split the Ferraris by beating Kimi Räikkönen to fourth. Robert Kubica took sixth, followed by Heikki Kovalainen and Nico Rosberg.

Jenson Button gave Honda a welcome Q3 appearance and qualified tenth alongside Jarno Trulli. David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher were surprise Q1 casualties, while Sebastian Vettel and Anthony Davidson reached Q2 but could not progress further. Kimi Räikkönen’s fifth place kept him in contention after the morning’s accident, although his physical discomfort would remain a factor in the race.

Qualifying Classification

2007 Italian Grand Prix Qualifying, 8 September 2007

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:21.718	1:21.356	1:21.997	17
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	1:21.956	1:21.746	1:22.034	17
3	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:22.309	1:21.993	1:22.549	17
4	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:23.107	1:22.466	1:23.174	18
5	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:22.673	1:22.369	1:23.183	21
6	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:23.088	1:22.400	1:23.446	18
7	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	1:23.505	1:23.134	1:24.102	24
8	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	1:23.333	1:22.748	1:24.382	24
9	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:23.724	1:23.107	1:24.555	24
10	7	Jenson Button	Honda	1:23.639	1:23.021	1:25.165	23
11	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	1:23.575	1:23.166	—	13
12	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	1:23.474	1:23.176	—	13
13	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	1:23.739	1:23.209	—	11
14	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	1:23.646	1:23.274	—	12
15	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	1:23.559	1:23.325	—	13
16	19	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	1:23.578	1:23.351	—	15
17	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	1:23.749	—	—	5
18	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	1:23.787	—	—	7
19	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	1:23.886	—	—	6
20	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1:24.019	—	—	6
21	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	1:24.699	—	—	10
22	21	Sakon Yamamoto	Spyker	1:25.084	—	—	8

What happened in the 2007 Italian Grand Prix?

Fernando Alonso retained the lead, with Lewis Hamilton behind and Kimi Räikkönen moving ahead of Nick Heidfeld. David Coulthard crashed at Curva Grande early on, bringing out the safety car. Felipe Massa then retired with suspension trouble, leaving Kimi Räikkönen as Ferrari’s only remaining challenger.

Lewis Hamilton’s tyre vibration prompted an earlier first stop, while Kimi Räikkönen pursued a one-stop strategy. After the later stops, the Ferrari was ahead of Lewis Hamilton, but the McLaren driver attacked into the first chicane on softer tyres and reclaimed second. Kimi Räikkönen, still feeling the effects of his practice crash, could not prevent the move.

Fernando Alonso completed the win six seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, cutting the championship gap to three points. Kimi Räikkönen finished third, followed by Nick Heidfeld, Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg, with Heikki Kovalainen and Jenson Button taking the remaining points. McLaren had beaten Ferrari decisively on its home circuit.

After the race, Lewis Hamilton headed the drivers’ standings with 92 points, followed by Fernando Alonso on 89. McLaren led the constructors’ table on 166, with Ferrari on 143.

2007 Italian Grand Prix race results

The 2007 Italian Grand Prix was held on 9 September 2007, with a scheduled start of 14:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	53	1:18:37.806	10
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	53	+6.062	8
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	53	+27.325	6
4	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	53	+56.562	5
5	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	53	+1:00.558	4
6	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	53	+1:05.810	3
7	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	53	+1:06.751	2
8	7	Jenson Button	Honda	53	+1:12.168	1
9	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	53	+1:15.879	0
10	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	53	+1:16.958	0
11	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	53	+1:17.736	0
12	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	52	+1 lap	0
13	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	52	+1 lap	0
14	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	52	+1 lap	0
15	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	52	+1 lap	0
16	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	52	+1 lap	0
17	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	52	+1 lap	0
18	19	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	52	+1 lap	0
19	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	52	+1 lap	0
20	21	Sakon Yamamoto	Spyker	52	+1 lap	0
Ret	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	10	Suspension	0
Ret	14	David Coulthard	Red Bull Racing	1	Accident	0

2007 Italian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time	Avg. Speed
1	1	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	15	1:22.871	251.653
2	2	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren	17	1:22.936	251.456
3	6	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	21	1:23.370	250.147
4	9	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	19	1:23.681	249.217
5	10	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	22	1:23.908	248.543
6	5	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	8	1:23.971	248.357
7	4	Heikki Kovalainen	Renault	53	1:24.226	247.605
8	16	Nico Rosberg	Williams	52	1:24.472	246.884
9	7	Jenson Button	Honda	32	1:24.532	246.708
10	12	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	49	1:24.622	246.446
11	22	Takuma Sato	Super Aguri	49	1:24.669	246.309
12	8	Rubens Barrichello	Honda	52	1:24.767	246.024
13	15	Mark Webber	Red Bull Racing	46	1:24.824	245.859
14	3	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault	32	1:24.849	245.787
15	11	Ralf Schumacher	Toyota	49	1:24.951	245.492
16	17	Alexander Wurz	Williams	42	1:25.000	245.350
17	23	Anthony Davidson	Super Aguri	46	1:25.116	245.016
18	19	Sebastian Vettel	Toro Rosso	47	1:25.313	244.450
19	18	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Toro Rosso	45	1:25.373	244.278
20	20	Adrian Sutil	Spyker	30	1:25.377	244.267
21	21	Sakon Yamamoto	Spyker	34	1:25.478	243.978

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded.

2007 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2007 Italian Grand Prix.

2007 Post-Race F1 Drivers' Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	British	McLaren	92
2	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	McLaren	89
3	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	74
4	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Ferrari	69
5	Nick Heidfeld	German	BMW Sauber	52
6	Robert Kubica	Polish	BMW Sauber	33
7	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Renault	21
8	Giancarlo Fisichella	Italian	Renault	17
9	Alexander Wurz	Austrian	Williams	13
10	Nico Rosberg	German	Williams	12
11	Mark Webber	Australian	Red Bull Racing	8
12	David Coulthard	British	Red Bull Racing	8
13	Jarno Trulli	Italian	Toyota	7
14	Ralf Schumacher	German	Toyota	5
15	Takuma Sato	Japanese	Super Aguri	4
16	Jenson Button	British	Honda	2
17	Sebastian Vettel	German	BMW Sauber / Toro Rosso	1
18	Rubens Barrichello	Brazilian	Honda	0
19	Scott Speed	American	Toro Rosso	0
20	Anthony Davidson	British	Super Aguri	0
21	Adrian Sutil	German	Spyker	0
22	Christijan Albers	Dutch	Spyker	0
23	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italian	Toro Rosso	0
24	Sakon Yamamoto	Japanese	Spyker	0
–	Markus Winkelhock	German	Spyker	0

2007 Post-Race F1 Constructors' Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	McLaren	166
2	Ferrari	143
3	BMW Sauber	86
4	Renault	38
5	Williams	25
6	Red Bull Racing	16
7	Toyota	12
8	Super Aguri	4
9	Honda	2
10	Toro Rosso	0
11	Spyker	0

2007 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2007 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	18 March
2	2007 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	8 April
3	2007 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	15 April
4	2007 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya, Montmeló	13 May
5	2007 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	27 May
6	2007 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	10 June
7	2007 United States Grand Prix	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis	17 June
8	2007 French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours	1 July
9	2007 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	8 July
10	2007 European Grand Prix	Nürburgring, Nürburg	22 July
11	2007 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	5 August
12	2007 Turkish Grand Prix	Istanbul Park, Istanbul	26 August
13	2007 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	9 September
14	2007 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	16 September
15	2007 Japanese Grand Prix	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	30 September
16	2007 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	7 October
17	2007 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	21 October