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Formula 1 Italian GP

2009 Italian Grand Prix Race day at Monza

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Lap 1: Through the Lesmo corners for the first time it is Hamilton from Raikkonen, Sutil, Barrichello, Button and Kovalainen.
Lap 2: There is a shunt towards the back of the field at the Roggia chicane. Mark Webber has crashed the Red Bull and is out of the race already.
Lap 2: Heikki Kovalainen is dropping down the field as Liuzzi blasts by him into Parabolica.
Lap 2: It has been a terrible opening lap for Kovalainen, falling to seventh.
Lap 3: Fernando Alonso muscles his way past Sebastian Vettel at the Roggia on lap 2, and the German loses out to Kubica into the first Lesmo. Alonso is up to eighth, Kubica ninth and Vettel 10th in the early stages.
Lap 3: Lewis Hamilton leads from Raikkonen and Sutil. These three now need to push and get away from the Brawn pair, who now lead the one-stop challenge.
Lap 3: Great moves there by Alonso and Kubica. Vettel's afternoon is already compromised heavily.
Lap 4: Fernando Alonso is challenging Kovalainen for seventh. Heikki is struggling for pace so far today.
Lap 4: Giancarlo Fisichella has made a good start in the Ferrari and is up to 11th place.
Lap 4: Lewis Hamilton sets the fastest lap as he pulls 2.1 seconds clear of Raikkonen.
Lap 4: Romain Grosjean has lost several places after a mistake. He falls to the rear of the field in the Renault.
Lap 4: Fernando Alonso makes his move on Kovalainen into the first chicane, taking seventh away from the Finn with a good move down the inside.
Lap 5: Hamilton is flying off at the front on a pace that might be enough to make his strategy pay off. He's now 7.6 seconds clear of leading one-stop man Barrichello.
Lap 6: Nico Rosberg is coming into the pits ... and there is a problem with the right front. Rosberg gets rid of the hard tyres and switches them for a set of the softer compound.
Lap 6: Robert Kubica is running with a damaged front wing. The Pole is choosing to stay out there for this first stint.

Replays show that it was his BMW that tagged Mark Webber at the Roggia on the opening lap.
Lap 7: Kubica is ninth and losing ground to the pack. Sebastian Vettel is still tucked up behind him.
Lap 7: Hamilton continues to set the pace with a clear track in font of him. His advantage is now nearly 10 seconds over Barrichello and could be on course to make two-stops the winning strategy.
Lap 8: Another driver who has made good progress in the opening laps is Kazuki Nakajima. He has a heavy load of fuel on board and runs in 13th place.
Lap 8: Robert Kubica is being shown the black and orange flag, warning him that his car is not safe and he should come into the pits.
Lap 9: Kubica runs ninth at the moment, but is now backing up Vettel, Heidfeld and Fisichella behind him.
Lap 9: Raikkonen continues in second but is now 4.2 seconds behind Hamilton. Adrian Sutil remains a strong third, just a second further adrift.
Lap 9: Kubica does not answer the call and continues over the line to begin another lap.
Lap 10: Adrian Sutil sets the fastest first sector as he continues to push Raikkonen.
Lap 10: This four-car scrap is the closest fight on the circuit. Kubica now comes into the pits and the BMW team will change the front wing.
Lap 10: Rubens Barrichello sets his best lap as the fuel begins to burn off in the Brawn. He is now 12.4 seconds behind Hamilton and needs to hope Lewis is caught in traffic after his first stop.
Lap 10: It is a straight-forward nose change for the Polish driver. He rejoins at the rear of the field. This promotes Vettel to ninth and Heidfeld to 10th.
Lap 11: Vettel has lost a lot of time being stuck behind Kubica for those early laps. He is a full eight seconds adrift of Heikki Kovalainen, who is eighth.
Lap 12: Fernando Alonso is approaching the back of Liuzzi's Force India in a battle for sixth.
Lap 13: Hamilton's progress continues out front, while Barrichello's pace is improving and he is pusing hard to try and remain in contention.
Lap 13: Hamilton reports a slightly oversteery balance on the car and his team say they will swap to the harder tyre at the first stop.
Lap 13: Away from the points, there is little in the way of close battles.

Vettel is ninth with Heidfeld 10th, Fisichella 11th, Nakajima 12th, Trulli 13th, Glock 14th, Buemi 15th and Alguersuari in 16th place.
Lap 14: Hamilton again sets the fastest lap at 1m25.032s as he pulls 16.1 seconds clear of Barrichello. The leader is on course to come out in the top eight after his first stop.
Lap 14: Romain Grosjean is 17th with the two early pit visitors, Kubica and Rosberg, running in 18th and 19th.
Lap 15: Fastest lap again goes to Hamilton but the world champion needs to maintain this push all afternoon to make this aggressive strategy pay off.
Lap 15: Hamilton heads in for his first stop.
Lap 16: Sebastian Vettel has been in clear air for several laps since Robert Kubica was brought into the pits, but as yet he is unable to close down that eight second deficit to Kovalainen.

They continue circulating in eighth and ninth.
Lap 16: As expected, Lewis swaps to the harder rubber and is away with fuel for the second stint.
Lap 16: It has worked out well for Hamilton as he resumes ahead of Liuzzi in a large gap behind Jenson Button.
Lap 17: Robert Kubica comes into the pits and there is clearly more wrong than a front wing change. Kubica retires.
Lap 17: The order is now Raikkonen, Sutil, Barrichello, Button, Hamilton, Liuzzi and Alonso.

By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton

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