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Formula 1 Italian GP

2009 Italian Grand Prix Race day at Monza

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Lap 18: Nico Rosberg is also into the pits from 19th place. He rejoins after a slow pitlane time of 39.9 seconds from entrance to exit. Not a smooth stop there for the Williams team.
Lap 18: Adrian Sutil pits from second on the road.
Lap 18: Liuzzi resumes ahead of Kovalainen, who is having an awful afternoon in the second McLaren.
Lap 18: Kovalainen looks for a KERS-powered move into the Roggia but Liuzzi defends it well.
Lap 19: The one-stoppers down the field are beginning to speed up as their fuel load lightens, but the gaps between each driver are fairly static with no immediate battles for position.
Lap 19: Kimi Raikkonen is due in the pits this time.
Lap 20: Sebastian Vettel in ninth is now slowly beginning to close down that gap to Kovalainen. The gap between them is 6.2 seconds.
Lap 20: Raikkonen takes soft rubber and heads back out, slotting in between Liuzzi and Alonso.
Lap 20: Jaime Alguersuari comes into the pits from 17th position in the Toro Rosso.
Lap 21: Rubens Barrichello now leads for Brawn in a critical phase for the Brazilian ahead of his single stop.
Lap 21: There is a problem for the Spaniard and he is wheeled into the garage. Alguersuari retires.
Lap 21: Button is second, with Hamilton now third, 11.4 seconds off the lead.
Lap 22: Raikkonen managed to maintain position over Sutil at that first stop, with the Force India losing ground and falling behind Alonso. Raikkonen is fighting with the Brawns for the podium places but being behind Liuzzi is far from ideal for the Ferrari.
Lap 23: Barrichello sets his best lap of the afternoon as Jenson Button clocks a similar time, 2.1 seconds behind.
Lap 23: Giancarlo Fisichella is running well in 11th place. He has a nice buffer of eight seconds over Nakajima in 12th.
Lap 23: Lewis Hamilton is told on the radio to find another three or four tenths to beat the Brawns.
Lap 24: The wonderful weekend is over for Tonio Liuzzi. The Italian has pulled off at the exit of the Roggia chicane while running fourth.
Lap 25: Liuzzi climbs out of the car after a good drive in the early laps in the Force India.
Lap 25: Jenson Button is faster on the latest lap as he closes to 1.9 seconds behind his team-mate. They are now building a margin back to Hamilton - now 12.9 seconds.
Lap 25: Vettel is slowly catching Kovalainen. This is now a race for seventh following Liuzzi's retirement. The gap is now 5.5 seconds.
Lap 26: The Brawn pair push eachother on at the front and their pace relative to Hamilton is going in their favour for the win.
Lap 27: There could be some fun and games with the one-stoppers down the field soon. Kazuki Nakajima in 11th is very slowly being caught by both Toyotas. All three are on a similar strategy and it should be a good race between them.
Lap 27: Fernando Alonso pits from sixth, taking hard rubber and his fuel to the finish.
Lap 27: Alonso has resumed 10th at the moment, ahead of Nakajima.
Lap 28: Rubens Barrichello sets the fastest lap as he pushes strongly at this phase. 1m24.99s is now the best time of the day and the race is swinging in his favour.
Lap 28: Vettel and Kovalainen pit together for their one stop of the afternoon and a lengthy run to the end.
Lap 28: Jenson Button pits his Brawn from second.
Lap 29: Button is away with his tyres and fuel to the finish, resuming in a large piece of clear space.
Lap 29: Vettel had been chipping away at the gap to Kovalainen prior to the stop, but it has worked out badly for the Red Bull driver. He rejoins behind the Alonso-Nakajima-Trulli group.
Lap 29: Button is now fifth and pushing hard but Barrichello should be able to stay ahead with a later stop.
Lap 29: Barrichello pits from the lead.
Lap 30: Kovalainen rejoined in 11th place, with Glock 12th and Vettel 13th. Glock isn't due to pit for another 10 laps.
Lap 30: The hefty one-stop fuel load goes into the Brawn and he is away, well ahead of his team-mate.
Lap 30: Hamilton now leads from fellow two-stoppers Raikkonen and Sutil. Barrichello is now fourth with Button fifth.
Lap 31: Glock has a light car at the moment in 12th and will be dismayed to see the KERS-aided Kovalainen pull out from the pits ahead of him.
Lap 31: Hamilton must now take advantage of the heavy Brawns to build enough of a gap to make a final stop.

Lewis is currently 14.1 seconds ahead of Barrichello and that's not enough.
Lap 31: Fisichella has moved up to seventh with the recent round of stops. The Italian now pits himself and falls out of the points.
Lap 31: Hamilton sets the fastest middle sector as his push for victory begins.
Lap 32: Hamilton reports okay balance at the moment and requests the harder tyre for the final stint.
Lap 32: Nick Heidfeld has made good progress with a light car in recent laps. He comes into the pits from sixth and will be looking to jump Vettel.

By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton

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