Yea, that's right! It's FOUR straight podium finishes for my main man, Kimi Raikkonen. Like I said in the post below, I would definitely miss the main part of the race if not all of it and I did miss it for the most part. But I got home in time for the last lap of the race.
So, there I was, barely had my Melissas off (oh, yea, I've gotten them already and have been using for about 2 weeks now :D) and I rushed straight to my living room, switched the tele on and the first thing I saw was Fernando Alonso driving around in sixth place. I was going, "C'mon, c'mon, either show me Kimi or give me the running race classifications!". I'm so anxious and the anxiety is getting the better of me as my voice has raised by several notches. I do realize that I'm yelling at the television.
Then, as if in answer to all the shouting, the ticker appears at the bottom of the screen. I see BAR in first, BUT in second and I'm crossing my fingers and hoping so hard that the next one was going to be RAI in third but it was HAM in third and RAI was classified fourth. I was disappointed but needed to see the times before making any further conclusions on the outcome of Monza.
21 FRICKIN SECONDS BEHIND HAM? Ok, that definitely rules out a dogfight for third. As, I'm lamenting ever so loudly about the non-podium finish to my sister (who suprised me with a visit today and will be leaving tomorrow morning), I suddenly see a McLaren spinning into the barriers and effectively crashing out of the race. I am frantically trying to catch the colour of his helmet and when the spinning finally stops, I see.....the yellow top of HAMILTON'S RACE HELMET!
And that's when I totally lose it! I actually started yelling, "YES! YES! YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!" with both arms in the air, fists pumping before sinking to the ground in complete and utter disbelief and pleasure. "OMG, he's third, he's third, he gets a podium, I can't believe it. God did answer my prayers! I don't care that it's gifted!". My sister is by now looking at me as if I've completely lost it (which I have) and actually says to me, "Geez, Zlena, don't be so overdramatic. Calm yourself, that's totally OTT".
At this point, I'm so happy, I just don't care. Kimi is then shown driving to the chequered flag with a really fast Force India on his rear wing but since the last lap was under the safety car, no overtaking was allowed and Sutil was simply showboating by getting the gap down to less than half a second at the last corner of the race. It's a move I believe he made because he was sore he could not take Kimi's spot in the offical race standings and wanted to effecively convey that he had the faster car and Kimi just managed to keep in front of him because of his KERS button. I mean, if he had managed to jump Kimi, he would have been the one promoted to third by that mistake by Hamilton. But like I've said before, what coulda, shoulda, woulda doesn't count. It's what you just do that brings the results. Or not in Hamilton's case.
And yes, I, like any other rational fan, can completely admit without any shame, that podium rightly should have gone to the faster car which was McLaren Mercedes driven by Lewis Hamilton. But in pushing for second spot (he was trying to close on Button who was about a second up from him and completely uncatchable considering they were on the last lap anyway and he should have just turned down his engine and cruised to third), he rode the kerbs too hard and the rear stepped out on him, causing his spin and subsequent meeting with the tyre walls. That's a racing mistake and Hamilton rightly admits so.
And for Kimi, he drove a great enough race with the equipment given to him. People can lament all they want about why and how Kimi managed to keep Giancarlo Fisichella off of the top step in Belgium or how Adrian Sutil was not in third place in Monza but the fact of the matter is, you make use of all that the car has to offer. If it means there's an extra 80bhp available for you to use to defend/attack in a race, you use it. And anyways, if it wasn't for Kimi's own experience and talent in driving, do people really think he could have kept Fisichella behind him at a gap of around 1 second for 39 LAPS in Spa? Could he really keep Sutil's Force India from getting the better off him just because of a KERS button? That Force India is a really fast car. In comparison, the Ferrari was looking really slow. Let's not even put it in the same league as Brawn and McLaren because it clearly isn't.
So that's the Italian GP of 2009. Even if Kimi is not driving for Ferrai next year, I am past the point of being concerned. I'm over the whole 2010 Ferrari driver speculation. If you refuse to confirm/deny Kimi being in your lineup for next year, so be it. My driver has SHOWN, nay, PROVEN, that he is a force to be reckoned with even
So, there I was, barely had my Melissas off (oh, yea, I've gotten them already and have been using for about 2 weeks now :D) and I rushed straight to my living room, switched the tele on and the first thing I saw was Fernando Alonso driving around in sixth place. I was going, "C'mon, c'mon, either show me Kimi or give me the running race classifications!". I'm so anxious and the anxiety is getting the better of me as my voice has raised by several notches. I do realize that I'm yelling at the television.
Then, as if in answer to all the shouting, the ticker appears at the bottom of the screen. I see BAR in first, BUT in second and I'm crossing my fingers and hoping so hard that the next one was going to be RAI in third but it was HAM in third and RAI was classified fourth. I was disappointed but needed to see the times before making any further conclusions on the outcome of Monza.
21 FRICKIN SECONDS BEHIND HAM? Ok, that definitely rules out a dogfight for third. As, I'm lamenting ever so loudly about the non-podium finish to my sister (who suprised me with a visit today and will be leaving tomorrow morning), I suddenly see a McLaren spinning into the barriers and effectively crashing out of the race. I am frantically trying to catch the colour of his helmet and when the spinning finally stops, I see.....the yellow top of HAMILTON'S RACE HELMET!
And that's when I totally lose it! I actually started yelling, "YES! YES! YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!" with both arms in the air, fists pumping before sinking to the ground in complete and utter disbelief and pleasure. "OMG, he's third, he's third, he gets a podium, I can't believe it. God did answer my prayers! I don't care that it's gifted!". My sister is by now looking at me as if I've completely lost it (which I have) and actually says to me, "Geez, Zlena, don't be so overdramatic. Calm yourself, that's totally OTT".
At this point, I'm so happy, I just don't care. Kimi is then shown driving to the chequered flag with a really fast Force India on his rear wing but since the last lap was under the safety car, no overtaking was allowed and Sutil was simply showboating by getting the gap down to less than half a second at the last corner of the race. It's a move I believe he made because he was sore he could not take Kimi's spot in the offical race standings and wanted to effecively convey that he had the faster car and Kimi just managed to keep in front of him because of his KERS button. I mean, if he had managed to jump Kimi, he would have been the one promoted to third by that mistake by Hamilton. But like I've said before, what coulda, shoulda, woulda doesn't count. It's what you just do that brings the results. Or not in Hamilton's case.
And yes, I, like any other rational fan, can completely admit without any shame, that podium rightly should have gone to the faster car which was McLaren Mercedes driven by Lewis Hamilton. But in pushing for second spot (he was trying to close on Button who was about a second up from him and completely uncatchable considering they were on the last lap anyway and he should have just turned down his engine and cruised to third), he rode the kerbs too hard and the rear stepped out on him, causing his spin and subsequent meeting with the tyre walls. That's a racing mistake and Hamilton rightly admits so.
And for Kimi, he drove a great enough race with the equipment given to him. People can lament all they want about why and how Kimi managed to keep Giancarlo Fisichella off of the top step in Belgium or how Adrian Sutil was not in third place in Monza but the fact of the matter is, you make use of all that the car has to offer. If it means there's an extra 80bhp available for you to use to defend/attack in a race, you use it. And anyways, if it wasn't for Kimi's own experience and talent in driving, do people really think he could have kept Fisichella behind him at a gap of around 1 second for 39 LAPS in Spa? Could he really keep Sutil's Force India from getting the better off him just because of a KERS button? That Force India is a really fast car. In comparison, the Ferrari was looking really slow. Let's not even put it in the same league as Brawn and McLaren because it clearly isn't.
So that's the Italian GP of 2009. Even if Kimi is not driving for Ferrai next year, I am past the point of being concerned. I'm over the whole 2010 Ferrari driver speculation. If you refuse to confirm/deny Kimi being in your lineup for next year, so be it. My driver has SHOWN, nay, PROVEN, that he is a force to be reckoned with even
