MONZA - Ragazze-hostess @ Monza.
Jenson on Monza:
"I head to Monza absolutely full of motivation after a fantastic result in Spa. It was the perfect weekend for me – it’s not only put me back in contention for the drivers’ championship, but it’s shown that we have a car that can definitely fight for the constructors’ title.
It’ll be great to be back in the car so soon after the victory. Monza is one of the greatest circuits in the world and our car seems to be particularly well suited to high-speed circuits, so I’m optimistic that we’ll be competitive again this weekend.
For some reason, the car we’ve brought to Monza in the last two seasons has been really well suited to me. I’ve really been able to work with the balance and enjoyed pushing the car. The success we had with a low-downforce configuration at Spa also gives us cause for optimism.
I’ve finished second here in both my previous races for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (+in 2009 with Brawn) – I’ll definitely be going for the win this weekend.”
Monza is one of the most iconic racetracks in the world. Built in 1922 (90th anniversary this year) in a royal park north of Milan, the circuit is an eclectic mix of old and new: the crumbling banking that formed part of the original layout still lies adjacent to the m
odern racetrack, which is the fastest of the 2012 season.
The vociferous Italian fans, known colloquially as the Tifosi, are sure to give every team a lot of support during this, the last European race of the 2012 season. Neither Lewis nor Jenson has previously won at Monza, although Jenson has finished second in each of the past three races at the track.
"...reminds me of fashion, football, fantastic food and the fans"
"it's set in amazing city of Milan which provides a beautiful backdrop with the Duomo... I hear it's good for shopping too, shame we don't have time"
There are rumours about him joining Mercedes.
Jenson Button has said he is "surprised and disappointed" that his McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton revealed secrets of their car on Twitter before the Belgian Grand Prix. The whole team – and particularly Button's side of the garage – were upset when Hamilton posted the confidential information on his Twitter account. It was quickly taken down.
Button, who won Sunday's race from pole, his 14th victory, to leap back into contention for the Formula One drivers' championship, said: "We work so hard to improve the car and keep things like that secret and private. I didn't want to see it on Twitter. It was the whole telemetry from qualifying. It wasn't just the rear wing. I was very surprised and disappointed."
Button does not plan to speak to Hamilton about the incident: "I think it's done now. I don't think it's for me to be angry with Lewis. It's not a personal thing."
Referring to other information posted by Hamilton, Button said: "The bit about the time on the straights isn't the bit that's important to me. He should be gaining it back in the corners because he's got more downforce on anyway. And I was eight tenths quicker in qualifying anyway."
After being beaten by Button in qualifying, Hamilton sent a number of bewildering tweets. One read: "Damn, WTF!! Jenson has the new rear wing on, I have the old. We voted to change, didn't work out. I lose 0.4 tenths just on the straight. Nothing I could do. Now, it's about picking up every point I can from there. Jenson should win easy with that speed."
This, and other messages, were swiftly removed. But it was the tweet revealing secret telemetry information that most angered the team.
Christian Horner, Red Bull's team principal, said: "I have not really seen the tweet in detail but as I understand it, it is car data. If it is, then that is very valuable and I am sure every engineer in the pit lane would be having a close look at it. One of our drivers' would not be able to do that. It would be a breach of confidentially."
Another team chief told Autosport that Hamilton's information had been "gold dust" for his engineers in understanding the performance of the McLaren.
A clearly embarrassed Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team principal, said the team had asked Hamilton to delete the tweet but that he would not be taking any further action. He said: "I think he made an error of judgment and we asked him to take that one down and he did. I think he realises that [his error] and I don't think it's had an impact on his weekend."
When asked if he felt it was a breach of confidentiality, Whitmarsh said: "I don't think … no. It was corrected fairly quickly and apologised for. We move on."
The best way for McLaren to move on would be to renew Hamilton's five-year contract, which runs out at the end of the year. It should have been sorted in the summer.
Last season, when there were problems on and off the track, was the most tumultuous in Hamilton's career. One problem for the 2007 world champion was that Button was the better driver in 2011. Another was that Hamilton sensed that Button was the more popular driver within the team.
That problem must not be allowed to resurface but Hamilton's state of mind, in the light of his strange tweeting, must be the cause of some conjecture.
The introduction of closed cockpits will be on the agenda following Sunday's first-corner accident, which took out Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez and Romain Grosjean, the driver blamed and punished for the pile-up. It was the Frenchman's seventh incident in 12 races and he is suspended from this Sunday's Italian Grand Prix at Monza and has been fined €50,000 (£40,000).
Paddy Lowe, McLaren's technical director, said the incident will increase the push being made to change cockpit designs, possibly in 2014.
