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2016 Italian Grand Prix race recap

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is called the Temple of Power. Furthermore, the winning driver in Italy started on pole in 13 of the last 16 years, and only one driver in that time has won the Italian GP from behind the front row of the grid: Rubens Barrichello in 2002 and 2009. By this point in the current Formula 1 season (era?) we know what it means when a track emphasizes both power and pole position: Mercedes-AMG Petronas. The Silver Arrows locked out the front row with Lewis Hamilton on pole. A poor start prevented the Briton from capitalizing on the advantage, so teammate Nico Rosberg and four other drivers swept by him before the end of the second turn. Mercedes would later say a clutch issue caused Hamilton's botched start, but that didn't help the man who'd just fallen to sixth place. Rosberg got about two laps of television coverage on his way to an unbothered victory ahead of Hamilton. Ferrari made Hamilton's second-place finish easier by sticking to a two-stop strategy; both Mercedes drivers pitted once. We aren't sure why Ferrari didn't at least attempt a one-stopper once Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had been gifted second and third on track. A pit stop took about 23 seconds from entry to exit and Vettel finished third, six seconds behind Hamilton. Raikkonen finished fourth, another seven seconds behind Vettel. Perhaps the Scuderia's tire usage wouldn't allow longer stints, but we'll never know. Daniel Ricciardo wielded his Red Bull like a scalpel to make an impeccable pass on Valtteri Bottas in the Williams and take fifth place. Ricciardo, trailing another Italian province behind, somehow closed the gap on Bottas in just the braking zone of Turn 1, pulling alongside near the apex without locking a wheel on entry nor running wide on exit. Bottas claimed sixth ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez in the Force India, Felipe Massa in the second Williams, and Nico Hulkenberg in the second Force India sealing the top ten. Monza did spring a few on-track surprises. Esteban Gutierrez drove Haas F1 into Q3 for the first time this season, the Mexican setting the sixth-best time in Q2. Manor Racing planned for Monza all season, Pascal Wehrlein repaying the effort by qualifying 13th. Fernando Alonso pitted his McLaren on Lap 50 of the 53-lap race for a set of super soft Pirellis, then set the fastest lap. It's Honda's first fastest lap since 1992. The biggest moments happened off the track.

Ferrari 458 Speciale Spider will make Paris debut

The news out of Ferrari is coming nearly as fast as its wonderful sports cars, as of late, with CEO Luca di Montezemolo stepping down and a special model for America upcoming. Now, it's looking increasingly likely that the 458 Speciale Spider is making its world debut at the 2014 Paris Motor Show in early October, confirming earlier rumors.
Di Montezemolo had already confirmed that the Prancing Horse would unveil a new car in Paris, but exactly which model it would be had been a mystery. However, an unnamed Ferrari insider has recently confirmed to 4WheelNews that it would be the droptop Speciale.
As the name suggests, the special model takes the sonorous 4.5-liter V8 engine from the 458 Speciale with 597 horsepower and 398 pound-feet of torque and drops it into the convertible hardtop from the Spider. According to the source, the special Ferrari is also getting new wheels, stripes and seats, but the folding top might mean losing the coupe's transparent engine cover.

Jules Bianchi was supposed to replace Raikkonen at Ferrari

Formula One lost one of its budding talents when Jules Bianchi sadly succumbed to his injuries just days ago. But few knew just how promising his future looked prior to the crash that ultimately took his life. Luca di Montezemolo did, though. In a tribute written for Italy's Gazzetto dello Sport, the former Ferrari chairman revealed that Bianchi had been earmarked to eventually replace Kimi Raikkonen. "Jules Bianchi was one of us," wrote Montezemolo. "He was a member of the Ferrari family and was the racing driver we had chosen for the future, once the collaboration with Kimi Raikkonen came to an end." The news may come as something of a surprise, but doesn't come entirely out of left field. Bianchi had been part of the Ferrari Driver Academy development program. He rose up through the ranks of the feeder formulae largely with ART Grand Prix, the team run by Nicholas Todt, son of the former Ferrari chief and FIA president. He served as a test driver for the Scuderia in 2011, and scored his first and only F1 championship points driving a Ferrari-powered Marussia at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix. He stood in for Kimi at Ferrari during a test session at Silverstone (where he was pictured above), but tragically crashed during the Japanese Grand Prix, and finally succumbing over this past weekend to the injuries he sustained in the collision nine months prior. Bianchi "would be the one driving for Ferrari after the experience in GP2 and after some fine performances in F1 and in some tests that had our technicians very impressed," wrote Montezemolo. "A bitter destiny has instead taken him away from us, leaving an indelible mark and a great pain inside us." Bianchi is scheduled to be interred on Tuesday in the French Riviera city of Nice, just down the coast from where he made his mark last year. And, in a touching tribute, the FIA has said it will retire the number 17 from the F1 World Championship. The tragic loss leaves Ferrari searching for another driver to replace Raikkonen. The Finnish driver won the championship for Maranello in 2007, was shown the door in 2010, returned to F1 with Lotus in 2012, but has struggled to find his form again. Last season he finished a lamentable twelfth, but has shown better form this season with a second-place finish in Bahrain to sit fifth in the standings. Now 35 years old, Kimi is one of the older drivers on the grid.