Expectations were running high, as the F1 caravan moved to Monza, "the Temple of Speed", which was considered to be the Red Team's kingdom. The grandstands were filled with Tifosi, whose hearts beat for one team only. And this time the Tifosi's hopes were answered!
The red cars, Charles especially, showed great performance in the qualifying session. Mercedes had to settle for the role of the challenging team. Red Bull's Verstappen, on the other hand, had already been handed a massive grid penalty due to power unit element changes, and the Dutchman was to start to the race from the back of the pack. He didn't even set a lap time in Q1, which left questions in the air about Red Bull's true pace. Renault was the most positive surprise, as both Ricciardo and Hulkenberg were extremely competitive at the power circuit of Monza.
But what the qualifying session will be mostly remembered of, was the farce it turned into in the final segment. No driver wanted to be the leading car on the track due to lack of tow, which meant losing a few tenths in a lap. Drivers did bizarre things to avoid being the leading car. The Mercedes drivers left their pit garages first, but they stopped at the pit exit! That forced Sebastian to be the first man on track. But he made a fake lock-up into Turn 1, cutting the corner, hoping that other drivers would pass him. But instead, all drivers followed him, cutting the corner as well! The last session was interrupted by a red flag, as Kimi in his Alfa Romeo spun and ended up into the tyre wall. Charles had just gone fastest, with Hamilton second, only 0.039s down on the flying Monegasque. Bottas had been on his way to provisional pole, but the Finn had had to slow down due to the yellow flags. Sebastian was fourth, 0.15s down on his teammate. As the session was resumed, drivers' determination to avoid being the leading car on track reached a whole new dimension. The clock kept ticking, but everyone stayed stubbornly in his pit garage! Finally, with only two minutes remaining, Hulkenberg in his Renault led the cars out. Hulkenberg followed Sebastian's earlier example of cutting the corner in Turn 1. Instead of following the German, the others slowed down and waited for Hulkenberg to re-join the track and keep his lead. This meant, that Leclerc and McLaren's Sainz were the only drivers to make it to the chequered flag in time! And Charles didn't need to improve, as he had pole in his hands already!
In spite of the farce, Charles definitely deserved his back-to-back pole. On Sunday the question on everyone's lips was, whether Charles would be able to convert pole into victory. The last Ferrari winner at Monza had been Alonso in 2010, so it was about time to get a new Ferrari winner! And Charles gave the Tifosi, what they desperately needed!
In spite of "the red pressure" Charles kept his head cool and took a fantastic start, maintaining his lead. Momentarily Bottas managed to rise ahead of his teammate, but Hamilton claimed his second place back. Sebastian, who had started to the race from P4, lost a position to Renault's Hulkenberg, but thanks to Ferrari's superior straight line speed, he managed to move ahead of his fellow countryman on the long straight. Verstappen, who had started from the very back of the pack, missed the braking point into Turn 1. Going wide caused him a front wing damage, and the Red Bull ace had to pit for a new nose cone.
It seemed, that there was an intense battle evolving within the top four drivers, who were all within four seconds. However, there was drama to come already on lap 6. Pushing flat out, Sebastian spun at Parabolica! Typical of a racing driver, he was in a rush to re-join the track as fast as he could. But spinning his Lina around, he unfortunately didn't see Racing Point's Stroll, who approached the corner with full throttle. It turned into a very dangerous situation, as Stroll had to make a dodge to avoid hitting Sebastian. The manoeuvre caused the Canadian to spin on the grass. When Stroll was re-joining the track, there was another dangerous situation. This time it was Toro Rosso's Gasly, who had to make a dodge not to hit Stroll. Sebastian managed to continue the race, but obviously his race was ruined. The stewards took both incidents into investigation, and both drivers were penalized. Sebastian was handed a 10-second stop-and-go penalty, whilst Stroll got a drive-through penalty for re-joining the track in an unsafe manner.
Race leader Leclerc wasn't able to shake off the Mercedes drivers. Interestingly, the top two teams had a different tyre strategy. Hamilton pitted for a fresh set of medium tyres, whilst Leclerc opted for the white-walled hard compound. Bottas, on the other hand, drove a longer first stint, pitting eight laps later than Leclerc, also for a fresh set of medium Pirellis. After the pit stop roulette Charles got immense pressure from Hamilton, who was in a true hunting mood. Charles did prove vulnerable; he locked up his tyres, which enabled Hamilton to get right at the gear box of Charles' SF90, and the overtaking move was almost floating in the air. In spite of his mistake, Charles honorably defended his lead.
Towards the end of the race, Bottas benefited from his fresher tyres. As teammate Hamilton was battling with Charles, the Finn managed to decrease the gap to the fighting duo. With ten laps to go, Hamilton made a rarely-seen mistake, going into Turn 1. Bottas thanked his teammate for the opportunity and moved past, taking the second place. Renault's Ricciardo was so far behind, that Hamilton, whose tyres were gone, could easily afford a second pit stop. On fresh soft tyres the Briton started hunting the fastest lap time.
Bottas was hungry to deprive Charles of the victory, but the mission was extremely difficult. With two laps to go, Bottas had made it within striking distance from the leading Monegasque. But immediately, when Valtteri was close enough to try a move, he made a small mistake, and Charles ran away! Charles took his second career win in front of the passionate Tifosi, which made the victory even more perfect. Hamilton had banged the fastest lap time on the second last lap, and completed the podium together with Valtteri. Renault made an impressive job, as Ricciardo finished the race 4th and teammate Hulkenberg 5th. Albon was the better one of the Red Bull drivers, finishing 6th (Verstappen 8th).
Charles is definitely having a dream year at Ferrari, and his success is fully deserved. His only worry is not to let himself be intoxicated by the success! Sebastian's career, on the other hand, seems to be in a crisis. Setbacks and mistakes follow one after another, and it has turned into a massive snow ball effect. How to stop that snow ball from rolling on?
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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