When coming to Monza, Italy, a new regulation was introduced in terms of engine mapping. The pack was expected to be closer, as Mercedes were no longer allowed to use their "party mode" in qualifying.
However, in qualifying there was no sign of Mercedes' decreased performance. In Q1 they were the only team to use the medium compound, and they were absolutely flying. On the other hand, Ferrari's struggle with their performance continued at the Temple of Speed. There was a ridiculous traffic jam at Parabolica at the closing stages of the first session, as everyone tried to find the right track position to benefit from the tow. Harsh but true, P17 was all, that Sebastian had to offer at the wheel of his SF1000, whilst teammate Charles made it into Q2.
It was a bit surprising to see, that everyone came out on the soft rubber in Q2. The pecking order was certainly interesting, as Red Bull, too were struggling especially with their straight line speed. Albon was only barely able to make it into the final segment. McLaren and Racing Point, on the other hand, showed excellent pace, especially in the hands of Sainz and Perez. Mercedes' pace was so dominant, that they didn't even have to use slipstream to put together a perfect lap. It was sad to see, that on their home soil, the Red Team had literally turned into a midfield team, as Charles proved unable to make it higher than P13. What a pity!
The battle for pole was tight, but only between the Silver Arrows. Hamilton took provisional pole by 0.053s to his Finnish teammate. With or without "party mode", other teams didn't make it even close to Mercedes. Perez in third was six tenths down, and Verstappen in fourth was seven tenths off the six-time world champion's pace. Track limits at Parabolica were an issue at the power circuit of Monza, and Albon was only one of the many drivers, whose fastest lap time was deleted due to exceeding the track limits at Turn 11. Bottas raised the bar at the end of the session, as the Finn made it on top by a tenth of a second. In spite of the Finn's phenomenal lap, Hamilton still got the upper hand in the end, snatching his 94th career pole by 0.069s. It was a refreshing change to see Racing Point's Perez and McLaren's Sainz on the second row, as Verstappen had to settle for P5 this time. Norris in his sister McLaren lined up alongside the Dutchman.
Before the race I really hoped to see a non-Mercedes winner at Monza. I couldn't ever have dreamt of seeing a whole podium with no Mercedes drivers! How did that happen? Let's rewind back to the start...
Hamilton on pole took a flawless start, no mistakes whatsoever. Bottas, on the other hand, again failed at the start. Amazingly, the Finn dropped down to P6 on the opening lap. The McLarens absolutely capitalised the start, as Sainz jumped second and Norris third! Perez in his "pink Mercedes" was fourth, and the Mexican was followed by Ricciardo in his Renault. Meanwhile, at the back of the pack, Sebastian had proved unable to gain any positions at the start. The under-performing German was still in poor P17, as something dramatic happened on lap 6. Sebastian's SF1000 was hit with a brake failure, which caused him to cut the corner in full speed, hitting the bollards. Sebastian was able to nurture his Ferrari back into the pits, but his race was over. The truth hit me brutally; on their home soil the red car had neither pace, nor reliability!
Hamilton in the lead had a comfortable 8-second gap to Sainz. Teammate Bottas, on the other hand, was struggling with his performance in P6. The Finn reported on the team radio, that he was unable to race on the current engine setting. Verstappen was lurking right at the Finn's tail. There was also something wrong with the cooling system of Bottas' W11, as the Finn was told not to use slipstream. So the "party mode" prohibiting regulation seemed to have an effect on the Silver Arrow(s) after all.
Approaching the halfway point of the race, Magnussen's Haas came to a sudden halt on the finish straight near the pit entry. At first there were yellow flags, but a moment later safety car was deployed. Race leader Hamilton drove into the pits, switching to the hard compound. Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi followed the multiple world champion into the pits. For both of them it had gone unnoticed, that the pit entry had been closed at the time of their pit stops! This meant a crucial 10-second stop-and-go penalty for both of them!
As safety car was out, most drivers made their compulsory pit stop. This had an interesting effect on the pecking order; Hamilton was still leading the race, but Stroll in his "pink Mercedes" was now second and AlphaTauri's Gasly was third! Unbelievable but true, the Alfa Romeo duo of Giovinazzi and Räikkönen was fourth and fifth. Charles, who had already pitted before the safety car, took an awesome restart, jumping both Alfa Romeos and moving up to P4. Could there still be some light at the tunnel for the Red Team? A teeny tiny spark of hope awakened in me. However, in a blink of an eye the spark was blown out, as on lap 25 Charles lost the rear of his SF1000 at Parabolica, and the Monegasque was heavily thrown into the tyre wall. The crash damaged the tyre wall so significantly, that the race was red-flagged. All cars were to return to the pit lane.
After quite a delay to the race, a standing start was to take place. Hamilton maintained his lead, knowing, that he needed to pit and suffer his penalty. Stroll's restart was poor due to wheel spin, and Gasly made it past the Canadian. Kimi, too smelled his chance and overtook Stroll as well. Amazing but true, Kimi was now third in the race! As Hamilton pitted for the stop-and-go penalty, Kimi jumped second. Such big names as Bottas and Verstappen were far behind, Bottas in P8 and Verstappen in P11. The latter-mentioned hit trouble on lap 31, pitting and retiring from the race.
Kimi fought like a lion, but Alfa Romeo were lacking performance quite badly. No matter how hard the Iceman pushed, he got overtaken by the McLarens, the Racing Points and Renault's Ricciardo one by one. Due to the penalty Hamilton had dropped down to the very back of the pack, but ironically it was Hamilton, who finally dropped Kimi out of points.
The last five laps were such a thriller. Sainz chased down Gasly tenth by tenth, making it within DRS distance from the Frenchman on the very final lap. Sainz was so hungry for the victory and attacked the AlphaTauri pilot, but Gasly crossed the finish line as the race winner for the very first time in his F1 career! Gasly making his way from P10 to victory was exactly what F1 needed at this point! What a delightful moment it was for Gasly and the AlphaTauri team! Sainz, too scored his career best result by finishing the runner-up. Stroll finished third for Racing Point, so there were no Mercedes drivers on the podium! Norris finished fourth in the sister McLaren, leaving Bottas in disappointing P5. Ricciardo finished sixth for Renault, and Hamilton finally made it up to P7.
In the end, the Italian GP saw an Italian team win, and the national anthem of Italy was played on the podium. Due to Verstappen's retirement, Bottas took over the second place in the drivers' championship standings. The last race of this triple-header takes place in Mugello, Italy already this week. Mugello marks the Red Team's 1000th GP in the history of Formula 1. It's so exciting to see a new venue on the calendar! Forza Ferrari!
With passion for racing red,
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