There was breaking news in the build-up to the first-ever Tuscan GP; the "public secret" became a confirmed fact, as Racing Point announced, that Sebastian Vettel has been signed for Aston Martin for 2021 and beyond. So in eight races Sebastian's era in the red comes to an end, and Ferrari red will turn into Aston Martin green.
The Tuscan GP marked the Red Team's 1000th GP in the history of Formula 1. To mark this impressive milestone, the Scuderia ran its cars in a special burgundy colour scheme.
Fortunes change quickly in the F1 world. Monza hero Gasly was now the first driver to be knocked out of Q2, so for the Frenchman it was from hero to zero in just a week. The soft tyres brought to Tuscany were the C3 version instead of the softest C2 compound, which explained, why everyone came out on the softs in Q2. Bottas had set the benchmark in the first segment, but now tables turned in terms of the Mercedes drivers. Verstappen got impressively close, as the gap to Hamilton was less than two tenths. Teammate Albon had also found the rhythm under the Tuscan sun, and the Thai driver was fourth. Home team Ferrari, on the other hand, still kept struggling. Charles managed to push the SF1000 to the limit and make it among the top ten, but Sebastian had to settle for modest P14.
Q3 came down to the battle between the Mercedes teammates. Hamilton nailed a flying banker lap, taking provisional pole by some hundredths of a second only. Red Bull had a grab on the second row, as Verstappen was third and teammate Albon fourth. Racing Point's Perez was fifth but 1.2 seconds off the pace already. Unfortunately the end of the decisive last session turned into an anticlimax. Hamilton proved unable to improve his lap time on his last run, as wind had picked up at the end. Thanks to a magical last sector, Verstappen managed to improve his lap time by a tenth. However, last-minute drama brought out the yellow flags; Renault's Ocon pushed his car too much to the limit, and the Frenchman span on the gravel. This ruined the second run for Bottas, who had topped all three free practice sessions at Mugello. Charles happened to be at the right place at the right time, getting away from the yellow flags. The Monegasque made it in P5, which was a superb result, considering Ferrari's lack of performance. The "pink Mercedes" of Perez and Stroll lined up in sixth and seventh, although the teammates were to start to the race in reversed order. Perez had been given a 1-place grid penalty due to his collision with Kimi in FP2.
On his way to the grid Verstappen reported about an engine issue. The mechanics were working busy on the car up until the very last minute. As the lights went out for the very first time under the Tuscan sun, Bottas took the most perfect start from P2, accelerating into the lead. Verstappen's reactions from P3 were outstanding as well, but in spite of the Red Bull crew's efforts to fix the car, there was something wrong with the ERS system of the Dutchman's RB16. Loss of power meant rapid loss of positions. However, there was drama in Turn 2 already. AlphaTauri's Gasly crashed into Kimi's Alfa Romeo, which made the Iceman crash into the rear of Verstappen's Red Bull. Both Monza hero Gasly and Verstappen were out on the gravel and out of the race! Kimi had to pit for a new front wing, and the Finn was dropped down to P17. Also McLaren's Sainz faced drama between Turns 2 and 3. The Spaniard span, and Sebastian proved unable to avoid contact with the McLaren. Sebastian got severe damage to his front wing, and was forced to pit for a new nose as well. Not even a whole lap had been completed, as safety car was deployed already!
The driver, who benefitted the most at the start, was definitely Charles. He had climbed up to P3! He was followed by Albon in the sister Red Bull; the Thai driver was chasing his first-ever podium finish. Safety car came in on lap 6. Bottas took a great restart, holding on to his lead, keeping Hamilton behind. However, there was some kind of a misunderstanding between the lead and the back of the pack. The last-lining cars opened full throttle on the start straight, although the top drivers hadn't done it yet. This led into a scary-looking collision involving four cars. Alfa Romeo's Giovinazzi crashed into the rear of Magnussen's Haas, making contact with Latifi's Williams and Sainz's McLaren on the way. The start straight was covered with debris, and the race was red-flagged! As Renault's Ocon faced a DNF due to brake overheating, there were only 13 cars in the race.
Both Mercedes drivers opted for a fresh set of medium Pirellis at the standing restart, which took place after a 20-minute delay. This time Hamilton geniusly used the tow to get past his teammate in Turn 1. Albon was the biggest loser at the restart, as the Thai driver dropped down to P7.
In spite of a hugely impressive start to the race, Charles was in serious trouble with his pace-lacking SF1000. DRS gave a cruel advantage at high-speed Mugello, and Charles got overtaken by one driver after another. First Stroll attacked the toothless Ferrari ace, then Ricciardo in his Renault. Then there came Albon and Perez, dropping Charles down position by position. Charles' tyres were finished, and the Monegasque pitted on lap 22. He rejoined the track on a fresh set of hard Pirellis in P13.
Bottas' front-right tyre was completely finished, as the Finn pitted on lap 32. Teammate Hamilton and Albon both pitted on the sequential lap, all three opting for the white-walled hard compound. Albon's pit stop dropped him down to P5, and Renault's Ricciardo was the impressive third at this point. Meanwhile, also McLaren's Norris moved past Charles, dropping him down to P8. This definitely wasn't the most glorious way to celebrate the Red Team's 1000th GP! Charles pitted for the second time on lap 39, now switching to the mediums.
The battle for the lowest step of the podium came down to three drivers: Renault's Ricciardo, Racing Point's Stroll and Red Bull's Albon, who were all within three seconds. However, Stroll wasn't meant to finish the race. Going through Turns Arabiata 1 and 2 on lap 44, the Canadian suddenly suffered a rear-left puncture, which threw the Racing Point pilot into the tyre wall. The race was red-flagged for the second time already!
After another 20-minute delay, the second standing restart took place. Bottas had every opportunity to use the tow and deprive his teammate of the lead, but unfortunately the Finn failed to take a dream start. Very much on the contrary, Valtteri lost a position to Ricciardo. However, the gutted Finn managed to take his second place back a moment later.
With eight laps to go, Albon smelled Ricciardo's blood and attacked the Australian successfully. Now Albon was on his way to the podium for the very first time in his career! Very unsurprisingly, Hamilton crossed the finish line as the race winner for the 90th time in his career. Now he is only one victory short of Schumacher's record of most wins in the history of F1. By winning the Tuscan GP, Hamilton also broke the record of most points finishes, as this was the Briton's 222nd points finish. Once again Bottas was left in the familiar second place. I was happy to see Albon completing the podium, as Red Bull's number two driver has rarely been seen on the podium in recent years. Ricciardo finished fourth for Renault, Perez fifth for Racing Point, Norris sixth for McLaren and Kvyat seventh for AlphaTauri. Kimi took the chequered flag in P8, but due to a 5-second time penalty the Iceman was ninth in the standings, sandwiching the Scuderia duo of Charles and Sebastian. Although Ferrari's race was far from the glory days, it was comforting to see both red-suited drivers finish in the points.
Now all three triple-headers have been completed, and the F1 circus moves to Sochi, Russia in a fortnight. I have personal experience, that Sochi is a venue, where dreams can meet reality (I got to interview Sebastian there three years ago!), so I'm looking forward to seeing better performing Ferrari on the coast of the Black Sea. Forza Ferrari!
With passion for racing red,
Iina Huhmarniemi
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