Max Verstappen won the Italian Grand Prix.
For the loyal hordes of the Tifosi, Monza represents a homecoming of sorts and a celebration of all things Ferrari. In this case, 75 years of the prancing horse, hosted by a nation that celebrates motorsport. And to add to the party mode, we were celebrating 100 years of Monza.
The banked corners form the meat of the sandwich between the crowd and the modern circuit. Reminders of those that came and paved the way for the contemporary battleground we see today. Men such as Sir Stirling Moss, Phil Hill and Jim Clark proved their mettle on the original heavily banked speedway in less protected conditions. They sure don’t make them like they used to.
Qualifying was ever the messy affair of bunching up and drivers at risk of not making the delta speed limit for an out-lap (there is a rule about that). The usual tactics you’re going to witness at Monza. Le Clerc deservedly snatched pole from Verstappen with Carlos Sainz in third. Honourable mention to the debutant, Nyck de Vries. Even with the short notice, every reserve driver expects an emergency call-up. De Vries proved it in the 24 hours of Le Mans this year, but F1 would be a different story.
Friday’s free practice had arrived, and the news was that Alex Albon had appendicitis and wouldn’t make the GP weekend. De Vries had already tested the Aston in FP3, which was planned but getting the call-up for Williams wasn’t. The Dutchman quickly set out to make a meal out of his opportunity. An off early on was probably the warning shot he needed because he was getting up to speed quickly and raising an eyebrow or two in the paddock. More on that later.
Lights out! The start was always something that we were going to be wary about. The current grid penalty system meant that anyone who went over the allocated allowance for replaceable parts would suffer demotion down the grid. Many, including the commentators, got dizzy from keeping stock. The system needs addressing because the fastest drivers are not necessarily in the correct starting positions, which can lead to problems. So far, it hasn’t but we don’t want a multi-car pile-up thanks to this.
Everyone got off the line well, apart from Norris, who had a start he’d sooner forget, losing four places after his McLaren bogged down at the beginning. Add to that a botched pitstop costing time, and the young Brit was on the backfoot fighting hard. His grit and determination meant that his first stint before the pit needed to be good, which he delivered with some of the best driving we’ve seen from him. Determination personified.
Verstappen quickly carved his way through the field. All that without the assistance of DRS. The moment when Verstappen passed Russell, who put up no fight, should be noted because Mercedes knows they don’t have the speed to keep up with Red Bull, so they will not fight. This is not what you want from a competition.
Further down the order, Sainz was making his way through the field joining the mid-pack fight, but not for long as the Spaniard carefully passed by, doing well not to spoil anyone’s race or get tangled up, using the straight-line speed of the Ferrari, much to the delight of the Tifosi. Starting 18th, he made his way to P5 by lap 12. Vamos, Carlos!
If Ferrari has been criticised in the past few races because of some shocking strategy calls, I find the radio calls of Charles Le Clerc’s opinion odd. Why divvy up the responsibility when you have a job to do as a strategist? Have the confidence to decide and let the driver veto if he feels strongly against it. Binotto has communicated differently.
A virtual safety car saw Le Clerc taking advantage and pitting for mediums and stretching it out for 40 laps, hoping that Verstappen missed the opportunity to pit. The second part worked out for Ferrari but the first part was touch and go. Le Clerc retook the lead on lap 27 after Verstappen pitted. Daniel Ricciardo looked to be moving along quite well from the start, hoping to deliver some success from the previous year, which he won, before being pitted to test out the hard compound tyres for the team. He and Perez clearly like the lab rats being tested so that the other driver can get the best result. That’s the business of it all, right?
On lap 34, Ferrari made the call to pit to swap the mediums for a new set of softs to hopefully cull some of the Red Bull speed because Verstappen had closed the gap, and the Le Clerc would have never made it. The lead swung back to Verstappen with Le Clerc on the hunt, 18 seconds behind and 19 laps remaining. It was always going to be a mammoth effort.
As we’ve seen before, the race hit a steady lull. That is until the virtual safety car and thanks to last year’s race winner, Daniel Ricciardo’s stricken McLaren, a safety car on lap 47, and a few horrendous flashbacks to Abu Dhabi 2021. Where’s Michael Masi now, the blood-lusting crowd ponder. (Michael has, if you’re wondering, taken a high-ranking job in the Australian Motorsport organisation.) Everything pointed towards an exhilarating restart, with Le Clerc attacking Verstappen. But it never came. Instead, we got the anti-climax of the year so far. Given the opportunity, I know of a few Land Cruiser owners with tow ropes who would have got that McLaren out in a flash. But it was learnt afterwards that the McLaren was stuck in gear.
Anyway, we said we’d reconvene on the De Vries story. He deservedly got driver of the day, finishing P9, scoring points and outscoring Nicholas Latifi, who is yet to grab a point even with an extremely slippery Williams. This must be the final straw for the Canadian, who hasn’t quite cut it in F1 despite being the only one who gave De Vries a go when the Dutchman won the F2 championship in 2019.
Ultimately, it wasn’t the ending we deserved. Le Clerc can’t be upset with the result in the moments preceding the safety car. He had not been able to undo the 18-second gap between him and Verstappen to improve on second place, with Russell continuing his consistent form taking third place.
For the travelling circus, this is the last event for the European continent before they head East to Singapore. Russia is off the calendar thanks to their imperialistic desires with the war in Ukraine. With Verstappen’s win, given his prolific form, he already has one hand on the championship trophy and won’t need the rest of the season to put the other hand on. As for the rest, it’s become an almost second championship fighting for the best of the rest in the standings — such has been the dominance displayed by Max.
See you all at the next one on the 30 September.