Monza: Temple of Ferrari?
Monza is one of the most, if not the most, iconic racetracks on the circuit. It has a reputation of being Ferrari crazy and a lot of fun – even the fans have an Italian label, Tifosi! The circuit is situated near a town called Monza in northern Italy. Ah, Italy! You can fall in love with Italy – well we did! Getting to Monza, where the track is can be a bit tricky. We took the train then opted for the bus service to the ground. So did a lot of others!! It was very busy and Monza circuit has some weird rules to boot – for example battery chargers bigger than 300g were confiscated! Some of the security were removing lids from plastic bottles (something we have not seen since Baku!).
Overall, the movement of a hundred thousand plus peoples to and from the track each day went pretty smoothly but still took a good hour to get to the Monza station from the circuit where there was a bit of a bottle neck.
It was very warm, for a change, and no sign of rain! Fantastic – the first dry race since Baku! The classy Italians not only know how to dress but also this was the only time water dispensers gave you sparkling as well as still water options! WE LOVE ITALY. The fans, however, were pretty subdued unless Ferrari were doing something and even then the cheering and flag waving did not last long. This was a surprise especially as we had heard of the “Tifosi” and their fanatical support base. However, the Tifosi did organise and unfurl a couple of huge banners that were held up over the crowd and was a great spectacle. The Tifosi also went nuts after the race with their huge flags and running onto the racetrack after the race. It was really great fun. I was taken aback by how many non-Ferrari supporters there were. Lots of Lewis and Mercedes fans and a few Red Bull fans as well a sizeable support for Alph Romeo who had the best car livery of the weekend (sorry Ferrari, they beat you on that one).
We were lucky to have seats near the finish line and this was very exciting and also meant we had a perfect view of the winners podium. The tifosi were at the bottom of the stand with areas sectioned off for their Ferrari supporter clubs – lots of flag waving and banners! Also, Tom Cruise and the Hollywood crew were there, again, to film for their F1 movie. Saw the cars, garage but no sign of Tom!
Now to the most important part – the racing. This was the race for Liam Lawson to replace Daniel Ricciardo in Alpha Tauri for the whole weekend -really exciting for him and allowed the NZ flag to get a good airing.
Qualifying went really well for Ferrari (and the Tifosi) and Carlos Sainz hit pole position while Charles makes P3 with Max P2. The Ferrari were looking great for the race. Russell was P4 and Lewis P8. Alex Albon had a blinder and reached P6 just behind Cheko on P5! The two McLarens were P7 (Piastri) and P9 Norris with Alonso at P10. A very interesting lineup. Alpine were nowhere to be seen and seem to be floundering since the clear out of senior management, ending up P17 and P18 on a track that should suit their straight line speed! The Kiwi, Lawson ended up on a hugely respectable P13 – well done Liam!
Everyone was excited for the Ferrari sandwich and how long Sainz could hold Max at bay! The race was delayed because Yuki Sinoda’s Alpha Tauri died on the warm up lap! Poor Yuki! For us Liam Lawson added some extra excitement. As expected Max did take the lead but Sainz fought hard and kept him at bay for 17 laps. A fantastic defensive display. Checo did really well and got P2 and hopefully has done enough to maintain his seat at Red Bull. Sainz kept the Ferrari fans immensely happy with a podium P3 with Charles finishing P4. However, there was some anxious moments when the Ferrari went head-to-head as Charles attempted to wrestle the podium spot from Carlos. Thankfully, both cars remained in-tact.The tifosi had something to cheer about and so, they did. The McLarens had a bit of a fight and made contact, with Norris P8, trying to maintain his lead driver position against an increasingly impressive Piastri who only managed P12.
Both Mercedes finished in the top 10 with Russell, P5 and Hamilton P6. Alex Albon continues to look great in a mediocre car and finished P7 – an awesome drive again! Liam Lawson did really well and finished P11 – just outside of the points. Cannot wait to see him again in Singapore! Alonso made it into the points again with a P9 and Stroll finished a disappointing P16 – how long can the disparity between the two Aston drivers be ignored? Other news, Max broke the 9 successive wins and has now won his 10th! A few more to add to that I fear!
Overall, a great weekend, great seats, great results, great fizzy water option! Still in love with Italy! We met up with family (Matthew,Lindsey, Erin and Adam) as well as Rudy from Spa and our old friend Claudiu! So a great weekend on many fronts.
