Yesterdays Italian Grand Prix at Monza was looking like being another Hamilton display of dominance after Bottas failed to get off the start line cleanly and left Lewis out front on his own. But then Kevin Magussen parked his stricken Haas up just before the pit lane entry and changed the course of the race completely.
What we ended up seeing was a thrilling second half of the race with the field turned on its head and drivers at the front who we don’t normally see in those positions. And for Piere Gasly to come out as the winner was something that I think the whole of the F1 community, paddock and fans alike felt was truly deserved.
Gasly has had a really tough 18 months what with being promoted to the main RedBull team and then the demotion back to Torro Rosso/Alpha Tauri and losing his good friend Antoine Hubert at Spa last year. But he has shown some real mental strength and fortitude to handle all of that and produce some fine drives. From the moment that he stepped back into the Torro Rosso last year he has looked like a different driver and has hardly put a foot wrong. Even prior to his brilliant win at Monza yesterday he has been one of the stand out performers of the tight midfield. We shouldn’t forget that similar circumstances very nearly finished the career of Kyvat not too long ago. It is for this reason that no one was disappointed to see Gasly on the top step of the podium yesterday.
As he was being chased down by the Racing Point of Lance Stroll in the closing laps, a pressure that Piere handled superbly on worn rubber, I admit that I was hoping that Lance would not find a way past and deny Piere his chance at redemption. He has shown his skill, his strength and his character over the last twelve months and that win was the perfect reward.
In fact all of the top three finishers could be said to have had a result that goes some way to giving them some sort of payback for their efforts. Stroll gets a lot of stick for the fact that his father has helped him so much to get to F1, and I admit personally I am not a fan, but the fact is that he does have some talent and has put in some very good drives this year. The points for Racing Point will be well received too and it has taken them longer than I predicted to get a podium in 2020 but it is very good to see them up there.
And Carlos Sainz in third has also driven superbly this year but has also had some bad luck that has cost him dear at points so a podium finish for him is also fully deserved.
For Mercedes it wasn’t their day as Bottas and Hamilton eventually finished fifth and seventh. It was Mercedes and Hamilton’s own mistake that gave them the ten second top and go penalty that robbed them of the win and it is frankly a little surprising that Lewis’s side of the garage didn’t see the notice that the pit lane was closed as Kmag’s car was being cleared. A sign that even people at the top of their game can still make errors in racing situations. For Bottas he struggled to make up ground after his poor start in a car that the team had set up to be good in clear air, in traffic it was not quite so potent. The move Lando Norris made on Bottas at the second chicane on the first lap was maybe the move of the race and helped to make the Finn’s day that much more difficult. On a day when Hamilton couldn’t win the race his team mate should have been up there taking big points from him.
An exciting, crazy race then and one that provided us with one of those feel good results that warms the heart shows us that F1 is a human sport after all. People talk about Mercedes dominance ruining the sport but we have had eight races this year and three of them are ones that will live long in the memory. The opening race in Austria, the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone and the race at Monza were all events that will be talked about in the future and which have showed the very best of F1. We may not have a thrilling intense title battle as Lewis marches towards his seventh championship but if anyone says that F1 2020 isn’t entertaining I point you towards those three races to have a look at.
It is Mugello this weekend and Ferrari will be celebrating their 1000th event. I am looking forward to seeing the cars on that track and the Ferrari celebrations very much, even though they will have another tough race. It will be a unique event as we will probably not see a race at this circuit again so we will be witnessing a unique piece of history.
My F1 talk 