If you thought this season of F1 has been thrilling then Monza’s Royal Park only served to reinforce that opinion and serve up another dose of excitement to add to the mix. Another surprise winner and another collision between the title rivals gave us all mean that for the second season in a row the Italian Grand Prix will live long in the memory.
I will come to the Lewis and Max incident in a minute but what made the McLaren 1-2 all the sweater was the fact that it has been nine years since the team last tasted success. Indeed for most of those nine years thinking of a podium was completely unrealistic never mind a win. Seeing Lando follow team mate Ricciardo home to seal the double podium was brilliant to witness and all the more so for the fact that it wasn’t really lucked into. Ok without the demise of the top two and Bottas having to make his way from the back of the field it would not have looked quite so supreme but it was at the start where Danny Ric got the jump on poleman Verstappen to head the field and in all fairness to McLaren in those early laps Ricciardo was not put under an awful lot of pressure.
Ricciardo was on the front row after jumping ahead in the sprint qualifying race ( after winner Bottas had his penalty imposed for changing elements of the power unit) and it was this that really put the papaya cars in the position to take the trophies home on Sunday. This was probably the only positive thing you could say about F1’s second attempt at sprint qauly. It is fair to say that Saturday did not really deliver in terms of action and it didn’t do anything to convince fans that the sprint qualy format works. We will see it agsin this year (penned in for Brazil, depending on that race happening) and I am sure that F1 will want to push on with it in some form as they seem keen to make it a regular thing but most fans, myself included are not won over it is fair to say.
Bottas used his new power unit components well as he carved through the field to take third at the flag and save his weekend. Unfortunately though that was all the points the Brackley team would pick up after Lewis’s dramatic exit from the race. If the title fight wasn’t building in intensity before it certainly is now and with both drivers retiring from the race last Sunday we are now in a position where their on track battles are becoming very costly to both camps. The sight of the RedBull sitting atop the Merc will become one of those iconic images we remember rivalries with and who knows may become an image that is emblematic of the season.
So far it has been brilliant to watch these two hugely talented racers duke it out and we are all waiting with baited breath for the next chapter of their fight but they both need to be very careful in close combat from this point onwards. This is the business end of the season and therefore comes with the most pressure but one silly move now could prove very costly, no points when your main rival wins or a penalty as a result of a collision could quite easily see that small points gap widen. Max already has a three place penalty going into Russia after Monza.
What about the incident itself then? Well having seen endless replays and thought about it for a bit it was probably a racing incident really, caused by neither giving an inch, but it has to be said that Max’s move was never really going to cone off in that situation. Lewis wasn’t going to give any more space than he needed to against a title rival, especially as Max did the same to him on the first lap at the second chicane. Max was clearly very angry after the extremely slow pitstop and I feel he let those emotions get the better of him in that moment as he tried to claw back the lost time. If he had held off the move, stayed close to Lewis through Curva Grande he could have lined up a move into the second chicane and he may have had a better shot there.
Whether the three place grid penaltyfor Russia is warranted is down to opinion, years ago it wouldn’t have even been looked at and even now some stewards would not have issued any punishments but this is modern F1 and every move is examined very carefully.
It is done now anyway and Max will have to try and limit that the effect of that penalty in Sochi whereas Lewis will be eager to take full advantage.
So Monza 21 will be remembered for the clash of the title protagonists and the return to glory of the former all conquering McLaren team. Personally I loved the race, there was good wheel to wheel action, title drama and honsestly I couldn’t be happier for Ricciardo to get his win after a really difficult year so far. I hope this is the beginning of a turn around for him. And to Lando on the podium again was great, he played the team game last week by just sitting behind his team mate and ensuring that important 1-2 finish. Both drives were outstanding and well deserved.
It also signals that McLaren’s decision three or four years ago to go in in a different direction and reorganize and refocus the team was the correct move. I’m sure all fans we happy to see the team get that payback for all the handwork that has happened at Woking since then. Hopefully the next win will not be so far away.
Anyway thanks to Monza for giving us more action, the track has provided many good races over the years and as one of the classics it is always special. Can’t wait for Russia now and lets see what that brings.
My F1 talk 