We thought it’d be just another boring race.
And I thought it'd be a difficult week to go through.
Truth be told, we were all oh so wrong.
Watching Formula 1 had been really, REALLY painful lately. For basically almost every race, we could predict what would happen. A Mercedes 1-2 for both Quali and the actual race, with Max or Racing Points could give a worthy fight. The last good race was Austria, which was actually the first race of the season - so of course it'd be fun because we hadn't watched any race for like 8 months - and it was like, seven races ago... But this was Monza. At least it's a legendary circuit, and it's rude for us to despise it.
However, this was the time I kind of... feel afraid to embrace. Why because exactly last year, I was actually there. I was a part of those tifosi in Monza, in that legendary circuit of Italia, witnessing the shocking win of a Ferrari, in front of their home spectators. It was simply one of the best life experience I could ever have, and today, just staying at home watching the GP from my couch, only able to imagine things thanks to the pandemic, really, it broke me inside out. I was so sure that I wouldn't be able to survive this weekend because, well, let's just say because I'm an emotional crybaby bitch.
Then came the Qualification.
And hopes got a bit high after Quali. With Sainz started third and Ricciardo not so far behind, I felt like it could be a fresh air for the race. And to distract myself from my sorrowful nostalgia. Same Mercedes 1-2 start, yes, as usual, but at least we have a new color up there eh?
Then came the Race Day.
And things got heated up even from the lights out. Bottas somehow lost it - puncture he said - and kept losing places. Both McLarens suddenly emerged to P2-3 with Dan on P4. If it ended this way, which was what I hoped for some times during the race, I’d be more than happy. Same Mercedes win, same LEWIS win, but at least we have a new color up there eh? And who would say no to McLaren double podium win??
Then things got EVEN more heated up when Kevin retired. And safety car deployed, and pit lane closed BUT FREAKING HAMILTON ENTERED TO PIT. This was the major turn of event because Giovinazzi, who did the same thing, got punished with a stop-and-go 10s penalty. It took quiet some time for us to know how Lewis would be punished, AND IT WAS SUCH A WAITING-IN-VAIN MOMENT!
Safety car ended and things got pretty shuffled afterwards, with Lewis still on top, yet both McLarens lost places as they went into pit once the lane was opened again. At this point I was a bit pissed because I really wanted them to win. Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll, however, with their teams’ “risky” strategy for not pitting, suddenly earned themselves P2-3 spots. Here I was like, well, they would need to pit later somehow, so Carlos and Lando will regain their places soon.
BUT. Little did I know that another big bang would happen.
Charles Lecrerc crash. This accident alone is really heartbreaking because some laps before, Vettel got some brake issues and retired. First retirement of the race, topping their shit performances all weekend. Shit performances in their home grand prix. Shit performances for Sebastian Vettel, in their home grand prix. Shit performances for Sebastian Vettel, in his last year home grand prix with Ferrari. I swear I felt really REALLY bad for him...
Now back to Lecrerc's crash. It was pretty big, and it ended up with a red flag. All cars then returned to pit, and this was the race's next turn of event. A VERY BIG ONE. Because not so long after the red flag announcement, stewards finally decided to give the same stop-and-go 10s penalty to Lewis. And I swear I could hear the whole world celebrating. Because this only meant that when the race resumed, Lewis would drop nastily from top to bottom. Oh he'd drive his ass back to top, for sure, but with the race already gone half way, he might not be the winner and that's for sure.
So now it left us with A VERY OPEN POSSIBILITY for everyone else to snatch that spot Lewis brilliantly ditched. Gasly and Stroll secured positions in P2-3 but we knew it would be P1-2 soon when Lewis served his penalty. Oh yea of course they took the opportunity to switch compounds, so all they needed to do next was just to defend their position without having to worry about tyres.
Raikkonen and Giovinazzi stopped at P4-5 during red flag but we knew that they were not big threats - especially because they switched to softs I mean, why?? Sainz was at P6, thanks to him switching tyres just before the red flag, and this, my friend, was where the drama began.
Then Italian GP 2020 restarted.
It was a standing start, and after one lap, Lewis entered pit and did the penalty. And that was the end for Mercedes for this race. With Bottas struggling, and everyone on top would fight their asses off to defend their place, they wouldn't be dominating today.
Gasly led the race ever since. Sainz charged from P6 to P2, taking on Kimi and Lance, finally battling fiercely with the French guy. For many laps, distance closed in slowly but sure from 3s to .5 ish. At this time, I really wanted Carlos to win. So bad. Because he must really wanted it. He needed to bring a title as he steps into the garage of Ferrari next season. He needed to have at least one win before he’d be struggling next season with Ferrari. He needed this to calm himself before the Italian storm!
But I tried to look from Pierre’s perspective too. This could also be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him. His team is a total midfield player so an opportunity like this might not happen often later. But I guess most importantly, he needed to prove something with this win. Given that exactly this time last year, he was dropped from RB to Toro Rosso.
I remembered last year in Monza on Saturday, just before the Quali, we had a meet-up and Q&A session with some drivers. Alpha Tauri were on stage, and there was this guy who stood exactly beside me asking some question to Kvyat, and it goes like this:
"Dani, do you think you'd have a future to go back to Red Bull? No offence to you Pierre."
NO KIDDING HE DID ASK THAT! And I swear Gasly's face was so fucking pissed. He was just demoted from Red Bull the race before Monza, and this stupid guy out of courtesy asked this harsh question in his face? I'm pretty sure it bugged Gasly so bad, that so for a year, he'd been fighting hard to prove things wrong. To prove that those people made bad mistakes by kicking him out of the team. This win, can be a nice slap in the face for Helmut Marko.
Battle got even crazier between the French guy and the Spaniard. I swear, it was really intense! Felt like my adrenaline rushed and I didn't even drive the car lol. But believe me, I screamed like an old lady like so many times during these last laps. Especially on the final lap, when Carlos really closed it like sooooo tiiigghhht!
Finally, Sainz couldn't make it. Gasly won.
Pierre Gasly, is the winner of Italian Grand Prix.
I screamed like I was a fan of his. Because hey whoever your favorite driver was, you'd feel the same. You'd feel happy for Gasly. You'd celebrate the end of this Italian Grand Prix. Especially knowing that he became the first French winner since 1994. Sainz was P2, Stroll P3, and this was the second win for ALL THREE OF THEM - Gasly's first was Germany 2019, Sainz's was Brazil 2019, Stroll Azerbaijan 2017.
All these good news, really, it made this race even more beautiful.
We didn’t expect that an Italian anthem would play in Monza this year, given the fact that Ferrari was doing poorly lately. But the universe had another plan. So whoever thought it’d be just another boring race, and I'm pretty sure most of us did, well, we're wrong. I really can’t imagine to have this race with tifosi.
Honestly, I was going to repost last year’s Monza situation as the race ended, because I was expecting that it’d be another Mercedes 1-2 and the race would be boring and totally different with last year. But of course I dropped that plan, because it turned out to be the other way around. So when I thought it'd be a difficult week to go through, well, I was wrong. I got distracted, in a very very amazing way. It became the best one yet. Immediately, instantly.
I came across so many tweets and comments saying that “this kind of race is why I love F1”, literally so many, and I couldn't agree more! We do need variations and unexpected results like this! I’m not trying to be negative here but, it’s just so crazy to see everyone’s euphoria for Gasly’s win. It’s obvious that we’ve had enough of Mercedes domination. Next week we might be back to that pattern, but to hell with next week let’s just enjoy the result of this week first :)
Amazing.
Utterly crazy amazing.
Apparently Italy always have something to offer.
Although yea, this year I just watched it from my couch.
Still,
Grazie, Italia!
