By Joe Murphy
Monza has truly delivered some incredible races, particularly over more recent years. The way this year’s race unfolded was similar to events seen last year, regarding the surprising winner, pace of McLaren and familiar Monza disappointment for Red Bull’s and Mercedes’ respective “first choice” drivers. Impressive recovery drives from Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez were only enough for one podium place for the former, between them. With another dramatic weekend of Formula 1 action in the bag, let’s look back on events from this weekend at the “temple of speed”.
Time for a “Shoey!“
When writing my predictions article prior to Friday night’s qualifying, I did foresee some impressive results for the McLaren pair. For not one moment did I, or anyone, believe that went as far as a 1-2 finish. After a slight improvement in the Australian’s performances following the summer break, this unbelievable race win shows everyone that he is fully and truly settled in with the team in orange. After being outperformed by teammate Lando Norris for most of the first half of the season, this is a real statement that McLaren are not very far behind the leading constructors at all. Regarding Lando, it’s a slight shame how his best ever Formula 1 result will be somewhat overshadowed by his counterpart’s win. However, it won’t go unnoticed that yet again, this young driver was matching Lewis and Max for a lot of the weekend, and even coming out on top against his British compatriot at times. Surely a future world champion, Norris has my vote as driver of the season so far. He even closed the gap to the top two in the Drivers’ Championship standings. Whereas to say he will catch Hamilton and Verstappen may be a step too far at this point, for him to be even in the conversation of P3 is credit enough for his outstanding performances. A perfect weekend for McLaren then, and Zak Brown will surely hope for more of the same as we head to Russia following a brief intermission. With only Red Bull and Mercedes ahead, the only way is up for the British constructor. This result does wonders in consolidating third place ahead of Ferrari. Speaking of the red team…
Tifosi get a performance from both Prancing Horses…
Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz barely put a foot wrong all weekend. One crash for the Spaniard didn’t stop Ferrari from achieving another impressive result in Monza. They may have fallen further behind McLaren as a result of the orange team’s maximum points haul, but they will still be happy with 4th for the man from Monaco and 6th, yet again, for Sainz. Ferrari may have won at Monza a record nineteen times, but a decent points haul will have to do for now. In 2021, this is about where they are in terms of race pace, as illustrated perfectly here, as well as Azerbaijan. With Leclerc specifically commenting on how difficult the car is to drive, it is obvious that the constructor had a way to go in order to close the gap to the top teams and replicate the success from the first decade of this century. Both drivers have a very bright future ahead and with Sainz honing his race craft over the course of this season, and Charles getting better all the time, all eyes will be on 2022 to see if the improvements can continue. Regarding Monza, it was about as good as the team currently P4 in the constructors standings, could realistically hope for. Yet another correct prediction, from Wheel2Wheel’earlier article.
Lewis and Max modern day Senna/Prost…
Usually the first point I come to in my reviews relates to either Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton or even both, in some way. Max had a dream scenario when lining up on the grid on Sunday. This dream, however, turned into a nightmare when the combination of falling behind Daniel Ricciardo, an uncharacteristic eleven-second pit-stop and then the collision with Lewis’ Mercedes, ended both his, and his main rival’s, race. Lewis would probably have taken this result prior to lights out, with a seemingly easy race win for the Dutchman, turning instead into a result where his lead at the top wasn’t actually extended at all. However, the Halo showed its true worth here, with Hamilton’s head brushing the underside of the Red Bull’s tyre in their collision. It may have left him with a self confessed headache and some milf neck pain, but without this safety measure, it could, and probably would, have been much more serious. With the competition so fierce between these overwhelmingly talented drivers, collisions are almost inevitable. We have seen it before with Prost and Senna’s countless bumps, and we will no doubt see it again. Two of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1 not giving either an inch, is exactly what fans tune in to see. With a three place grid penalty for Max to serve at Sochi, pressure is on Lewis to fight back and reclaim top spot. It will be interesting to see how much Valtteri Bottas, who had a very impressive performance himself in Monza despite his impending exit being confirmed in the past week, will play ball. At a circuit he is notoriously strong at, and no contract to fight for, will the Finn obey the team orders that will surely head his way at some point over the Russian weekend? That is something my predictions article, will have to look at.
George Russell and Lance Stroll over achieve yet again…
With all the madness the 2021 season has brought so far, it seems relatively normal that George Russell is now a regular points scorer for Williams. Another good result here that probably doesn’t reflect the true pace of that car. Had Lewis, Max and even Gasly finished, then it would have been a more accurate reflection. Nevertheless, it will please the constructor to cement P8 and move further away from the stagnating Alfa Romeo and outright stagnated Haas. It’s a somewhat similar story for Aston Martin and Lance Stroll in particular. Whereas teammate Sebastian Vettel was nowhere near the points, the Canadian impressively gained a few towards his tally for the season, and they were full deserved. Fernando Alonso in the Alpine impressed yet again and got his deserved praise for such a solid performance. However, even with Stroll fishing above him, it doesn’t feel like he gets as many plaudits as maybe he is due. The Aston Martin probably the seventh-slowest car on the grid, so a seventh place is a very good showing. With his future surely in the sport not looking like ending anytime soon, here’s hoping Lance can continue to prove the doubters wrong and pick up more important points for his team, just like Wheel2Wheel predicted for this weekend. A change of name to “Wheel2Wheel Spoilers…” may be in order.
What’s faster? Me walking or that Alfa Romeo on race day?
Antonio Giovinazzi will have wanted time to impress his home fans. And on Friday and Saturday, he most certainly did. However, the true race pace of the car was shown up on Sunday, where it just wasn’t quick enough. Of course, his efforts weren’t helped by the mistake in the opening stages of the race, but it’s hard to deny that he wouldn’t have fallen back regardless. Veteran Robert Kubica couldn’t have done much more in the other car, either. With Haas set to improve next year, Alfa Romeo could very easily go back to its Sauber roots in 2017 where they were consistently put in Q1 exits and last placed finishes with Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson in the respective hot seats. As Kimi Raikkonen alluded to earlier in the season, the car needs more pace, or else risks being left behind. With Valtteri Bottas already confirmed for next season, the Italian constructor will hope to build on the exciting qualifying pace shown of late, by Giovinazzi specifically.
WHEEL2WHEEL REPORTS 