Sorry to disappoint a huge Tifosi crowd but Mercedes not only got a one-two at Monza but made it to the top of the championship with Lewis putting Seb down with three points now.
What an amazing race, first of all. I honestly thought that Monza might be boring in case there was not much to do for the teams who had less power than Mercedes and even less to do for those who could not compete with Ferrari as well. But after quali I definitely changed my mind - if you haven't seen it, then go and watch because that was the thing that made this race so unpredictable and interesting at the same time. Not to mention all the grid penalties, a ton of them. They truly messed up the starting grid.
1. Epic wet quali
Note: this part of the blog was pre-written on Saturday while the feelings were fresher.
Okay. Just let me breathe normally cause the quali was E-P-I-C. Let's start with the fact that four hours instead of just one were worth seeing Lewis beating all-time record and getting his 69th pole. It was also worth seeing AMAZING Lance and Esteban, and of course Max who unfortunately couldn't start where he finished. Well, have you ever expected a grid like this? I mean, yes, in Monza.
Okay. Just let me breathe normally cause the quali was E-P-I-C. Let's start with the fact that four hours instead of just one were worth seeing Lewis beating all-time record and getting his 69th pole. It was also worth seeing AMAZING Lance and Esteban, and of course Max who unfortunately couldn't start where he finished. Well, have you ever expected a grid like this? I mean, yes, in Monza.
The whole Saturday wasn't that well for everyone as long as we only had 16 minutes in FP3 and the quali was stopped after less than five minutes when Roman crushed after HUGE aquaplaning. It was dangerous to go on track - it was true but fans and TV and everything demanded quali to take place at the right time. Sadly for Roman who started the race P20 as he didn't make it to 107% and also got a few more positions on the grid because of the penalty.
After the track was cleaned of debris we had 2,5 hours of expectation before the action would be back. And guess what? Since Q1 was restarted from 13:31 everyone was switching from wets to inters and back to wets during the whole quali and that was interesting. Who expected both Williams to be in Q3 and be so fast? Who expected Red Bull to almost claim the pole or even one-two in Q3. I mean WHO EXPECTED LANCE P4 AND ESTEBAN P5? Here I really feel sorry for Max and Dani not to start from their positions but SO HAPPY for youngsters to start P2 and P3, especially Lance to be the youngest ever on the front row!
By the way, sorry those who love red cars but Ferrari sucked at Q3 and there's no explanation why both drivers couldn't manage their cars, tyres and speed. I mean even McLaren with all their problems made it to Q3 with one car (Stoffel) claiming that Fernando could knock his teammate out but did not.
2. Lewis dominating on Ferrari land
Alright. Lewis? Again? Yes! Record breaking, fast, confident and now leading the championship Lewis Hamilton made it at Monza! In front of huge Tifosi crowd with all those red flags everywhere.
He has not only beaten Michael Schumacher's (yes, Ferrari pilot) all-time pole record but claimed a great victory leading almost the whole race and making a great start as well while everyone else was struggling (his teammate Valtteri even lost a few positions at the very beginning). And now he is leading in the championship before seven most diverse races of the year. Champ? I hope so.
He has not only beaten Michael Schumacher's (yes, Ferrari pilot) all-time pole record but claimed a great victory leading almost the whole race and making a great start as well while everyone else was struggling (his teammate Valtteri even lost a few positions at the very beginning). And now he is leading in the championship before seven most diverse races of the year. Champ? I hope so.
3. Almost retired Max and brilliant Daniel
As I already mentioned we got lots of grid penalties that time. Can you imagine that eight of twenty drivers were thrown to the back of the grid while Lewis was the only one to start the race from where he was qualified. So, both Red Bulls became victims of those penalties and both started from the back. But guess who finished almost on the podium? Yes, it was Dani and we kind of got used to such go-throughs from Australian. Driver of the day (from P16 to P4) with those amazing overtakes.
Being that happy for Daniel I remember the moment when my heart almost stopped. It happened when Max got a puncture after their contact with Felipe and had to pit and start his race from the very back again. Thanks God he did not retire and even finished P10 after two pit-stops and driving the car with Renault engine.
Max was quite not a gentleman in that race as he squeezed Kevin out of the track fighting for the 10th closer to the end and crushed into Roman at the very beginning of the race damaging both Haas and his own front wings.
Max was quite not a gentleman in that race as he squeezed Kevin out of the track fighting for the 10th closer to the end and crushed into Roman at the very beginning of the race damaging both Haas and his own front wings.
4. Youngsters under pressure
My excitement had no borders on Saturday as Esteban and Lance claimed those amazing results in rainy quali and got P3 and P2 on the starting grid. Align all this excitement I already knew how much pressure they both would have. Especially Lance starting from the first row next to Lewis.
Unfortunately they both couldn't manage the faster cars behind and both lost their positions finishing P6 and P7. Lance even was attacked by his own teammate on the last lap but Felipe stopped at the right time as there was a chance to be overtaken by Checo who was right behind them all.
5. Karma in progress
Another fight "on the edge" happened in the very middle of the grid while Jolyon had to cut the chicane and gained a place in front of Fernando who was so unhappy with that fact on his team radio that he kept saying that the penalty was ridiculous and only after hearing that Jolyon had retired he was satisfied saying "karma".
Although, Fernando himself had to retire on strategic purpose as well as Sauber's Marcus did. Among those who had retired as well was Fernando's teammate Stoffel who had "no power" (normal Alonso quote).
Although, Fernando himself had to retire on strategic purpose as well as Sauber's Marcus did. Among those who had retired as well was Fernando's teammate Stoffel who had "no power" (normal Alonso quote).
Then we saw Lewis and Valtteri standing next to Seb in front of huge Tifosi crowd. Here Lewis said a volcanic thing that "Mersedes' power is better that Ferrari's" and that was so true but so risky. At the same time Seb explained that something didn't work in the car the biggest part of the race so he wasn't pushing too hard. I can go on remembering those things for ages but let's just sum it all up here.
What did we see this weekend? Breathtaking classic Monza race (no safety car for 6th time in a row here), unpredictable rainy quali, LOTS of grid penalties and a totally messed up starting line, huge speed over 250 km/h, some ordinary problems like Sainz' engine and Magnussen's broken suspension on Friday. Interesting weather conditions. Not proven Force India's team orders (in case of no need) aaaaand total Mercedes' domination on Ferrari land.
That is all from Monza. Just seven more races left and Singapore's next, Have a great week and don't miss a thing!
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