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Last Sunday’s Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix at Monza proved to be the exact kind of jolt that the sport needed, in response to grumbles and groans about it becoming too boring and predictable.
Pierre Gasly, of Italy-based AlphaTauri, blitzed to his first-ever winning finish in a race that was exciting from start to finish, followed closely by Carlos Sainz of McLaren and Lance Stroll of Racing Point with none of the usual suspects seen on the podium even close. McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas took P4 and P5.
And what a moment it was! Gasly, who has now won Driver of the Day for two weekends in a row, seemed to be in a suspended state of disbelief as he was carried off in jubilance by mechanics and team members. He commented, after the race: “Honestly, it’s unbelievable, I’m not sure I’m realising what’s happening right now, it was such a crazy race. I’ve been through so much in the space of 18 months, my first podium last year and now the win in Monza! I have no words.”
The race started off fairly hum drum, with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on pole position, followed by his wingman Bottas and future Ferrari driver Sainz.
Right off the bat, Bottas had a slow start and was overtaken by Sainz at Turn One. Bahrain-backed McLaren started off beautifully, with both Sainz and Norris right behind Hamilton, vying for the team’s first double podium since 2014.
Gasly kept climbing the ranks from a 10th position start but was still a stretch away, when the race-redefining moment of truth happened. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen pulled off his car after engine troubles at the exit of Parabolica, bringing out the safety car.
Instinctively, Hamilton and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi pulled into the pit lane to steal a quick pit stop, not realising that the pit lanes had been closed due to the incident. This would end up costing each of them a race-changing 10-second stop-and-go penalty.
With the track wide open now, and ‘Princess Lulu’ threatened for the first time, every racer went full throttle, until Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in his bid to move past P4, crashed into the Parabolica, destroying his team’s chances of even finishing the race after winning it last year. His team mate Sebastian Vettel was already out by this point, thanks to a brake failure in Lap 6.
Leclerc’s accident sent the race into a 25-minute red flag recess as the track was cleared. Once the race restarted, Hamilton took his penalty, dropped to the absolute back in the closest race of the season.
Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen bowed out due to engine concerns during a pit stop, leaving only 16 racers on the track. As Gasly, Sainz and Stroll battled for the top spot, Hamilton started to make his way up the ranks finishing at P7 and nabbing an extra point for the fastest race, while his team mate Bottas stayed mid-marker to show us all how out-of-practice he had become in overtaking drivers, finishing at P5.
F1 has been accused of being too dull, but it turns out, Lulu and his ‘boot’ complaints were the thing holding everyone back. As soon as he was out of contention, the race turned exciting, with every turn pushing us closer to the edge of our seats.
This is a race that will be remembered in the same breath as the 1982 Monaco Grand Prix, 2008 Brazilian GP and the 2011 Canadian GP. Not just for its close shaves and chilling crashes, but for the sheer energy emanating out of the paddock at the end of the race, with none of the championship-leading teams in sight at the podium.
Gasly’s win was especially sweet, after he was dropped by Red Bull to their ‘junior’ team AlphaTauri last year, only to become the first Frenchman to win a GP in 24 years. Stroll’s second-ever podium in his career and Sainz’s highest-position ever at P2 made this an extra special moment shared by the three of them.
As for me, I don’t think I have ever been so engrossed in an F1 race, wondering about the rollercoaster of emotions the teams’ support members and principal must be going through. Oh well, at least I know which episode of Drive to Survive’s third season I’ll be watching first!
The next race takes place at the Mugello circuit in Tuscany, Italy on Sunday.
