Once again, we have been blessed with another great race. After the bore-fest of the French Grand Prix, people were speculating about how Formula One could become exciting again, and since that race we have had 6 races – all great in their own ways. Here are some of the talking points of the 2019 Italian Grand Prix:
Qualifying drama:
It’s not often that qualifying steals the show, but this weekend the final lap drama of qualifying was ridiculous – if not bordering on hilarious. Only Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc managed to cross the line at the end of Q3, in a session where Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll and Sainz were all investigated after the session – but escaped with only a repimand after cutting the chicaine and driving unneccesarily slowly on the out lap. It was truly dramatic and bizarre and could arguably be one of the key highlights from the weekend.
Lap 1, Turn 1:
Most of the first lap action happened towards the back of the field, with Max Verstappen (who started last on the grid after engine penalties and failing to set a time in Q1) making contact with the Racing Point of Sergio Perez before the first corner. It was ruled as a racing incident, as the FIA clearly believed it was a typical first lap incident and it was hard to avoid considering the difference in speed and braking power between the two cars.
Vettel’s Monza nightmare (the Lap 6 incidents):
Sebastian Vettel’s dreams of winning the Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari have diminished in the opening laps of the last 2 races at Monza. It was very much a case of deja vu on Sunday – when he spun completely unassisted and collected Lance Stroll when he rejoined the track. As a 4-time World champion, you would not expect the mistakes that keep coming from him, it is just baffling because the error he made on Sunday was one even a rookie would not make. It’s bizarre and it is difficult not to question the mindset that Sebastian has at the moment, since he is making errors that we have rarely seen from recent rookies who have joined F1 in the last few years. It is also worth noting that Vettel received a 10 second stop/go penalty, the harshest penalty they can give before a black flag.
Lance Stroll, who had been collected by Vettel, rejoined the track and pushed Gasly into the gravel. Considering he branded Vettel “a f*****g idiot” over the radio and then did a similar thing, it is very ironic. Stroll also received a penalty, although it was a slightly more lenient in comparison to Vettel, as he picked up a drive through penalty for compromising Gasly’s race and rejoining the track in an unsafe manner.
Mercedes vs Leclerc:
With his teammate down the order, Charles Leclerc was left to defend against both of the Silver Arrows on his own, and did an absolutely stellar job. Hamilton triggered the pitstops on Lap 19, swapping softs for new medium tyres – with Leclerc pitting for hards as opposed to mediums one lap later. Now we were left with a waiting game, would Hamilton’s medium tyres last until the end of the race, and if so could Leclerc keep up his defence against both cars? Hamilton struggled to get past the Ferrari on the straights due to the Scuderia’s well-known pace in a straight line, even with the assistance of DRS, but came close on multiple occasions and forcing Leclerc into the odd error here and there. However, he was ‘forced’ off the track at the Della Roggia chicaine, after which the Ferrari driver was presented with a black and white flag for potentially dangerous driving, sparking debate across social media and Hamilton himself questioning the call. Hamilton could not complete the move on Leclerc, and his tyres faded, leaving his teammate Bottas to attempt to take the win. Like Hamilton, Bottas came close on several occasions, but still could not pass the Ferrari.
Renault resurgence:
What a result for Renault! It has been very frustrating to watch Renault this season, as they should be challenging for best-of-the-rest at nearly every race track if you take into account the progress they have made over the last few seasons, but for whatever reason, it has not happened for them this season. However, they had a great result in the race, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing P4 and Hulkenberg just behind in P5. It’s a great finish for them, especially considering the company’s new backers aren’t all that interested in the sport. If they keep this up, they could still bridge the gap to customers McLaren before the season ends.
Back-to-back wins for Leclerc:
I’m not going to pretend I wasn’t sat at my television smiling when I saw all the Italian fans singing the anthem underneath the podium after Leclerc’s win. After 9 years;after the performance last year, they finally had the win they’d been looking for at their home grand prix. It was a very hard-earned win for them, and a long time coming. The question still remains though, is Leclerc now their number one driver? Realistically speaking, he has to be (for the remainder of this season at least) because once again, Vettel has struggled to cope under pressure, whilst Charles has excelled. It will be very interesting to the mindset of the team heading into the Singapore GP weekend, what will they decide? And what will Sebastian Vettel be thinking after seeing the electrifying atmosphere given towards his teammate after accomplishing the victory that he himself so desperately wanted?
Here are some of my key events from this weekend’s race, what are yours? And what do you think about Vettel’s situation right now?
That Sport Blog 