Monza is unique. I'm lucky enough to have been there a couple of times. The first was to watch a test day (by sheer chance we were holidaying only a couple of hours away), which goes down as one of the best F1 experiences - For 25 euros we got admission to all of the spectator areas, so you could spread your time across the whole circuit, from the top of a grandstand - marvelling at the braking and cornering G-forces, to trackside with your nose up to the catch fencing - seeing and smelling the glowing brakes from just a few feet away. Petrol heaven.

The second time was in 1997 for a race. Couthard won (Ferrari didn't do well) so we didn't get to experience the Tifosi in full voice, but when we arrived at the circuit on race day at 4.30am, they were already 4 deep around the edge of the circuit. We met a group of crazy Italians who had built their own 'grandstand' from bits of discarded wood in the Monza forest. They spoke no English but we befriended them using the international language of Ferrari; Schumacher, Mansell ("Il Leone"), Berger, Alesi etc.

"Giancarlo Fiiiisiichelllllaa" sounds so beautiful when spoken by Italians.

It was the pre-DRS era, so after lap 1 there were literally NO on-track overtakes. Anyone who says that DRS has ruined 'real racing' should rewatch some of the races from that era. The jeopardy was mostly about strategy and pitstops - yawn.

And so to 2024, where things couldn't be much more different. When was the last time we've had 7 drivers from 4 teams winning races in a whole season, let alone only halfway through?

Ready to entertain us, the Monza organisers had resurfaced the entire track, new kerbs and all. The geeks started talking about bitumen attributes, high deg and the heat retention of dark asphalt. The rest of us were just looking for a good race.

Early in the weekend something odd seemed to be going on at the Parabolica. First Berndt Maylander crashed the safety car there (apparently the first blot on his copybook for 24 years). Then in FP1 Mercedes gave Lewis Hamiltons 2025 replacement Kimi Antonelli a go in George Russels F1 car, and he binned it at Parabolica on his second lap! At the time he hadn't yet been announced as part of their 2025 line up so it was a bit embarrassing for Mercedes, who were no doubt hoping for a stellar performance to back up the news of his appointment. But, check out the onboard for the lap before he went off - he was ON IT - the speed he took into the Ascari chicane was unreal!

Kimi's announcement overshadowed the arrival of Argentinian driver Franco Colopinto at Williams, replacing the hapless Logan Sargant (don't feel bad for him, he'll probably be an IndyCar champion in a few years). He's the first Argentinian driver since Gaston Mazzacane in the early 2000's.

Quali

McLaren locked out the front row, Lando leading the way, followed by Russells Mercedes, the two Ferraris, Lewis in 6th and Max in 7th, a full 0.7s down on pole. I wonder if anyone has told Christian to 'just change your f*cking car' (©Drive to Survive 2022)

Race day

Monza can sometimes be a tedious race because its hard to overtake, but this year the organisers added 100m to the main DRS zone, which seemed to get the balance right - still tricky to pass, but at least it was possible. In fact we saw passes in a number of places around the circuit.

For once, Lando didn't fluff the start and the two McLarens went line astern into the first chicane. The pace difference they had been showing meant that all they needed to do was work together to build a lead for a few laps, then they could duke it out between them.

But Piastri had other ideas, taking Lando by surprise at the second chicane, nerfing his way past in a manoeuvre which was superb in every way, except that it completely compromised his teammate - Lando was pushed so far offline that he lost another place to Leclerc. So much for the goodwill of Lando letting him past in Hungary ...

Much has been made of McLarens 'papaya rules' which govern how and when their drivers are allowed to race (sooo different to Red Bull) and I commend them for the spirit, but at this stage of the championship Lando is the only one of the two who can realistically catch Max, so surely now is the time to choose a driver and back them. Every race where they let Oscar finish ahead of Lando is gifting the championship to Max.

Still, it makes for interesting racing.

With McLaren two-stopping and clearly the faster car, Ferrari's only card left to play was to 1-stop, but as they only pitted a few laps later than the others, it wasn't until much later in the race that it became clear to everyone else that they were going to give it a go.

When McLaren finally cottoned on, the leading scarlet car was 15 seconds up the road with 15 laps to go, so the McLarens were told to start doing qualifying laps for the rest of the race to try to pile on the pressure and get the Ferraris to wear their tyres out. Could they keep their tyres intact for the remainder of the race, and would McLarens fresher tyres enable them to catch up? It was a fascinating close to the race.

Sainz was the first Ferrari to succumb - with 10 laps to go, Piastri passed him, and Norris followed 3 laps later but, try as they might, they just couldn't catch tyre-whisperer Charles Leclerc.

The noise from the Tifosi was deafening as the laps ticked down, and he only bloody did it - on his birthday he had received the ultimate present - a race win in front of his adoring Italian fans.

In the official post-race interview, he kept lapsing into Italian - his emotions must have been all over the place. Then there was that amazing Monza podium which uniquely towers over the start/finish straight, which by then was flooded with Ferrari fans. They have the best national anthem and to hear it sung by so many people sounded amazing even on TV.

Piastri finished 2nd and Lando 3rd (sneaking in fastest lap right at the end so at least he got 1 extra point). None of the other teams really shone.

For stats geeks, thats 5 Italian GP's in a row where the driver on pole hasn't won.

Next up, Baku. Can't wait.