“Grazie ragazzi!!” is the radio message most fans at Monza would want to hear right after Sebastian Vettel or Charles Leclerc crosses the finish line to win this weekends Italian Grand Prix. One can dream…

Last time around, Mercedes annihilated and humiliated Ferrari in front of their home crowd with a 1st and 3rd place finish. This weekend will somewhat be seen as payback for that. The fact that the SF90 in its current guise seems like it was built specifically for the long straights in Monza. The car is very slippery in a straight line. So much so that Lewis Hamilton remarked after the race at the Belgium Grand Prix that the Ferrari’s were too quick on the straights.

This weekend will be seen as redemption weekend for Ferrari having taken their only victory for the season a few days ago. Mercedes have all but dominated this season with Lewis Hamilton leading the charge and who is well on his way to yet another world championship title.

The season is far from over and so are Ferrari’s worries. After Monza, there are not that many tracks where they will be in contention and will come under fire from Red Bull who have an in form driver in the form of Max Verstappen, a newly promoted driver that is eager to prove himself in Alex Albon and an engine partner who seems to have delivered on their promise. Red Bull have a real chance of overhauling Ferrari in the constructors championship to move to second place. Ferrari will try to limit the damage as much as possible will no doubt fight to keep second in the constructors championship. On the other side of the coin, it is Mattia Binotto’s first season in charge which mostly has been a learning season for him. He seems to have almost got his structures in place in the team. It’s all a matter of it coming together which we should start seeing the results of this towards the end of the season.

Mid Field Picks up Where it Left Off

The mid field battle was expected to intensify in the second half of the season and Spa saw it turned up quite a bit. With the top 6 positions, on a clean weekend straight-forward weekend, being occupied by Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, there are just 4 points paying positions left in the top 10.

In Spa we saw the mid-field change quite a few times during the race.

While the Haas’ qualified well they steadily dropped out of the points during the course of the race. Their car seems to lack the grip and speed in race trim.

The Racing Point team are starting to see the results of the Stroll investment filtering through now and updates that they brought in Spa seemed to work to get the team a double points finish. They should have a strong showing in Monza as tradition has shown that they tend to do well.

McLaren were on course for some good points in Spa until Lando Norris was forced to retire on the final lap after a PU issue saw him pull over just after he crossed the line to begin the final lap. At the moment the Woking based team are comfortably in 5th place in the Constructors Championship.

Renault continue to slog it out and, like the mid field battles, have picked up right where they left off last year. Their car, at the moment, seems to have a very small operating window and the drivers are finding it difficult to setup. Nico Hulkenberg did pick up a few points with his P8 finish in Spa. Renault should be the best of the rest by now with their budget and relative size compared to the other midfield teams. Something is not working well and they need to find the solution to their problems quick since the board of Renault will not take to kind to poor results for such a large cash outlay.

Alfa Romeo tends to punch above it’s weight in some races. Kimi Raikkonen seems to get his Alfa up the order with some really good driving and qualifying performances. His team mate Antonio Giovinazzi seems to be having a hard time to finish in the points. While no easy feat, his performances in races have been lacking. He was on course for a points finish before crashing out on the final lap in the Belgian Grand Prix. Alfa are mulling over their driving line up for next year and while Raikkonen is contracted, Giovinazzi’s seat is might be open next year.

Podium celebrations in Monza are without a doubt one of a kind. The podium sits above the track which the crowd floods after the race. The drivers overlook the fans on the track like rock stars at a concert. It is a special feeling being on that podium irrespective of which team you drive for but there’s no better feeling than being a Ferrari driver and lifting the winners trophy in front of the Tifosi. It is then when one realises that Formula 1 and Ferrari are not just a mere motorsport discipline and racing team in Italy, it’s a religion.