Well, the first thing we learned was the Lewis Hamilton likes pasta. No good British bacon and eggs and sausages to celebrate. And that is about the sum total of the excitement from the Monza Grand Prix.
High speeds, yes. Boring, also yes. Full of artificial ways to spice up the grid. With all due respect to Lewis Hamilton’s driving, but Monza was a farce.
The artificial nature of F1 was demonstrated very early, with another bunch of grid penalties. Whilst the media was being fed all the tommy twaddle about Lance Stroll being the youngest ever driver to make the front row, he was in actual fact 4th. Not 2nd, as the Red Bull pair were 2nd and 3rd, but then the grid penalties were meted out.
* Verstappen was given 20-place grid penalty for additional power unit elements.
** Ricciardo was given 25-place grid penalties for additional power unit elements and a new gearbox.
*** Vandoorne was given 25-place grid penalties for additional power unit elements.
**** Perez was given a five-place grid penalty for a new gearbox.
***** Hulkenberg was given 10-place grid penalties for an additional power unit element.
****** Alonso was given 35-place grid penalties for additional power unit elements.
******* Sainz was given a 10-place grid penalty for an additional power unit element.
******** Palmer was given 15-place grid penalties for additional power unit elements.
********* Grosjean was given a five-place grid penalty for a new gearbox.
The end result was a grid that bore no resemblance to how quickly the drivers could master Monza qualifying.
Alonso, for example, drove the wheels off the Honda pedal-car to then get a 35 grid place penalty. He should have stayed at home. Rumor has it that the grid penalty system will be scrapped next year. Next year is not soon enough.
The race was a fine example of a high speed train, plenty of nose to tail with Hamilton so far in front he can claim the Singapore pole position already. Vettel will need something akin to a miracle to get out of this hole, or it’s too late for the Marlboro man!
Driver of the day was Ricciardo going from his artificial 16th grid position to 4th outright at the flag.
Finally, all the media hype about Hamilton’s 69th victory does not take into consideration that drivers from 20 years ago did not have 20 Grands Prix to choose from. It is pointless trying to compare apples and oranges.
Results:
1 L Hamilton Mercedes
2 V Bottas Mercedes
3 S Vettel Ferrari
4 D Ricciardo Red Bull
5 K Raikkonen Ferrari
6 E Ocon Force India
7 L Stroll Williams
8 F Massa Williams
9 S Perez Force India
10 M Verstappen Red Bull
11 K Magnussen Haas
12 D Kvyat Toro Rosso
13 N Hulkenberg Renault
14 C Sainz Toro Rosso
15 R Grosjean Haas
16 P Wehrlein Sauber
Retirements:
F Alonso McLaren
M Ericsson Sauber
S Vandoorne McLaren
J Palmer Renault
The next GP is from Singapore on September 17.
