Italian GP
DISCLAIMER: There will be a discussion of Abu Dhabi 2021 and the incredible abuse of power and horrible judgement. If you think I should move on, I think you should keep reading.
But before I begin, can I be honest for a second? Writing these posts is getting progressively more difficult. Life is happening, and it’s incredibly hard to prioritize writing my silly thoughts on this silly season. Part of it is that honestly- Red Bull is running away with the championship as Ferrari have taken steps backward, and Mercedes is slowly crawling forward. While I’m relieved we’re not dealing with reckless Max this season (but I don’t believe for a second that those ways are fully in the past… If challenged by Hamilton, I’m sure it’ll bring out the worst in him again), I’m struggling staying interested in this season. Writing about another easy Red Bull victory isn’t what I had hoped for this season and for my writing, but here we are. Between full-time work and living a life outside of F1 Twitter, I’ve been increasingly more delayed in writing and posting these, but I made a commitment to myself to write one post for every race, and I’m determined to follow through. Even when it’s difficult, and I’m tired- I must keep going. I must keep writing.
Okay, thanks for indulging me.
Race 16 Summary
September 11, 2022
Max Verstappen finishes P1 after late safety car drama… sound familiar? Well, I’m not just talking about Abu Dhabi 2021- Monza proved to have some late race drama, which ultimately led the race to finish behind the safety car. The internet was again ignited with flames of injustice- Ferrari fans complaining about the Safety Car while also telling Hamilton fans to move on already. I’m going to share my opinions of the Safety Car usage in Monza, and compare to AD 2021, but how did we get there?
This race saw another shuffled grid, as Hamilton and Sainz took engine penalties- placing them towards the back. Verstappen and Perez both took 5-place grid drops to introduce another Power Unit component to their pools, but that didn’t affect their starting position that much. Leclerc secured an easy pole, with George Russell starting P2. As the lights went out, Lando Norris (starting P3) went into anti-stall, giving his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, a chance to pass him. After the first chicane, it was Leclerc, Russell, and Ricciardo, but that order didn’t last long. Verstappen was only a few cars behind, and easily overtook Pierre Gasly, and Daniel Ricciardo to jump into the podium places by lap 2. By lap 5, Verstappen was able to pass Russell for P2. Further down, Carlos Sainz was making moves. By lap 6 he was already up in the points in P10, while Hamilton (who started right behind him) was still in 18th.
On lap 12, Sebastian Vettel had to retire his car from the race due to an issue with the car. He was able to pull off to the side right by some marshals. This prompted a Virtual Safety Car, and Ferrari called in Charles Leclerc to pit. Unfortunately for him, Vettel’s car was removed from the track very easily and quickly, which meant the track went green again before Charles had left the pits. This would ultimately prove to be the dagger in his race. He would spend the rest of the race trying to catch up to Max, and hoping for a Red Bull error. However, he did get a glimmer of hope towards the end of the race…
On lap 47 of 53, Ricciardo’s engine shut off, leaving him stranded on the side of the track, and my husband devastated. Because he lost power, he wasn’t able to select a pull off point like Vettel was earlier in the race, meaning a full safety car would be needed while the marshals worked to remove the car. The other drivers began diving into the pits to give themselves a fresh set of tires in case the race restarted. Unfortunately, the car proved to be more difficult to move, as it wouldn’t shift into neutral which would have allowed them to push the car off track. The car would ultimately need lifted from the track, which took far more time than if they could have just pushed it. By the time the track was clear, there wasn’t enough time to continue through the full safety car procedure with the amount of laps they had left. Max wins, Charles P2 and George P3 (with Carlos P4 and Hamilton P5 after working their way back up the field).
So now, let’s talk about the safety car procedure, shall we?
Here’s how it’s supposed to work:
-Safety car is called out
All cars bunch up together, giving the marshals a safe gap to attend to the incident/car
Marshals clear incident and repair any damaged barriers
Once it’s all clear and marshals no longer need to be on track, lapped cars unlap themselves (to get out of the way of cars that their not racing- you know so P20 isn’t restarting a race in between P1 and P2).
Once they’ve had enough time to catch up (this part is subjective), the safety car is called in and the message “safety car in this lap” is sent to all drivers/teams. The safety car “in this lap” message means that the safety car completes another lap, and then comes in
Racing resumes
Okay, so that’s obviously a bit of a process, and yes this is oversimplified, BUT the sentiment remains. There is a clear process and procedure to the use of the safety car, and it was undeniably NOT FOLLOWED in Abu Dhabi 2021. The Race Director has some ability to make a judgement call with the safety car, but there are things that are expressly written in the rules for safety and fairness. Of course we want to see as much racing action as possible, especially at the end of a race, but sometimes it isn’t possible.
It wasn’t possible in Abu Dhabi 2021, and it wasn’t possible in Monza 2022. Ultimately, it took too long to remove Daniel’s disabled vehicle from the track. By the time the car was cleared, there simply weren’t enough laps to have the lapped cars unlap themselves, AND follow the “safety car in this lap” procedure.
My opinion: as anti-climactic as it was, finishing under the safety car was the right thing to do given the circumstances. Every time the safety car procedure is CORRECTLY followed, makes me so angry that it wasn’t correctly followed in Abu Dhabi, especially considering what was on the line.
(If you want to really take a deep dive into the use of the safety car, I highly recommend checking out this video.)
I don’t have a ton more to say, but enjoy my slideshow of stressed Evan. If you like this content, I troll him even more on my tik tok.
FAVE CREATORS
Quickstop F1: 2022 Italian GP Review. “This week, Nyasha and Thandie are joined by F1's very own Champagne Papi @Wolf Pack Performance to discuss an Italian GP which has brought up memories of Abu Dhabi 2021 and the fall out that still seems to be prevelant in F1. We also celebrate Nyck De Vries' excellent performance over the weekend against his teammate and ask, what would you do if you were Jost Capito?”
On the Chicane: 2022 Monza GP Race Review. “We are joined by Abby from Racing Forces to dissect the Italian GP at Monza. A last minute stand in for Alex Albon meant an exciting prospect was served with Nick de Vries and a late Safety Car brought us right back to Abu Dhabi 2021 once more.”
That’s all I have for the Italian GP. Not exactly one to remember. Max can technically clinch the WDC in Singapore if he finishes P1 in the race, and Charles finishes P8 or lower (or something like that). Honestly there are a few ways he could win in Singapore, but regardless, it feels all but a formality at this point…