Kimi conquers Monza and the hearts of Italians
Incredible but true. And the discussion goes beyond, because at this point one wonders how far Andrea Kimi Antonelli can go this year, in ten years, in an even more distant future. It is even superfluous to underline that we are talking about a phenomenon comparable only to the greatest of all time like Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton, heroes who thrilled the crowds by achieving extraordinary results, beyond logic, as Antonelli did by conquering Monza starting from nineteenth position and – also – dragging into jubilation the Ferrari fans who had remained silent, mortified by how Leclerc had crashed into the wall and Hamilton was struggling hopelessly, far even from the fight for the podium.
Read more Antonelli, the first words after the triumph: “At the restart I thought ‘I have to win this one’”
Thanks to Mercedes, Antonelli made the hearts of Italians beat, conquered for the first time by a car of a color different from red, with a team led by a manager like Toto Wolff assimilated into our culture and enriched by many technicians from our country – like Simone Resta, “awarded” with the podium ceremony – who found in the German team the opportunity to redeem themselves and show a value that was not appreciated in our country.
At this point Antonelli flies straight towards the world title, although no one yet knows how many races remain until the end. His direct rivals are resigned, starting with George Russell, the teammate trailing by 61 points, then Hamilton, who slipped to 76 points. Russell was outclassed in terms of speed despite a perfect race, always on Pirelli Hard tires. If he had been stopped for the pit stop during the Virtual Safety Car, maybe things would have gone differently, but Russell himself, with great sportsmanship, acknowledged Kimi’s superiority and the risks of a strategy that was risky in any case.
…and Ferrari?
But who could have imagined that Antonelli would be capable of such a feat, enriched by 26 overtakes? No one. Also because a Ferrari was expected to be in first place. Instead, after many proclamations full of maximum optimism, at the end of the race – in a climate of surreal disbelief – we heard Fred Vasseur declare that Monza was considered, within the team, the most difficult race of the season for the Prancing Horse.
Read more Hamilton: “I am devastated. The duel with Leclerc? Blocking the positions would have gone better…”
The reality is that the Aduo 2 engine offered nothing more than the previous one and Hamilton’s sixth place, almost half a minute behind the Mercedes, is the worst placement of the season, equal only to the equally disappointing ones in Suzuka and Miami. And then there was Leclerc’s big mistake with the frightening crash on the second lap, but even before that there was the collision, caused by him, with Hamilton, demonstrating a state of mind far from calm and a discipline that does not exist within the team.
Is it Vasseur’s fault for not imposing himself or are the drivers disobeying? We would like to know. And then there is no car capable of winning and even incapable of making a pole position that seemed very accessible, because Ferrari on Saturday was outdone by none other than Alpine, with Flavio Briatore who, with much fewer resources, has started to make the Prancing Horse suffer again.
Returning to the world championship, Monza has given, barring miracles, a knockout blow to Maranello’s world title hopes. Vasseur announced a meeting with a cool head to discuss the big flop, but faced with such an embarrassing situation it would be appropriate for the top management, namely John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna, to intervene by taking the situation firmly in hand, because it cannot go on like this. And even if some victories may come, it does not seem that the foundations have been laid to imagine the turnaround we have been waiting for years.
