Italian Grand Prix: The Editorial Team’s Top / Flop

While one might have feared another Sunday drive averaging over 250 km/h for Lewis Hamilton, that wasn’t the case. For the first time this season, there is no Mercedes on the podium, which this time was claimed by Pierre Gasly, Carlos Sainz, and Lance Stroll. With such a result, it was not easy for the MotorsInside.com editorial team to define the top 3. The flop, however, was easier.

TOP 3

Pierre Gasly, at the top!

Already in our top 3 last week at Spa-Francorchamps, Pierre Gasly can only again be in our top 3 after a victory that makes him a part of French sports history! Even more than the result, it’s the manner that impresses. Indeed, the Norman perfectly took advantage of his team’s strategy which had him dive into the pit lane before the safety car intervention and the red flag. Then, he succeeded in his second start, allowing him to get the better of Lance Stroll. Finally, he managed to make absolutely no mistakes under pressure when the stakes were at their highest.

Quite simply the driving of a driver who proves every week that he deserves to find a team worthy of his talent. Helmut Marko must be asking himself many questions while Alexander Albon finished in 15th position…

Carlos Sainz, disappointed with second place

Carlos Sainz increasingly establishes himself as the unluckiest driver in the paddock. While he is having a fantastic season with McLaren, he has in the back of his mind that he will join a team in disarray next season. When he saw the opportunity to clinch his first victory, he gave it his all, ignoring his engineer’s calls for caution. In the race outlook, we wondered if he could withstand the competition.

The answer was yes, but he simply couldn’t do anything against the strategy and driving of Pierre Gasly. While he expected to finish second behind Lewis Hamilton, he could legitimately aim even higher, but how can he regret achieving his best career result?

The FIA

This race, which initially felt like a post-lunch nap, shifted into another dimension when the safety car entered the track. The reason? Kevin Magnussen’s poorly positioned car at the pit entrance. In the past, the infamous virtual safety car could have been deployed to facilitate this brief intervention. Ultimately, it was the physical version that intervened and regrouped the entire pack. Similarly, the decision to reinstate standing starts following a red flag once again proved its worth.

FLOP 3

Valtteri Bottas, transparent

What a disappointment! Race after race, Valtteri Bottas is becoming less and less dazzling. As always, he starts the season quite promising before falling back in line. But when, for once, his leader stumbled, he couldn’t take advantage to win another race. The blame goes to a missed start that sent him deep into the heart of the pack. His only overtaking move was against a struggling Kimi Räikkönen with worn-out tires. We’ve seen better from a driver at the highest level of single-seater racing. Should we remind that his teammate gained over 13 seconds on the race leader in 20 laps?

Renault, a big missed opportunity

There are two ways to look at things: yes, a 6th and an 8th place are good results for a team like Renault. But at the same time, the team failed to take advantage of race events to propel themselves further up the hierarchy. Esteban Ocon was indeed the first to say this at the end of the race, before his team ordered him to be quiet on the radio: « The race was solid. I passed three teams at the start and had the pace to be competitive and in the points. It’s strange because I overtook Gasly at the start and he won the race! »

During a weekend when the team announced a name change for the next season, it would have been nice to stand out with a top performance. Ultimately, it was not as good as a week earlier at Spa-Francorchamps.

The FIA

Uh, isn’t there a mistake? FIA in the Top 3 and Flop 3 in the same race? Yes, officer. Indeed, even though the two decisions above clearly turned the race for the better, others are more questionable. The most obvious is allowing drivers to change tires during a red flag intervention. This decision completely justified Lance Stroll’s choice not to stop under the safety regime while all the other drivers did. As a result, Lando Norris clearly lost his podium place following the Canadian’s tire change. While it’s still difficult to say, like the Brit, that Lance Stroll’s podium is undeserved, it’s not entirely due to his team’s or his own strategy on the track.

Let’s hope that the FIA will remember this and once again ban any intervention on the car in the event of a race interruption.