Monza Circuit is truly “the Temple of Speed,” because the racetrack just hosted the fastest race in Formula One history.
Signore Stefano Domenicali — we do not need to make races shorter. We should focus on improving young people’s attention spans, not accommodating their short ones.
The race was so quick that it felt like a summary. But, there was one thing that happened that was rather strange.
Formula One racing is a team sport until it’s not. It’s not a team sport when the team already has the Constructors’ Championship in the bag and its two drivers are battling for the drivers championship. At that point, it’s every man for himself.
There’s nothing on the line for McLaren as a team. Ferrari is second in the championship — a whole 337 points behind. McLaren can win the Constructors’ Championship next time out in Azerbaijan. So, is it not time to throw papaya rules into the trash where they belong and give the drivers and viewers what they want?
What do we want? A real championship fight! When do we want it? Now!
Now to the incident at hand. Lando Norris made a call of his own volition: He wanted second service in the pit stops, despite being the lead McLaren. Some say he was playing the team game, but I think he gambled and lost. How could he possibly have known he’d have a 5.9 second pit-stop? That’s his problem, not Oscar Piastri’s.
The team asking Piastri to let Norris through when they’re fighting each other for the championship is embarrassing, to be honest. McLaren’s justification? Hungary 2024. Like that wasn’t a strategic disaster class of massive proportions.
What happened in Hungary last year? Piastri was leading the race, and the team decided to undercut him by pitting Norris first. This meant that when Piasri came out of the pits, he was behind Norris. The team had to grovel at Norris’ feet to let Piastri through. Norris was understandably reluctant and made a huge mess of Piastri’s first win.
But there are key differences between these two incidents.
One, Hungary was the team’s mistake; this was Norris’ decision. The team can correct its mistakes, but not the driver’s. You could argue that the slow stop was a team mistake, but that’s just the luck of the draw.
Two, there was no championship on the line in Hungary. Despite whatever anyone wants to tell themselves, Norris was never a real contender for the 2024 championship against Max Verstappen. This year, he is. Giving up the position last year didn’t really cost Norris anything.
I agree that Norris should have given the position back in Hungary last year as a matter of principle. But, what this does is create a precedent, which they followed this year. By nature of being a race driver, you are selfish, and sometimes that has to win over principle (I can’t believe I’m saying that, but I am). If Norris really wanted to be a competitor last year, he would have won in Hungary and defied the team. As four-time champion, Sebastian Vettel said, “I won’t apologize for winning.” To think that McLaren has been waiting to use Hungary 2024 on Piastri is kinda strange. (Note: Norris wasn’t fighting Piastri for the title — he was trying to fight Verstappen.)
But Piastri is so confident in himself that he let him through, because the three points Norris gained aren’t a big deal to him. At least he voiced his concerns. He’s better than me. He was so calm telling the team why he disagreed, but did it anyway — I would have pretended my radio wasn’t working.
I’ll say two things before moving on. One, I doubt McLaren would have made the switch if it was the other way around, especially if Norris was leading the championship. Two, for the second time, to cry favoritism toward Piastri or sabotage toward Norris is to watch Formula One in your very active imagination.
Monza is a better track. There were good overtakes, and it just felt more race-y. Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar had the times of their lives, so I’m not mad. However, I did have flashbacks to the war (the 2023 season) when Verstappen started pulling out a gap in front.
Up next, round 17. I’ll be Bak-u for more (I’m so sorry).
