Hamilton Chases Eighth Title at Monza
At the back of a heaving food court in Monza, two England shirts cut through the sea of red. “Hamilton 44 Still I Rise” is splashed across both backs. English fans, surely.
“We’re from the Netherlands,” they grin.
So, Max Verstappen country. But not Verstappen territory.
“Nooooo! And we never have been,” Tim laughs.
Anton and Tim are here for one man. Lewis Hamilton. The seven-time world champion is 59 points adrift of Kimi Antonelli in the title race, chasing that elusive eighth crown. Logic says the gap is huge. Emotion says something else.
“For sure, he can do it,” Anton insists.
Tim adds the caveat many in the paddock are whispering: “Maybe with a little bit of luck – but he needs Charles Leclerc.”
In other words, this might be the moment the Ferrari star becomes the support act.
“So, is this the point where Leclerc has to be number two to Hamilton?” Tim doesn’t hesitate. “Yes, for sure. At least for this season.”
Monza has always loved a storyline. This year, it has several.
A Chess Match at 350km/h
On paper, today’s Italian Grand Prix is simple. One stop. Low tyre degradation. Even compounds. In reality, it looks like a tactical minefield.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella is braced for chaos. “I’m actually not sure that it’s easy to think how it will unfold,” he admits. He’s not alone.
Alpine and Pierre Gasly nailed qualifying to grab a stunning pole, while everyone else tripped over traffic, timing or mistakes. Yet on Friday’s race runs, Alpine were only the fifth-fastest team, trailing Mercedes, McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.
The lap charts say one thing. The energy management numbers say another.
At Monza, the slipstream is a weapon. The same drag that towed Gasly to pole will drag rivals into striking distance in the race. The complication is the electrical boost: use it to pass, and you risk being defenceless on the next straight.
“If you start to play with the boost and overtake cars,” Stella explains, “you may get overtaken and you may start to lose overall the time in the race. But at the same time, if you're faster, you may want to pass.”
That is the Monza riddle. Attack now, or wait and protect later.
Strategy models have already had their say. The official F1 predictor has George Russell winning from Oscar Piastri, with Charles Leclerc third and Gasly shuffled back to fourth. Recent history suggests those models rarely survive the first safety car.
If it stays green, a pit stop costs around 24 seconds. Under a safety car, that drops to about 15. One neutralisation at the wrong moment, and the whole script flips.
Tyres could decide who writes the final act. Russell, starting second in what looks like the quickest car over a stint, is the only driver with a fresh set of medium tyres. Ferrari, McLaren and Max Verstappen, by contrast, all have a new set of softs waiting.
Do they bolt the softs on at the start and gamble on track position? Or keep them in reserve for a late, aggressive sprint – turning the race into a medium-soft dash rather than the more conservative soft/medium or soft/hard routes?
At Monza, the fastest car doesn’t always win. The smartest one often does.
Gasly’s Gambit
A quarter of an hour before he delivered one of the most unexpected pole laps in years, Pierre Gasly was busy attacking a different board.
He was playing online chess with George Russell. And winning.
“I must say before the quali, I felt pretty confident,” Gasly smiled. “Because I was picking piece by piece after piece.”
His performance coach Ben Thorne watched on and couldn’t resist a jab. “OK, well, you’re getting George here, but he’s going to get you in a few minutes.”
Gasly’s reply involved a swear word, but the grin never left his face. “Turned out that it worked out well. So yeah, it’s been fun.”
On Saturday, the Frenchman beat Russell on the screen, then beat him on track. Today, he has to defend from him at 200mph with a car that, over a race distance, might not quite belong at the front.
Pole at Monza for a French driver is rare – the last was Jean Alesi back in 1997. Turning it into victory would be something else entirely.
The Temple of Speed, the Weight of Ferrari
Away from the grid, the paddock is sweltering and star-studded. The hottest ticket in town, in every sense.
Jannik Sinner, five-time Grand Slam champion and self-confessed F1 obsessive, has traded New York and the US Open for his home race. The crush to get a photo with him is ferocious. One fan, Julieta, emerges beaming, clutching a snapshot and a story.
“It was amazing!! My grandfather made me a fan of his. Unbelievable!!”
She wears Ferrari red, of course. Her heart is split between the home team and the sport’s biggest name.
“I really want Lewis Hamilton to win, I believe in that, but if Charles Leclerc wins, it would also be amazing.”
That is the conflict playing out all over Monza. Ferrari is not just a team here; it is an institution.
“Ferrari is my heart,” says Thomas, a Monza local, standing under the old banking.
“It’s a religion,” adds Emanuele, attending with his daughter Matilde. “In Italy, we do support other teams and other sports, but there is only one Ferrari.”
In this country, they joke that the identity of the Scuderia team principal matters as much as the Pope. It’s only half a joke.
And yet, the driver leading the world championship, the man who could end a 73-year wait for an Italian world champion, wears silver, not red.
Antonelli: Italy’s Star, Mercedes’ Man
Kimi Antonelli has been tipped as a once-in-a-generation talent. This season, he has started to justify the label.
Back in March, he became the youngest-ever championship leader after winning in Japan at 19 years, seven months and four days. He has not let go of top spot since.
Six wins later, he arrives at Monza with a 59-point cushion over Hamilton, carrying the hopes of a nation that has not celebrated an Italian F1 world champion since 1953.
There is one complication: he drives for Mercedes, not Ferrari.
The tifosi are wrestling with it. Can they cheer for a Mercedes to bring Italy a title while still living and dying with the red cars?
Julieta, the Sinner fan, thinks a win for Antonelli today – even from 19th on the grid after an engine penalty – “would be important for Monza because he’s Italian”. She even suggests Ferrari “could maybe” offer their support if he goes on to seal the championship.
Then she pauses, smiles, and adds: “But I prefer Hamilton.”
Antonelli is forcing a re-write of the old rules of fandom here. Ferrari remains the faith. He is the local boy threatening to bend that faith without breaking it.
A Portrait of a Pursuit
For Hamilton, this weekend carries its own symbolism.
Somewhere in Monza, a very different kind of tribute waits for him. French artist Constantin Vincent has spent 50 hours building a portrait of the seven-time champion from old karting tyres and acrylics, layered with phrases and memories sent in by fans.
“There is ‘remember who you are mate’, his trophies, his number 44, ‘Hammertime’, ‘Still I Rise’,” the 24-year-old explains.
He left finance three years ago to become a full-time artist and has already immortalised Rafa Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Now he has turned his attention to Hamilton, helped by an F1 community that pushed him to make it happen.
“It really is a tribute to Hamilton and to all the community,” he says. “So, I take time to create and learn about the driver, and it was a pleasure to discover this guy and discover his values.”
The aim is simple: get the artwork into Hamilton’s hands this weekend. A fan-made reminder that, even in Ferrari’s backyard, the Brit commands his own army.
Heat, History and a Grid on Edge
Round 13 of the season lands in the middle of a baking Italian late summer. The air shimmers. The grandstands throb.
Gasly starts from pole, a shock to the system. Russell lines up alongside, eyeing Antonelli’s points lead and smelling opportunity with his team-mate marooned at the back after that engine penalty.
Behind them, Ferrari know they’ve lost some of the raw pace they flashed earlier in the year, but Monza has a way of lifting red cars. McLaren lurk, armed with race pace and fresh softs. Verstappen, off the front row but never out of the equation, waits to pounce.
The questions keep piling up. Can Gasly hang on? Can Russell slash Antonelli’s lead? Can Hamilton drag himself back into a title fight that many thought had slipped away? Can Antonelli, from 19th, produce the kind of comeback that would send Italy into delirium?
The poll at the top of the page will offer one answer. The Temple of Speed will deliver the real one.
By tonight, Monza will have chosen its hero. The championship may just have found its turning point.
