Ferrari clings to the 'tifosi' and Verstappen's 'curse' in Monza to smile again

MADRID, 8 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Formula 1 World Championship lands this weekend at the Monza Circuit, the 'Temple of Speed' where an Italian Grand Prix will take place, to which Red Bull arrives as once again the rival to beat and willing to take a step more towards the title that a Max Verstappen has well on track, while Ferrari hopes to resurface against his 'tifosi', with Carlos Sainz looking for revenge and Fernando Alonso (Alpine) consolidating his regularity.

So far, nothing seems to stop the Austrian team, the true champion of the championship, regardless of the circumstances or without being able to dominate on Saturdays. The current champion already has an advantage of more than 100 points (109), four races, and after the break he has maintained his winning dynamics.

Verstappen arrives at Monza after four consecutive victories, ten in total out of a possible 15, and already with a long way to go to reissue his title, also because who seemed to be his main rival, Ferrari, is making all kinds of mistakes, which have still opened plus the performance gap between the single-seaters.

The characteristics of Monza, a high-speed circuit, favor Red Bull in theory, although, curiously, not only has it not achieved victory on this track since 2013, with the German Sebastian Vettel, but it is 'cursed' for its number 'one ', who doesn't even know what it's like to get on the podium and who has suffered two retirements in his last visits. Yes, his 'second' team, AlphaTauri, with Frenchman Pierre Gasly, did it in the pandemic season.

Ferrari clings to this so as not to let the victory slip away from their spirited 'tifosi', who want to have reasons to smile again after a year that started well and has gone too far. Charles Leclerc won not too long ago, in 2019, although the Monegasque has not been too optimistic.

Leclerc, who has his second place in the World Cup threatened by the other Red Bull, that of the Mexican Sergio Pérez, with whom he is tied on points, only has that podium in Monza, where he arrives somewhat animated after returning to the drawer in the Great Netherlands Award.

This last appointment was once again very elusive for his teammate Carlos Sainz, who suffered a bad stop at the beginning by his team and then received a penalty and had to settle for being eighth, which takes him away from the final podium of the World Cup.

After his historic victory at Silverstone, almost everything has been bad news for the Madrilenian, handicapped in some races by Ferrari itself and since that success he has only been on the podium once more. The Spaniard was sixth against the 'tifosi' in his first year as a Ferrriista, but in 2020 he was second with McLaren.

In addition, the 'Scuderia' must also be concerned about the gradual improvement of Mercedes, which is only 20 points away in the Constructors' World Championship. George Russell arrives encouraged after being second last weekend and being 13 points behind Leclerc and the 'Checo', while Lewis Hamilton will seek to be the protagonist again, although it will be difficult to achieve his sixth victory in Monza, where he has not won since 2018 .

For his part, Fernando Alonso from Asturias will also try to shine in the 'Temple of Speed', which he won twice, in 2007 with McLaren and in 2010 with Ferrari. The two-time world champion was eighth last year and arrives at the Italian track at a good level, scoring for his team in the last ten Grand Prix, in the last four being better than his teammate Esteban Ocon, who is already seven points behind in the classification.

-Friday.

14.00-15.00 Free 1.

17.00-18.00 Free 2.

-Saturday.

13.00-14.00 Free 3.

16.00-17.00 Qualification.

-Sunday.

15.00 Race.