MY EXPERIENCE AT MONZA GP 2012

Another unforgettable day at magical Monza, full of emotions and passion! It’s incredible how F1 can reunite so many passionate people – excluding the ones who booed Hamilton, but I’ll talk about that later – creating such a fantastic atmosphere!

The day started very early with an awesome visit in the pit lane: it was an extraordinary opportunity and I won’t hide that I was really excited walking where, later, the drivers and all the mechanics would have worked. It was really interesting to see the Marussia and the Lotus’ team doing practise pit stops and other teams, like Red Bull, working on the car. I got to see some Italian journalists and I also managed to hold Kimi Raikkonen’s steering wheel! It is spectacular to finally see in person what you have been watching on the TV for years.

      

After the pit walk we went to the end of Parabolica, where we watched all the races, starting with GP2: while the day before Filippi triumphed making the Italian fans sing the anthem, on Sunday Davide Valsecchi won, increasing his championship lead from Razia. So once again we sang “Fratelli d’Italia”. Later it was the turn of Porche Cup, and right in front of us we saw a dangerous off track.

I must say that waiting for the GP wasn’t boring at all: there were many lively Tifosi among us that entertained everybody the whole time singing and shouting. Furthermore, we got to meet some Twitter friends and it was very nice to know them in person!

But finally it was race time: when the red lights disappeared, Felipe Massa managed to overtake Button, and he was close to pass Hamilton too. But every lap he was losing tenths from the lead and Button re-overtook him. In the meantime, Fernando Alonso gained many positions, and it was very exciting to see, as he battled with Raikkonen, Schumacher and, most of all, with Sebastian Vettel. He was faster than the German, but tried to overtake him at Curva Grande, where two cars can’t stand next to each other. And when Fernando managed to catch him again and overtake him, Vettel was given a a drive-through penalty anyway, which, in my opinion, wasn’t right, as when it happened in 2011 to the Spaniard, there was none.

The first twist was Button’s retire, who was brilliantly running in second; then the alternator abandoned Vettel’s car again after Valencia GP and even the other Red Bull, Webber’s one, had to retire in the last laps after a spun. While Lewis Hamilton was easily leading the race, Perez managed to catch the two Ferraris, which were second and third, and overtook both of them.

Five laps from the end, anyway, me and my family had to go to the exits: it was time for the podium! When the gates opened, we tried our best to run until the podium and, when we arrived, the prize giving wasn’t started yet. There’s an important point I want to discuss: Hamilton being booed. It was horrible and disgusting to hear all the “boo” for him! I know he’s a strong adversary for Ferrari, but the fact is, many people in Italy believe, I think, that if someone supports a driver, then he must hate the adversary. This is terribly wrong! Everyone should be a F1 fan first, and then support the driver or team he thinks it’s the best. Everyone deserves respect for his passion and work, no matter who it is.

              

Talking about the celebrations on the podium, it was so spectacular! Obviously Fernando Alonso stole big part of the attention, being supported by the majority of the fans. I loved the interview by Niki Lauda: suddenly, when the Spaniard was talking, the sea of Tifosi was so quiet, but then, when he started speaking in Italian and saying supportive words, he was overwhelmed by the happy screams of the people.

Unfortunately, this fantastic day came to an end. It made me so happy and I hope you’ll feel my joy riding through this article. I will upload the best pics of this GP in a few days, so stay tuned!