Italian GP – Mercedes hurts Ferrari's pride, the race is a deadly bore

Monza here, Monza there, the renewal, the slogans, for ever and ever in Aerosmith style, Armageddon tearjerker and who knows what you expect on Sunday, and instead GP in the Temple of Speed ​​is an unrivaled natural sleeping pill, a deadly boredom, a drip that you can't wait for it to end. Luckily the monotonous high-speed parade lasts less than other races. Unfortunately there was no overtaking worthy of note (or rather one, that of Ricciardo on Bottas), but all pre-packaged by that colossal bullshit that is the DRS or mobile wing if you prefer. It's incomprehensible how the fastest race of the year is also the most boring, a symptom that there is something (big) wrong with today's F1. Then the comparison with MotoGP was merciless, which at Silverstone offered an unprecedented spectacle with a small group of furious riders fighting for the podium.

In Monza, however, yet another triumphal parade was staged by the super Krauts Mercedes, so strong that they were able to allow themselves to slap Ferrari, humiliate it at home, almost mock it, with a strategy that would be unworkable for others. Mercedes started on the soft tyres, after a while switched to medium tyres, and cruised undisturbed to the finish line, with Vettel and Raikkonen forced to settle for the leftovers from the large Anglo-Teutonic banquet.

Between one yawn and another we saw Hamilton recover with impressive ease after the horrible start, Rosberg walking on velvet (and reopening the world championship, bringing himself to within two points and seven victories against the six of his rival teammate), Vettel and Raikkonen closing arm in arm in front of the red people, who perhaps expected something else.

Yet the new Ferrari launched by Marchionne seems to be content with third place, greeted with a big celebration on the podium. In lean times a third place at home is an event to celebrate, but in the general economy of a very disappointing season the other twenty seconds caught under the checkered flag by a Mercedes that takes no prisoners weigh heavily. “We are Ferrari" Sebastian shouts from the podium to the cheering crowd. One wonders whether the German champion or the many fans who flocked there have ever seen the real Ferrari. The president, like him, relaunches: with Binotto in 2017 it will be a completely different story and Allison should have been greeted first. Poor Binotto comes to mind, or perhaps it's better to take it Alonso-style, with a thunderous arrogant laugh (radio team of the year, finally a driver who laughs in the face of a petulant engineer).

What saved itself, between the boredom of the GP and the modest Ferrari, was the celebration of the podium, with a sea of ​​spectators greeting their idols and a Rosberg star of the day singing our 2006 world championship chorus (Po-Po-Po -Bit…). He won the audience, that's for sure. But he has lost the one who continues to wave that white-green flag of a territorial body that does not exist.

Antonino Rendina

Follow @antorendina