MSR’s Memorable Moments: Formula One Italian Grand Prix 2019

Gareth Hall talks to us about his memorable moment from last years Italian Grand Prix. A race he was fortunate enough to witness with his, at the time, girlfriend. A race that the Tifosi will not forget due to Leclerc breaking the 9 year losing streak and Gareth will remember for equally personal reasons.

So I might be pushing the limits of a historical moment that sticks in the memory, but trust me of those I have many! But the most memorable actually comes from 2019 and invokes so many emotions when I look back to what was one of the most special weekends of my life.

The 2019 Italian Grand Prix.

I’ve always had a passion for Formula One, and ever since vividly watching Damon Hill in the Williams in 1995 have I kept up with the premier racing series on the planet. The evolution of the cars, new drivers coming and going and the heart-breaking losses that have come with it, it’s all part of being a Formula One fan.

I had only once been fortunate enough to attend a Grand Prix event, and that was qualifying for the 2005 British Grand Prix courtesy of very loving parents including my dad who taught me the ropes with passion for all things on four wheels. It was the season of the rise of Fernando Alonso, and subsequent decline of Ferrari which included the previously untouchable Michael Schumacher. This was towards the end of the much loved V10 era, and wow! They sounded like nothing else I had ever heard, the scream as they tore down the then main straight at the exit of Luffield and Woodcote, it was like an adrenaline shot to the heart.

My love for Formula never fell away, and after meeting my partner whilst living in the USA I spent the next few years indoctrinating her into religiously watching Formula One, to the point where she would watch the entire pre and post show, a feat that even I would struggle with. After our alarm clock became Brian Tyler’s Formula One theme and after a season and a half of getting her into Formula One, we finally agreed we should attend a Grand Prix event, but the question was, where?

Silverstone? Well, it’s only 40 minutes drive away, but it’s incredibly expensive and the traffic is chaos that weekend?

How about Hungary or Spa? Relatively easy to get to and they’re all on the list, but after looking at ticket sites I found a pair of seats that were just too good to turn down!

Front row at the pit exit in Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, perfect.

It’s not just the fact that it was the Formula One, our first full Grand Prix or that we got incredible seats for a great price.

This was Monza. The “Temple of Speed”, one of the longest running Formula One hosts ever, and home to the ‘Tifosi’ Ferrari’s passionate support who year on year attend and treat the race much like a football stadium with a wall of noise every time the scarlet car flashes past their eyes.

Staying in the north of Milan, getting to the track was actually very painless. The train journey on Friday was very quiet (much busier on Saturday and Sunday,obviously!), but at about £2.20 for the return train and then a five euro bus ride to the outskirts of the Parco di Monza was very reasonable.

The weather on the Friday wasn’t great, and the rain was coming down, but that didn’t stop the buzz around the place in the slightest. Grandstand ticket holders were allowed to use any seating area on Friday so we ambled around and watched the spray emanate from the back of George Russells Williams into the Parabolica, we saw incredible car control from Carlos Sainz at the exit of Ascari and the unbelievable speed of Lewis Hamilton on the entry to the Retifilio.

Walking out of the circuit under the iconic Monza oval banking you awed at the bravery of those drivers and legends such as Phil Hill, Bruce McLaren, Jim Clark and John Surtees who ran their early 1960’s Formula One cars around the bumpy and fast banked corners. The scale of it was immense, and to think it was a track that until the early 70’s only really saw 5 braking points in a track that once stretched 10km (6.2 miles) circuit before the banking was retired.

Early Saturday also brought some rain for the first Formula 2 race, but dried later before Formula 3’s manic 29 car race around the famous circuit.

However the race which was one week removed from the tragic death of Anthoine Hubert, equally saw a horrendous airborne crash for Australian Alex Peroni, who caught a curb designed to stop cars running wide at the Parabolica and sent him flying into the catch fencing protecting the marshals.

Luckily he escaped, albeit with a season ending injury.

Saturday’s qualifying saw the intensity and crowds pick up, there was a real anticipation that the man who had won an emotional Belgian Grand Prix a week prior, Charles Leclerc, could win Ferrari’s first race on home soil since 2010.

The end of the session was possibly one of the most comical yet farcical in the history of the sport as nine cars all packed together for a lap to try and attempt not to lead the pack and lose that all important slipstream. The crowd were watching silently as the cars came up the back straight, as the Italian track commentator counted down the seconds to the end of the session. Leclerc was already on provisional pole, so when only Carlos Sainz’s McLaren made it across the line, there was a strange reaction.

People were laughing, but cheering.

The Tifosi didn’t care, as much as a Ferrari 1-2 would have been ideal, their man was on pole, and the end to the session was like watching something from the twilight zone.

Formula One events are a worldwide phenomenon, they are attended by people from all corners of the earth.

Yet the atmosphere was always amicable and friendly, and even on Sunday during the drivers parade, everyone respected each other. There was no issues (apart from a poorly placed Max Verstappen flag), but everyone was courteous to make sure we could all see, no-one disagreed with being a non Ferrari fan, and whatever was happening on track, everyone knew that we were all here because of one reason. We all loved the sport.

Race day was like nothing else, the incredible Italian national anthem boomed out, the Frecce Tricolori streaked across the sky painting it in green, white and red and the roar of the crowd as the formation lap started was that of a goal in the FIFA World Cup final.

This was it. I was about to fulfil a life long dream of watching a Formula One race, and alongside me, my equally excited partner who had bought herself a McLaren cap to go with her Williams shirt so she even as Irish as they come could represent the two teams she had found an affection for.

Lights out.

What a sight, it was everything I wanted. 20 cars with that now distinctive V6 Turbo whirred and thundered past our gaze much louder than you get on TV and headed down to turn one. The Tifosi ecstatic as Charles Leclerc covered off Lewis Hamilton and held the lead, as the air horns, flags and shouts of “Forza Ferrari” echoed across the grandstand.

As a spectacle the race was superb, the young buck in the Ferrari holding off the charge of not one but two powerful rivals in the Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel’s nightmare race, which saw a inexplicable spin at Ascari, only to rejoin and collect Lance Stroll’s Racing Point as he fell to the back and left the lone Leclerc as the only hope for the home fans.

51 laps later

You’ve not heard passion like it, the Italian track-side commentator screaming as Charles held off Valteri Bottas’ late charge, rounded the final corner and as the fans bubbled with excitement the cheer that went up as he flashed across the line was that of pure joy. It was nine long years since the Italian fans could celebrate this moment, and the fact it was their new star driver who gave it to them made it all the sweeter.

We, like all fans flooded onto the track and got to witness what is probably ‘the’ most iconic podium in world Motorsport, and the emotions of the fans as the Monegasque and Italian national anthems sounded was all too evident.

How could it get any better?

Well, for a long time I had been trying to get the right moment, but it seemed like no better time, but on our way around the circuit as we walked away on the steps of the old timing building overlooking the main straight. I got on one knee and proposed to my partner. We had shared a moment that both of us would never forget, and what a time to perfectly encapsulate that moment in an instant.

Luckily she said yes, and has already planned for a honeymoon to include another Grand Prix.

If you ever get a chance to see an international Formula One event, there is no better pace than Monza. The whole weekend was perfect, and I cannot recommend it more to those who maybe have the wish to see Formula One away from the UK.

Your favourite racing moments may not always be the ones from ‘back in the day’, but they may be the ones that you will never forget.

Previously in this series, Mason Ruff reminised about his own racing success and Andy Lloyd discusses his Le Mans washout.