GASLY TAKES HIS CHANCE AS MERCEDES FUMBLES
Where the Belgian Grand Prix had been generally lifeless, the 2020 Italian GP that followed sizzled with action and emotion throughout. Where Mercedes was faultless at Spa, three errors cost it dearly at Monza. And where Pierre Gasly was a touch undone by race circumstances outside his control in the Ardennes, in Lombardy they – alongside his brilliant driving – set up a famous triumph.
The opening 18 laps of the Italian race did bear an unmistakeable similarity to those of seven days before, as polesitter Lewis Hamilton initially dominated, but the rest were action-packed. There wasn’t a dull moment from the very second when Mercedes realised its error in pitting Hamilton when the pitlane was closed, which created a chaotic and brilliantly enjoyable Formula 1 spectacle.
But there were several other pivotal reasons why it was Gasly – giving the former Minardi squad, now AlphaTauri, its second magic Monza moment 12 years after Sebastian Vettel did so when it was Toro Rosso – who emerged victorious and not the other contenders.
BOTTAS BLOWS HIS BIG CHANCE
When Valtteri Bottas made the first costly Mercedes mistake, he wouldn’t have known quite how much it would go on to harm his team’s result, and ultimately boost Gasly. The Finn had qualified a close second to F1’s fastest-ever pole lap as Mercedes swept to its customary grid spots. But Bottas’s start was a shocker.
“I feel like there’s been some disturbance sometimes at the actual starts and it’s not fully been representative,”
