LEWIS Hamilton’s sixth Grand Prix victory of the season came at the end of an incredibly chaotic race with accidents, a red-flag restart and plenty of action making Formula 1’s first visit to Mugello a more memorable race than we were expecting.
Before the weekend lots of teams and drivers were predicting a professional race, but the long straight promoted plenty of overtaking into the first corner and the fact that only 12 cars finished shows just how tough this event turned out to be.
Valtteri Bottas had a very strong weekend, setting the quickest times in practice and only being beaten to pole position by 0.059s. He also made a fantastic start to the race to lead Lewis on the opening lap, but when the race was red-flagged he was frustrated to lose out on the restart. There are very fine margins between a good start and a great one, and although Valtteri will be frustrated by the first Safety Car and red flag stoppage, he pushed Lewis really hard this weekend. Whatever the result, they give Mercedes the strongest team in Formula 1.
Alex Albon’s third place for Red Bull Racing is an important one for him and the team. The Red Bull Hondas are quick, but too often the team has been relying on one driver – Max Verstappen – to take the fight to Mercedes. You really need a strong driver pairing at this level, which is why I say that Lewis and Valtteri do such a good job for Mercedes, and Alex’s result will give him a boost after struggling during the opening races. If Red Bull can help Alex to support Max more regularly they could still give Mercedes some problems.
Looking at the accidents at the start of the Tuscan Grand Prix, I think this showed how drivers still have much to learn when visiting a new circuit. Mugello created a unique challenge given that it is very quick but also quite narrow. With only one natural overtaking place, drivers were trying to make sure they positioned themselves as well as possible at the start with three or four cars fighting for the same piece of track.
The first accident was a normal racing incident, with too many cars closely packed going into left-right at Turns 2 and 3. The second accident, which caused the race to be red-flagged, was much more dangerous as we had cars tightly grouped as drivers were trying to guess when Valtteri Bottas would accelerate after the Safety Car restart. This resulted in cars going at different speeds and drivers unsighted.
The on-board television images showed just how difficult it was for drivers to avoid each other. It was the kind of multi-car accident we are used to seeing in lower formula, not in Formula 1, but once again the safety improvements did their job.
Lance Stroll’s accident was worrying because the car appeared to suffer failure which may have been as the result of Mugello’s kerbs. Suffering a failure like that is not a good experience because the driver becomes a passenger and there is nothing you can do except prepare for the impact.
On the day when Lewis won his 90th Grand Prix, putting him only one race victory behind the record held by Michael Schumacher, it was very nice to see Mick Schumacher driving his father’s 2004 Ferrari on a demonstration run. It reminded us how great those V10 engines sounded and the incredible success that Michael achieved with that car and the others with which he won five World Championship titles for the great Italian team.
An amazing moment on Sunday at Mugello @SchumacherMick takes to the track in his father's title-winning @ScuderiaFerrari F2004 #TuscanGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ACxZ7p3dQd
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2020
It is great to see Mick’s career progressing well, including now leading the Formula 2 Championship, and I am certain he will find a seat in Formula 1 very soon. It will be a special moment for him, the Schumacher family and Formula 1 when it happens.
Ferrari’s 1000th Formula 1 World Championship event enabled us to consider what an important role the team has played in our sport. I think it is fantastic that they were able to celebrate that milestone at home in Italy, and at the Mugello track which they own. You cannot be involved in Formula 1 without having a huge amount of respect for what Ferrari has achieved – the famous cars, the drivers and the 31 World Championship titles they have won.
My greatest races were against Ferrari, my biggest rival was Michael, so it is nice to stop for a moment and reflect on their contribution to our sport.
While Ferrari has been celebrating 1000 events, Mercedes’ team boss Toto Wolff explained to the media that he is considering a change in his role, with a possible restructuring of the management at Formula 1’s dominant team. The pressure of attending every race and being 100% focused on every aspect of this sport is not easy, and I completely understand Toto’s comments about needing to achieve a better balance in his life, including with his family.
When I was racing we only had 16 races per season, and that could be exhausting when you included the testing we did and the many PR and sponsor appearances that come on top of race weekends. Today the team personnel have to face over 20 events, and when you consider that in 2020 we will have 17 Grands Prix between July and December, it is very tough. I am certain that whatever Toto does he will make sure the structure of Mercedes ensures that the team will continue to be highly competitive.
