Sebastian Vettel should have won in Belgium 12 months ago but was flummoxed by Lewis Hamilton’s inch-perfect defending. He should have won in Germany but threw it off the road in the wet. And he should have won in Hungary but for the wet qualifying session and a strategic setback. Vettel exorcised the demons of last year and the pre-summer pair of races by profiting from Mercedes’ weaknesses (traction, tyres, engine deficit) and perfecting the first few seconds that ultimately defined the Grand Prix. Vettel was in cruise control for much of the race and captured a win that reduces Lewis Hamilton’s points advantage from 24 to 17 as Ferrari gets set for its high-pressured home Grand Prix.
Belgium’s been and gone and so now the team turns to Italy’s “Temple of Speed”, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, which hosts Round 14 of the 2018 Formula One World Championship. Notoriously known for being the home of the “Tifosi”, Monza rarely fails to excite and entertain with its fast track layout and famed corners such as Ascari and Parabolica. Monza also means farewell to our beloved motorhome as Formula One’s European season draws to a close, with Singapore next up on the calendar.
Join us later in the afternoon for the latest updates and results from the Monza circuit, as the second practice session for the 2018 Italian Grand Prix is about to get underway, with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen at the wheel of the SF71H, ready to continue evaluating the ideal set-up ahead of the qualifying session and the race on Sunday.
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