The Mood Heading Into Italian GP, From the Sublime to the Ridiculous

I always look forward to the Italian GP at Monza because I love this race track. Whether it turns out to be a flag-to-flag victory by one driver or a lottery contest with multiple lead changes, I know the event will be enjoyable. Unfortunately, others involved in the sport are instead feeling rather dour about the prospects of racing.

On autosport.com, Renault’s Pat Symonds made the rather dramatic statement in response to last weekend’s Belgian GP: “Here we had a great race with people really challenging each other and for why? If it’s taken away, then why take that risk?”

The story headline is even more ominous: Symonds: Spa penalty will stifle racing.

The implication of the article could not be any further off the mark. I doubt that most drivers while in the heat of the battle will think about Hamilton’s 25-second penalty and decide to not attempt an overtaking maneuver. If that were the case, then retirement is definitely a better option for that person.

If anyone is the shining example of how little effect the Belgian GP outcome will have on wheel-to-wheel racing, it is Hamilton himself. Let’s see what Hamilton had to say, also on autosport.com, about his approach to racing in the immediate future.

“Well, that’s [Raikkonen's] driving, that’s all,” he said. “That is how he drives. If you don’t have the balls to brake late then that is your problem! At the end of the day, in those situations it is the driver who can feel the grip more and put the car more on the edge.

“I still have a two-point lead and we are going to make sure that we continue to attack and perform like we did in the last two races.”

In his one-and-a-half seasons of F1, Hamilton has probably had more ups-and-downs than many drivers have in their entire career. If anything, Hamilton has proven to be amazingly resilient and has never lost his fighting spirit.

I’m sure the rest of the drivers in F1 will continue to race in the same manner as before. To suggest that one penalty, albeit one that had enormous consequences on the offical results, will suddenly cause racing drivers to stop “racing” is just crazy talk.