Lewis plans a poetic victory
SIGHTS SET ON RIVAL VETTEL
MONZA, with its dappled park, Latin fans and Ferrari legend, is never short of sentimentality. But trust Lewis Hamilton to add an extra spoonful of sugar, by writing a poem dedicated to Princess Diana.
During his previous 200 races, the Mercedes man had hidden his innerWordsworth under his overalls.
However, the 20th anniversary of the Princess’s death in a Paris tunnel stirred him to publish the verse on his Instagram account.
This is an abbreviated version of precisely what he wrote, sic: ‘The day we lost our Nations Rose/ Tears we cried like rivers flowed/ The earth stood still/ As we laid her to rest/ A day you & I/ Will never forget/ The people’s princess/ Who came to see/ The love from a Country/ We’d hope she’d lead, Englands beauty/ Captured in one sweet soul…
‘…Now a shinning star in the midnight sky/ I will always remember you/ Princess Diana/ As our sweet nations Rose.’
But back in the hard centre of a world title fight ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton saved his best line for the Ferrari driver, Sebastian Vettel, whose seven-point lead he is trying to topple this weekend. ‘He has had a smile on his face all year being in front, so I look forward to turning it upside down,’ said triple champion Hamilton, who has won three of the last five races here.
To that end, Hamilton, aiming to build on a fine victory in Spa last weekend, was fastest in the first practice session but five-hundredths of a second behind his team-mate, Valtteri Bottas, in the second. ‘A good, clean day,’ said Hamilton. ‘It looks close between us and Ferrari.’
There is an extra buzz around Monza. Attendance seems to be up on the last few seasons, surely because Ferrari have a chance of winning in Italy for the first time since Fernando Alonso in 2010.
This year marks Ferrari’s 70th as a manufacturer, and the ghosts of the past stalk the present. Names like Alberto Ascari, the team’s first world champion, Michael Schumacher, their most decorated winner, and Enzo Ferrari, the founding father, ahead of all the rest.
Vettel’s recent decision to sign a new Ferrari deal adds to the local excitement. The German may have toyed with the idea of joining Mercedes, but he now sees the world through scarlet-tinted glasses. Is it a burden driving in Monza with expectation hanging around his neck?
‘No, not at all,’ he said. ‘Yes, you hear left and right that you have to win here and if you do so you are hero. I don’t feel that.
‘It’s the feeling you get when you step into a Ferrari. I don’t know why but you can get into another car, but not get the same feeling.’
Monza has been a productive circuit for Ferrari over the years — their 18 wins dwarfing the next most successful team, McLaren, with 10. Schumacher leads the way with five victories. Signs wishing him well will be festooned on the stands.
Monza, the Temple of Speed, is high among the world’s last great tracks of tradition, but one whose characteristics are thought to favour Mercedes and Hamilton. Is that so?
‘Difficult to say,’ said Vettel. ‘But you want to shine in Monza.’