The miracle of Monza

Before reaching Monzafrom the Automobile Club of Italy (ACI), organizer of the event, a source warned this newspaper about what happened: “Have you seen what happened to the storms? The park is trash!”. More than a month before, the organization of the Italian GP put their hands on their heads. A few months ago, they had to cancel their other F1 test, the GP for Emilia Romagna, due to an unprecedented flood disaster. And in the middle of summer, panic once again made everyone’s hearts shrink. The dispute of the event of the king of the transalpine country, the home of all ‘tifosi’ ferraristasyes, it is at stake. The situation is alarming.

The Monza circuit is located within one of the largest closed parks in Europe, with 720 hectares, born in 1805, where, among many other things, can be found what is considered Italian Versailles, the so-called Villa Reale or Reggia di Monza. Hurricane winds of over 100 km/h and heavy rain caused the disaster.

It is estimated that its rehabilitation will reach 22 million euros and many years of waiting and these are some 10,000 trees, which was hours before the route was filled with magic, collapsed. The damages were numerous: damage to the stands, to the protective barriers and to the race direction cameras, for example. The storm put the GP in check and F1 had to go to the track to assess the situationaccording to sources from the organization in MD.

In the height of summer, with little room for maneuver, track crews get down to business. Essential is the 22 volunteer Ecological Guards to help, along with 7 teams of foresters and local workers to remove trees from roadways, from all internal roads and repair all damage in record time. So much so that even the forest work at night had to be done the day before the GP. And when the worst was over, just a week ago, another good gust of wind brought down two new giant screens that had to be taken down.

may be in danger

“Not obvious” says Stefano Domenicali, F1 CEO, when asked if Monza was clearly coming in time for its F1 appointment. The effort to save the race and guarantee safety conditions for the hundreds of thousands of fans who gather there is enormous. They did it. A miracle that is remembered every day when accessing the track. Clusters of trees can be seen on both sides of the inner paths leading to the paddock finish. And thousands of branches on the ground. And the drivers, who are used to going more than 300 km/h on a track covered in green, feel something different: “This is different. Everything seems to be more open” said Bottas.

So, to raise public awareness of the challenge of restoring the park, F1 planted a tree for each driver. And in the large FanZone, there are 10 information booths from environmental groups.

The future in F1 at Monza hangs by a thread

That this weekend we are competing in Monza is a miracle. Asking Ferrari to win against Max now seems more difficult. And now, they will look for something more complicated: renewal with F1. “They confirmed to me that the necessary renovations to the facilities will begin after this GP”said Sundaywhich cannot guarantee that the legendary Italian track near Milan will continue on the calendar after 2025.

“This is an important step, because next year it is necessary to show signs of improvement”, added. Monza is the third permanent track created in the world (1922) after stream and indianapolis. F1 is breath, triumphs and tragedies. your old ‘Sopraelevata’, where the cars went down with an inclination of 80%, is an example of its majesty and history. A temple for the ferraristas, who now support Sainz and still have Alonso in their hearts (Fernando’s green caps are gone). It is passion, it is a key part of the museum of the growth of the motor industry in Italy, of the birth of an unparalleled love of racing. But F1 is now guided by money and by products and services dedicated to the VIP client, the one who pays the most, and for this reason it wants to hold more races in cities, in an ecosystem that designed more for this type of public and not unique permanent layouts for being F1 heritage. The future of Monza remains to be seen. Your story is not guaranteed. In the city of Lombard with 120,000 inhabitants they are looking for another miracle. The miracle of Monza.