After having filled ourselves with all this exotica, which made the M3 seem super mundane and shy, it was onto the next (our last) adventure - the Monza F1 GP.
Even though I'm a Lewis fan, I had decided to honor the country and their passion for automobiles by going full Ferrari fan for the race. Turns out Lewis doesn't need my help, he managed to win that race on his own.
Here we are. We had decided early on we would use public transit for the race, and I have to say that despite the fact that we are worldly travelers (hah!) the Italian train experience was exciting, unpredictable and sweaty. But, it got us there (and back) in the end so there's that. We have some useful tips for anybody who may want to go there, PM me if interested.
Lots of fans, much more crowded than Spa but at the same time the crowd felt more benign, there to enjoy themselves not necessarily to pee on someone else's parade. Why there wasn't even proper booing when Lewis won, and we had a grand old time at the track there. The atmosphere was incredible, lines for food/drink acceptable, and everyone behaved with a certain grace and hospitality when under pressure. Bravo Italia!
Lewis' old car was on display.
This is our corner, and here he goes for the formation lap.
Let's not forget the Ferrari cars, and some colorful (Kimi?) fans. I would like to mention that it seemed to me that Kimi has more fans in Italy than Seb has - maybe because he did win a world championship for them and Seb hasn't for the time being, I am not sure.
Ferrari logistics was well represented.
Some fans had improvised seating.
How can I express the thrill, the nostalgia and attraction of the old Parabolica? Imagine that cars were racing 150mph here in the 1950s, and you can barely stand on it, and it takes a concerted effort from a fit person to get to the top edge.
Fans having a bite to eat and a drink in the park.
I should mention that Monza is in the middle of a huge park, it's all lush and pretty but there is a *lot* of walking. On practice day we walked 1 hour from the bus stop to our seats. On race day we were lucky that the train stopped much closer to the track (at Lesmos) so we only had to walk 30 min to get there.
The old parabolica right under our seats, and the Alta Velocita corner view.
As Lewis is about to hold his victory speech, fans are let loose on the track.
I wasn't kidding.
Logistics for crashed cars.
We had a wonderful time at Monza and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone else.
