Every year, when Formula One arrive at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, the tifosi — Italian for fans — turn out in droves to support Scuderia Ferrari. But for the better part of the last decade, the team hasn’t been able to deliver in front of its home crowd.
This year, however, it stands a fighting chance.
Ferrari head to Monza on the heels of a weekend that proved the Maranello, Italy-based operation not only has a shot at winning the Italian Grand Prix, but actually is favored to do so.
Although Sebastian Vettel finished P2 in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, just 2.358 seconds adrift of Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari had the faster car in race-trim. The SF70H has proven to be quick on high-speed tracks, such as Monza and Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, throughout the season, and following the race in Belgium, Hamilton and Mercedes-AMG Petronas team principal Toto Wolff said they think Ferrari officially has surpassed them in terms of performance.
The speed Vettel showed at Spa, combined with the confirmation from Mercedes that Ferrari has the upper hand, gives the team a huge confidence boost ahead of its home Grand Prix — something it needs to snap a seven-year winless streak.
In 2014, the first year of the hybrid era, Ferrari failed to win a race all year, so it knew a home victory was out of the question. But even after it brought Vettel and team boss Maurizio Arrivabene onboard in 2015 and turned things around, it couldn’t get it done in front of the sea of red, as Mercedes still had the dominant car.
And let’s be honest, the tifosi deserve to see a Ferrari driver stand atop the podium in Italy — something they haven’t witnessed since Fernando Alonso won at Monza in 2010.
Thumbnail photo via Scuderia Ferrari
