Sebastian Vettel is preparing to race the last Italian GP in Monza with Ferrari and to greet virtually all the fans who have always supported him.
The 4 times World Champion is going to race the last Monza GP as a Ferrari driver, behind closed doors. The Tifosi, on the other hand, would like to thank and pay homage to him.
Like the previous years, the Italian GP in Monza is approaching, one of the most anticipated events in the world of Formula 1. The single-seaters will return to speed and fight wheel to wheel. The Mameli anthem and the roar of the engines will return to invade the silence that has lasted for too long. The drivers and teams will return to repopulate the paddock. And the adreanalina will also be back that only a qualification and a race in the Temple of Speed can give. Everything will come back, or almost everything, because one of the most important parts will be missing: the fans.
This year, there will inevitably be a different Monza. There will not be the usual crowded red grandstands and there will not even be the numerous flags that were rocked by the wind. There will be no banners and cries of those who rejoice and give free rein to emotions. It will be an unrecognizable Monza, an aseptic race because it is deprived of its soul.
THE EMOTIONS THAT ONLY THE PODIUM OF MONZA GIVES
Especially preparing to experience the Italian GP is Sebastian Vettel, who will race his last Monza with Ferrari on Sunday 6 September. It will be a special race, which will somehow mark the end of a story made up of adventures and dreams that lasted six long years. It is on the podium in Monza, which just two years ago, the fans and Kimi Raikkonen only said goodbye and thanked each other. The Finn silently raised his arm with a hint of "hello" and stood for a few moments staring at the crowd. It was a tense moment for all the fans who had to let go of their last World Champion. After the announcement of the divorce between Vettel and Ferrari, fans were hoping to have the same opportunity on the home track with the German as well.
Monza is a particularly important track for Sebastian, who dubbed him a rising star of Formula 1. It was 2008 when, after taking a magnificent pole in the wet, he achieved his first career victory at the wheel of a Ferrari-powered Toro Rosso. He returned to the top step of the podium only as a rival in 2011 and 2013. Wearing the red tracksuit he was able to take only a second place in 2015 and a third in 2016 and 2017. They were not victories, but the emotions the Monza podium gives for the Ferrari drivers is something difficult to forget, and Vettel knows it well.
“The Monza podium is incredible. When you look down and you are up there and you see all those people you feel really lucky, because it doesn't happen to many. Many run from Curva Grande, others from the end of the straight. It is full of fans everywhere. It is something truly incredible ", Sebastian had said visibly moved.
"LONTANO DAGLI OCCHI, LONTANO DAL CUORE"
This year, however, there will be no crazy red tide under the podium and neither will the Ferrari choirs. There will be no flags to be raised to the sky, and neither will those who dance in the colorful shower of confetti. There will be no crazy people who will run as the 100 meters were doing to get first under the podium. It will lack the charge, the energy and the magic that fans are capable of creating. Monza will miss the final greeting, the one between the fans and Sebastian Vettel. A greeting that he, perhaps, would never have wanted to do.
“Lontano dagli occhi, lontano dal cuore” sang Endrigo, and so Vettel must have thought when he admitted: “In a way it's better if there will be no fans, but don't get me wrong. I think it would be very difficult to race seeing all the people who support you knowing that that will be the last time in red. From this point of view, I think it's better this way ”. Perhaps it will be easier to close a last paragraph of an important chapter in the deafening silence of the stands, taking off the helmet and leaving another race behind; or it will be the hardest thing to do. In fact, it is said that the most painful separation is experienced when you do not take the right moment to say goodbye. A gesture, a look or a smile that would be enough to enclose an important story.
A STORY DESTINED TO END, BUT NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN
Sebastian Vettel's journey with Ferrari has given fans new records but above all emotions. There have been sweet and bitter moments, unforgettable successes and painful defeats. Obstacles to overcome, risks to take and wishes to come true. A dream, that of becoming Ferrari World Champion, which could have come true but which more than once has vanished. It is the story of a small child who managed to make his dream come true; and the story of those who, thanks to that child who became a man, managed to dream again.
If we were to ask Vettel to tell us about his best memory in the Maranello team, then he would reply as follows: “Usually I say that the best is yet to come, but it's a difficult season, so I don't think it would be true in this case. The best memory so far is my first win in Malaysia. Since then there have been many other memories, but the first is always special ”. It was special, yes. A victory that brought fans a breath of fresh air and hope. A red flash that swept away the clouds and returned the clear sky after a long time. The beginning of a beautiful story made of hard work, sweat, passion and determination. A story, which like many others, is destined to end, but not to be forgotten.
The memories will remain, the good ones and the less beautiful ones. Memories of falls and rebirths. The historic radio teams and the exploits of Bahrain and Silverstone. The comeback in Germany and the revolution in Canada. Seb's shining eyes and emotion will remain in the memory of the fans. The fist waved on the chest and on the Cavallino Rampante stemma. The emotions and the words will remain, those said and those silenced. Pride, respect and mutual love will remain. And Sebastian will also remain because he was, is and always will be a Ferrari driver who wrote a piece of history believing in a dream.
Author: Chiara de Bastiani (F1world.it)
Translation: @sebforever587
Images: credits to the owners
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