Martin Brundle on the results of the Italian Grand Prix…

Former Formula 1 driver, Sky Sport F1 commentator Martin Brundle summed up the Italian Grand Prix…

I haven’t seen so many fans in Monza in a long time. Unfortunately, this time, which rarely happens lately, Formula 1 has not put on its best show, neither in qualifying nor in the race.

Ferrari racers in yellow overalls looked impressive. They were fast and Charles Leclerc took pole, but the positions on the grid largely determined the penalties. For the second time in three Grands Prix, the grid did not match the qualifying results.

I find this practice unacceptable. When fans arrive at the track or turn on their TVs to watch qualifying, they expect the racers to battle for positions at the start. And they finally decided on the complex process of imposing fines only after several hours of (painful) waiting.

Initially, this was devised to prevent teams from installing new power plants at every Grand Prix. But this is long gone. And it is clear that other sanctions are needed. You can increase the number of power plants allowed for the season, use other penalties, such as driving through the pit lane, some sort of financial penalties for the teams or taking points in the Constructors’ Championship – instead of punishing the drivers.

When the leaders fall back due to penalties it adds to the intrigue, but it’s still better when six cars with real winning chances are at the starting wheel to drive in their honestly won positions.

Formula 1 will have 24 Grands Prix next season, including three or six sprint races. It is necessary to deal with the distribution of power plants and sports rules in advance. When teams run out of engines in the multi-billion dollar world of Formula 1, it looks strange. This is of course not true.

When I was racing in the ’80s and ’90s, we put in a new bike almost every day and the top teams had 60 bikes that were either in construction or in service, or on the road or under repair. That is of course unacceptable now.

The unexpected line-up on the starting field promised an exciting thriller. The strongest managed to recover. From seventh place Max Verstappen quickly moved up to second place. Sainz won back 14 positions and finished fourth. Hamilton finished fifth and started 19th but didn’t look happy as he walked through the closed off park after the race where I was waiting for the top three to interview.

Daniel Ricciardo won the Monza race in a McLaren last year and now his crash on lap 47 has caused a series of problems. It was painful to watch. The box was blocked, preventing Daniel from reaching the gate to the service path. Monza – an old track with poor access to service lanes – had to call a tow truck.

There was an idea to stop the race with red flags and start from one spot if such a problem occurs in the last five laps. We saw this in Azerbaijan last year – it’s really interesting.

To me, the red flag is associated with a more serious incident – or with heavy rain, but it can also be used to interrupt the race instead of the safety car, which was picked up this time by George Russell’s Mercedes, driving as third, and not race leader Max Verstappen, with a bunch of gaps in a circle between them. As a result, the race literally fell apart.

As the F1 cars raced past the tow truck that had backed up Ricciardo’s McLaren, it seemed to me that a red flag stop would be appropriate. But instead, for the 13th time in F1 history, a race has finished behind the safety car.

Fans expected more. Due to the high average speed, the race turned out to be short anyway and the spectators deserved a thriller at the restart.

Max won the fifth race in a row with ease. I don’t think Ferrari could have prevented that. Again, the Scuderia seemed to rely heavily on its riders’ opinion of tire strategy on the trail.

The strategy of an early pit stop, when a virtual safety car was announced due to Vettel’s departure, did not work for Leclerc. He couldn’t match Verstappen’s amazing speed and was very upset after the race.

Nick de Vries did an excellent job on Saturday replacing Alex Albon, who had his appendix removed. It was not without complications, but I hope he will be in shape soon.

De Vries qualified well, started eighth after being penalized by rivals, avoided problems and raced the entire race in a group with Alonso and Gasly, taking ninth place and two points in his debut race. And he became the “Rider of the Day” according to the fans.

This will make it easier for him to find a contract for next season. Some believe that the current makeup of Formula 2 and other youth series is not that strong, some want to bring back more famous racers. I often hear, “The choice isn’t that big”, but it is, if you give a few a chance. De Vries deserves it.

Now the only question is where Verstappen will win the championship title – in Japan or in Austin, although mathematically he can achieve this even in Singapore.