Sebastian Vettel admits his final Italian Grand Prix with Ferrari is “a bit easier” without the Tifosi in the stands.
Normally, race week at Monza is a carnival affair with a sea of red lining the straights of the famous ‘Temple of Speed’. While for the drivers too, racing in Italy adds a little more work and a lot more pressure.
Unfortunately, however, after five years, Vettel won’t get to say farewell in person to the thousands of Ferrari fans that usually flock to the Milan suburb, although 250 health workers are set to be present as guests of the team.
But he admits the emotion of doing that may well have been too much so the closed-door race might actually be a small blessing.
“It will be a big shame that there is no Tifosi in Monza,” he said. “It will be the first time for me to race in Monza without fans and I think it is the first time for many of us.
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“Maybe it’s a bit easier to race at Monza this year not having the fans around, but don’t get me wrong: I think otherwise it would be a lot more difficult or harder to see all the support from the people and so on, and to know that it’s the last time.
“In recent years, around the world, I have always been overwhelmed by the affection of the Ferrari fans in Italy in a special way,” Vettel added.
“I think it would be very difficult to race to see all the people supporting you knowing that it is the last time in red. In this regard, perhaps it will be a little better this way.”
Of course, Ferrari is heading home for their 999th F1 race at a difficult time in their history, with the team currently the most uncompetitive they’ve been for in several decades.
Last weekend in Belgium, Vettel and Charles Leclerc slumped to a lowly 13th and 14th, their worst result with both cars finishing since 2010.
Expectations for this weekend aren’t much higher, potentially meaning the Scuderia could fail to score a point at Monza for the first time since 2005.
