Monza is chaos at its finest: a maze of roads, shouting traffic controllers, and a Google Maps that’s also lost. Yet, it’s precisely this Italian madness that gives the circuit its charm.
My colleague Joost Bolle from the Belgian HLN and I have chosen a car for this adventure that perfectly fits Italy: a Fiat Panda. Our adventure towards Monza actually begins as soon as we leave the hotel parking lot. The Italian road network resembles more of a spaghetti artwork than a well-thought-out system. Google Maps overheats as we discover a completely new route to the circuit time and again. Structure? Nowhere to be found. The way back to the hotel without navigation? Impossible.
Then there’s the ‘help’ from the traffic controllers at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. No one knows exactly what they’re doing, but everyone does it with conviction. Every intersection is a gamble, every hand gesture a mystery. When you shout that you don’t understand, they simply repeat the same sentence again, but at volume level 10. “Ah no, now of course I understand…”
It’s then that you realize how spoiled we are during the Dutch GP. Where logistics is a precision job and thousands of visitors are guided through the dunes without a traffic jam. Hats off, Zandvoort! Monza could learn a thing or two from you.
Bouncing from the espresso
Once inside the gates of Ferrari-land, all the chaos is suddenly forgotten. An espresso so strong that it makes you bounce, the smell of racing history in the air, and thousands of tifosi coming to worship their heroes. You feel: this is racing.
Somewhere, I wish the many red-clad fans that they can cheer for the Scuderia this weekend. But then I suddenly get the feeling that the chaotic Italian scenes described above are just part of a team like Ferrari. The chaos and passion go hand in hand here, and that’s what makes it, oddly enough, so charming.
Senza un po’ di caos, non sarebbe Monza! (Without a bit of chaos, it wouldn’t be Monza).
