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Billed as an “incredible track” by some and “phenomenal” by others, Mugello certainly did not disappoint in his Formula 1 debut.
The race was full of crashes, overtaking and incidents, with three safety car interventions and two red flags.
The F1 circus had only performed at Mugello due to the impact the coronavirus has had on the calendar, but the dramatic race left drivers and fans wanting more.
“I would really love to come back,” said six-time world champion Hamilton.
Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, one of the stars of the day after returning home in fourth position, declared that “we will be happy to come back.”
“It certainly wasn’t a boring race,” added the Australian.
“It’s unbelievable, unbelievable,” commented Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on the eve of the race weekend.
What made Mugello so good?
The drama began at the first corner on Sunday with Hamilton losing the lead from pole position to his teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Two corners later there was an accident between Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo, Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly and Haas driver Romain Grosjean, a meeting that also ended the career of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
That incident resulted in the safety car’s first period, but on the restart there was a violent crash on the pit straight involving Haas’s Kevin Magnussen, Williams driver Nicholas Latifi, Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz. .
That brought the first red flag, while the second was flown after a high-speed accident at Lance Stroll’s Racing Point as he entered the second of two 170 mph corners at Arrabbiata.
At the checkered flag, only 12 of the 20 drivers were still running, some of them in bent and bruised cars.
The race had also taken almost two and a half hours to complete. It felt epic.
But it wasn’t just accidents.
The high-speed, high-g-force circuit challenged the drivers physically and mentally, and resulted in a great deal of wheel-to-wheel action, particularly as the cars entered Turn One, the scene of countless overtaking.
And all that before reaching the stunning surroundings of Tuscany:
The two additional standing starts kept the field bunched up the entire time and Hamilton described his victory, the 90th in F1, as “incredibly tough.”
“This track is phenomenal, they don’t really do tracks like this anymore,” Hamilton had said at the start of the race weekend. “There’s gravel here, fewer runoff areas, massive ripples, I love that man.”
Bottas added: “There are some places where there is definitely not a lot of room to make mistakes and I think that should be the case.
“If you make a mistake, you deserve to be penalized, so I like this type of circuit.”
Mugello is what you were looking for! – what you thought about # bbcf1
Dragon Censer: Mugello can definitely replace Monaco every year, at least we can fast forward here!
Koome erick: Dear F1 direction, it is in front of your eyes, Mugello is what you were looking for. If possible, mark it on the calendar, twice a year!
Karen Waddy: Can we go back to Tuscany next year, please?
Nothing Pax: We need to keep Mugello on the reserve list, right? Keep everyone on their toes 🙂
Bruce Ha: Forget the reverse grid, let’s race on a few random tracks every season.
Checkered flag: Only after a track like Mugello will fans understand the torture of seeing cars around Sochi. Bring back some old classic tracks.
James Townsend: Give me chaos for the procession!
Bertie Black: I love seeing F1 fans discover how cool Mugello is, coming from a MotoGP fan who has been using the venue for the Italian round regularly for the last 26 years …!
Sam: What a race this has been! Without a doubt one of the best of the season!
Analysis
By Andrew Benson, F1 Lead Writer:
There is no doubt that Mugello lived up to his reputation in his F1 debut.
It owes its grand prize to the coronavirus, which has forced F1 to create a largely European calendar after the cancellation of the first 10 races of the season, and to be creative in its search for venues.
Mugello has long been admired by connoisseurs, but few F1 drivers had the chance to experience it until this weekend. It did not disappoint.
It looks beautiful, set in the Tuscan landscape, and offers an extreme challenge to drivers. No corner is taken less than 80 mph and some of the combinations are up there with the best in the world, particularly the flat section of turns six, seven, eight and nine, taken at more than 170 mph in qualifying.
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