The F1 calendar seems so lop-sided at times. We have groups of the most featureless tracks imaginable and then the best two circuits on the calendar arrive one after the other, rather like British buses. I suppose the long anticipation of Spa and Monza does keep us watching through the earlier races, however. Timing them for the end of the European tour may be good sense indeed.
Rubens in the lead
Monza is a lesson to all modern circuit designers. On the map, it looks a bit simple and dull, a bent oval without much interest, but the reality of those flat out blasts through the parkland and fast chicanes, the razor edge temptation of the Parabolica and the desperate late braking for the chicane after the start/finish straight give us some clues to the ingredients of a truly great track.
Add to these the sense of history and the massed assembly of red-swathed Ferrari fans and Monza presents an awe-inspiring spectacle. It never disappoints and, even in a race such as last Sunday's when all real overtaking was done with by the second lap, the sight of the cars at full speed and on the edge through each corner is sufficient.
It is not only about passing, anyway. There was plenty of tension in the close and hard-fought battles throughout the field and even a bit of comedy in the Toyotas' squabble amongst themselves. Trulli does not care anymore, it seems, and Glock has too much still to prove.
The start was more or less as expected, the KERS cars coming through, Raikkonen nearly making it to the front until Hamilton's kicked in and allowed him to hang on to the lead. The surprises came from Sutil, who did well to drop only one place in the mad dash to the chicane, and from the fact that there was no massive pile-up at that first corner. It was the second chicane that claimed a victim, Mark Webber ending his race in the barriers thanks to a brief argument with Kubica.
Fuel strategy may have won the race for the Brawns (and there is no denying that the team managed it perfectly) but the real star was Adrian Sutil, in my opinion. He kept up the pressure on Raikkonen throughout the race, set the fastest lap, sportingly had a botched pit stop to compensate for Kimi's and brought the Force India home in fourth. The car may have become very quick on fast circuits but it still has to be driven at its limit yet without mistakes; Adrian did exactly that.
Hamilton was the sole threat to a Brawn victory from early in the race and it is difficult to see how he could have done better. He freely admits that his last lap accident was the result of pushing just a little too hard and who can blame him for that? At this stage of the season, a few more points either way for the also-rans are details for the statisticians but we will remember those final laps as the McLaren edged closer to Button's Brawn.
Which is to take nothing away from Barrichello's win and the way in which both Brawns took the initiative in the race. It was a demonstration of how races are won, a combination of fine strategy and excellent driving. Button's praise for his team mate after the race was also a good example of how to preserve team unity - a lesson, perhaps, for some of the more inflated egos of the driving fraternity.
Kovalainen was disappointing after backing up his team leader so well in qualifying; we might have expected a bit more fight from him, given that his KERS should have offset his heavy fuel load at the start. There is no doubt that he can be quick on occasion but too often we have seen him drift backwards through the race as others muscled their way past him.
While Liuzzi put in a strong performance until his gearbox broke, the other first timer for a new team, Fisichella, gave a little less than we had hoped for. It was an acceptable drive, given his unfamiliarity with the complexities of the Ferrari and certainly better than Badoer's efforts, but dreams of a Barrichello-like flowering of overlooked talent in the twilight of a career were never realized.
Alonso did a sound job to finish fifth in the Renault, its return to KERS apparently making no difference even at such a high speed circuit, and Heidfeld managed to salvage a couple of points after BMW's disastrous qualifying session. There is hope for the German/Swiss team's survival, however, a buyer reportedly having been found.
It was not a classic GP but enjoyable even so. I may be biased but any race at Monza is worth watching as far as I am concerned. As one of the few historic races left on the calendar, every moment is to be savored for it may not last forever. Nothing is sacred to the money men, after all.