F1 2021, Co-Op, S01, R11, Italy

Onward to Italy, a track that I don't think either of us really suspected would be difficult. I don't know about Brett, but I figured I would be able to hang with other cars and let them drag me forward (as can be done at many tracks with two DRS zones). But I underestimated (heavily) the degree to which the DRS train made things a nightmare for someone with a car as bad as mine...when there are three cars closely lumped together in front of you, it's hard to use that next car ahead to keep the gap close because they too are getting DRS the whole time. What I really needed was only one car in front of me...someone fast enough to really help me but slow enough to be able to hang with.

And, well, I don't think anyone checked off that last bit except for Brett, who was slower than me.

Huge win for Ricciardo, especially after his DNF at Spa. McLaren have really pulled themselves together and are maintaining a slight gap to Ferrari in performance, I think, and at Monza it really paid off. Eerily similar to what happened at the real 2021 Italian GP. Hmmm.

Anyway, Ricciardo appears to have fewer problems of speed and reliability than he did in the 2019 edition (where he was a woeful teammate to have). He brings himself well clear of Sainz, which I suspect also induces a few phone calls/meetings/e-mails to occur at Maranello with an eye toward replacing the Smooth Operator.

Great day for Leclerc, too, who puts himself almost equal with Norris in the race for P5 in the Driver's Championship.

Looks like the Mercedes duo pitted right as the Safety Car was coming in and that ruined their race, on furhter review. I don't know what brought out the SC. Looks like we had two of them, actually. Both he and I went back to the soft compound for a late attempt to make up places, but it appears not to have worked AT ALL. Don't know what our problem was, really.