Written by: Mahir Daiyan Ashraf
On TV, Formula 1 looks fast, a tidy kind of fast, contained inside a frame. But at Monza, you feel it. The engines rattle your chest, every downshift thumps your ribs, and the world narrows to a blur of color as the cars fly by. I’ve watched this sport for years, but nothing prepared me for standing trackside at the Temple of Speed.
Our trip started in Milan: breakfast at Milano Centrale, a metro to Garibaldi, then a Trenitalia to Monza. With every stop, the carriage reddened. Caps pulled low, flags over shoulders, chants in Italian that rose and faded with the doors. Trains, buses, sidewalks, everywhere. A sea of Ferrari red. The closer we got, the louder it became. It felt less like heading to a sporting event and more like joining a pilgrimage. The tifosi were out in force.


Outside the station, thousands pressed into the line for the Black Shuttle to the circuit. We dodged the crush and took a regular city bus instead. Slower, but we could breathe. Even so, by the time we reached the gates the Formula 3 sprint was already over. Our first taste of action was Porsche Mobil Supercup qualifying, which shook the afternoon awake. Adel, meanwhile, tried an octopus burger and, after one brave bite, promised none of us should ever repeat it.
During a quick break we drifted through the infield past stalls stacked with merch. Under white tents, historic cars from the ’70s onward sat gleaming in the sun: long noses, wide tires, slow circles of people. When the music from the fanzone stage dipped, the crowd shifted. Free Practice 3 had begun. We hurried back to our spot at Variante Ascari.
The first flash of scarlet lifted the grandstands to their feet. Flags lifted, shoulders bumped, and the sound of cheers rolled over us like warm air. You could feel the tifosi’s love for the Ferraris. Then the F2 sprint delivered a perfect home script, Leonardo Fornaroli winning in front of his crowd. The place glowed.


Before qualifying we moved again. Robert had heard about a better angle past the old banking, so we followed the path under the trees until the historic curve rose in front of us. Seeing it in person was staggering, the tarmac rose nearly vertically; it felt impossible that cars ever raced on it. We pushed a little farther and found a perch beyond Ascari that looked almost straight down onto the modern track.
It was the perfect place to watch qualifying unfold. Q1, Q2, Q3. Through Q1 and Q2 the McLarens hunted purple sectors. In Q3, Lando Norris briefly took pole and, for a moment, the outright fastest lap in F1 history by average speed. Seconds later, Max Verstappen arrived and stamped a 1:18.792. New track record. Fastest lap in F1 history. The stands erupted, voices in a single chant: “Du du du du, Max Verstappen.”
Then the cherry on top, the historic parade. Machines from past decades rolled out. McLaren’s chrome-liveried MP4-22, early-2000s V10 screamers, cars that built eras. When they lit up, the tone changed, cleaner, higher, and people around us actually jumped. A Ferrari 312 B howled; a 412 T2 followed, the last V12-powered Ferrari F1 car, and grins spread in a wave. I filmed like everyone else, knowing the clips would never hold the heat in the air or the small hum that stays in your chest after a car is gone.

By the time the engines fell quiet, the sun was low. We let the slow tide carry us back toward town and found a small pizzeria called Al Poeta. Top three meals in Europe so far, no contest. What made it memorable was the boy taking our order. He was thrilled to practice his English with us, and his enthusiasm carried the same joy I had seen in the stands all day. After a day of deafening engines and a historic lap, that simple exchange was the perfect ending.
That’s the thing about Monza. It reminded me that Formula 1 is as much about people as it is about machines. The records, the speed, the legends matter, but so do the chants, the flags, the laughter of strangers. And in the middle of my semester abroad, standing in the Temple of Speed, it hit me: some experiences cannot be streamed or replayed. You have to be there.

