For the home crowd this w/e – this is all that matters #monza #gp1 great seats! @GulliversTravel pic.twitter.com/oVWJi4Y6ef

— Henry Tapper (@henryhtapper) September 5, 2015

I’m in Italy to watch the Italian Grand Prix.

When you watch the Grand Prix in Monza, you need to be in red. It is no use supporting anyone other than Ferrari- I’ve tried.

So this year I (well Stella) bought some discounted gear in TK Maxx  and I’ve been pretending to be part of the Tifosi.

Monza is an anachronism. Soon all Formula One stadia will be as anodyne as Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Montreal.  In Barcelona this year you could drink beer – but they’d taken out the alcohol. In Monza anything goes and generally goes well.

Homogenising the viewing of motor racing for the sake of Bernie Ecclestone , his “Paddock Club of VIP’s” and the massed ranks of TV viewers , misses the point.

Monza is what it is because it is still in touch with the past. Deep in the woods are the remains of the banked old circuit. The podium points to the fans and not the dignitaries. The fans make themselves heard. All this is now under threat and wrongly so.

In a wonderful article on the BBC website, a number of drivers are quoted – most movingly Sebastian Vettel who remarks that losing Monza would be like ripping out your heart.

After two amazing days at the place, I totally agree.