Formula One Vault

PRIXVIEW – Italian Grand Prix

Round sixteen brings F1 back to Northern Italy and the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza for the final race of the European season. The hundred-year-old circuit has been the home of the race for most of that time and along with the British Grand Prix the only two to be held annually since the formation of the Formula One World Championship.

Monza is a circuit which is all about high speed and downforce, with the 3.6-mile circuit often leading to so of the fastest speeds of the season, the current record in the hybrid era being 224mph. this makes the race one of the shortest races in terms of time with a race without a red flag being roughly around seventy to eighty minutes.

The circuit is the third oldest purpose-built circuit in the world, after Brooklands and Indianapolis. The modern Grand Prix circuit currently introduced in 2000, has seen little change since the banking was used last in 1963, caused partly by the threat of industrial action by members of the GPDA.

By its nature and historic prestige, there have been many fatalities during the races hundred-year history. One of the deadliest weekends in the history of Grand Prix racing was the 1933 race when three drivers were killed, more deadly than Spa 1960 and Imola 1994. It became a turning point for Enzo Ferrari whose friend Baconin Borzacchinim, Giuseppe Campari and Polish aristocrat Count Stanislas Czaykowski.

However, the fact this is a high-speed and downforce circuit can often lead to crashes thus safety cars and red flags. The race is often one where you see lots of overtaking because of its long straights and hard braking zones create the opportunities. Qualifying can also be the scene of drama the power of the tow often sees drivers jockey for position on out laps though the FIA has tried to clamp down on this in recent years.

Like Zandvoort, in some areas, the fact there is grass and gravel acts as a deterrent, though where there isn’t the stewards often because of the gains we see from going off line take a tough stance on track limits.

The Italian fans there is only one team they want to win Ferrari, although the Emilia-Romanaga Grand Prix is nearer to Maranello this race feels more like a festival of Ferrari. For the team, this is the most high-pressured weekend and that comes at one of the trickiest circuits to get the set-up right.

Since 1949, expect 1980, the race has always been held at Monza, 1949 saw the introduction of the basis of the Grand Prix circuit. Although there was a period when the Combined Course, the oval and grand prix circuit were used. The final championship race of 1950, saw Giuseppe Antonio “Nino” Farina win, thus becoming the first world champion. Ascari would win three in a row and dominate the 1952 season.

1961 saw a return to the combined circuit, but it was to see yet another tragedy.  Two Ferrari drivers, Hill and Wolfgang von Trips, came into the race with a chance at winning the championship. Fighting for fourth place while Hill was leading and while von Trips approached the Parabolica.

Jim Clark slightly moved over into the path of the German and the two collided. Von Trips crashed into an embankment next to the road and then went flying into a crowd of people standing on it. Von Trips was thrown out of his car and was killed, as were 14 spectators.

Twelve Italian drivers have won the Italian Grand Prix; ten before World War II and three when it was part of the world championship; most recently Ludovico Scarfiotti won in 1966. But, that can be made up for the number of wins which Ferrari has with nineteen wins.

1970 saw Rindt’s fatal crash during qualifying at the wheel of his rear wing-less Lotus; his car suffered brake shaft failure, veered off the track, hit and went under the improperly-secured guardrail on the left and spun multiple times. Rindt died not because of the impact but because he had not properly secured his seat belts and the buckle had slit his throat. Rindt became the only posthumous world champion, after Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx failed to overhaul Rindt. Ickx’s teammate Clay Regazzoni won the race, which saw 28 lead changes.

1979 saw changes to Monza, run-off areas were added to the Curva Grande and Lesmo corners and the track was upgraded. Scheckter, now driving for Ferrari, won the race and the Drivers’ Championship. 1980 moved to Imola allowing Monza to be redeveloped and modernised, Imola would remain on the calendar until 2006 as the San Marino Grand Prix, re-joining as the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in 2020.

The more modern circuit was built between 1979-1981, though few changes were made to the circuit with larger runoff areas being built the 1980 race took place at Imola the only time since the formation of the championship the race has not taken place at Monza.

Alain Prost took victory in 1981 but John Watson had a huge accident at the second Lesmo Curve which also took out Italian Michele Alboreto. Watson was uninjured in his carbon-fibre McLaren. 1982 was won by Prost’s teammate René Arnoux; and Prost also won the exciting 1985 event, this time driving a McLaren. Prost’s championship rivals Alboreto (now driving a Ferrari) and Finn Keke Rosberg in a Williams both retired.

1991 saw a battle between Senna and the two Williams drivers Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese. Mansell won, Senna finished second and Patrese went out with gearbox problems. Senna won again in 1992, and 1993 saw Williams drivers Alain Prost and Damon Hill battle hard, and While leading, Prost’s engine failed and Hill went on to take victory.

Following the events at Imola over the following years attempts were made to slow down the cars as well as improve the run-off areas with track modifications made in 2000. But that weekend was marked by a race weekend fatally as the marshal Paolo Gislimberti was hit on the head by a loose wheel.

1996 saw Michael Schumacher win for Ferrari, and 1999 saw championship leader Mika Hakkinen crash and the Finn, false to temperament, went behind a few bushes in the circuit and broke down crying. Schumacher took victory in 2000, 2002 – 2004 and 2006, following which he announced his first retirement from F1.

In the wet conditions in 2008, Sebastian Vettel took his first win for Toro Rosso, now RB, 12.5 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen. Earlier in the weekend, he had already become the youngest pole sitter, after setting the fastest times in both Q2 and Q3 qualifying stages. His win also gave him the record of youngest podium-finisher.

Mercedes dominated this race in the hybrid era with Lewis Hamilton winning four out of five races between 2014 and 2018. Charles Leclerc took Ferrari’s first win in nine years and his second career win after an emotionally charged win at Spa, after fending off both Mercedes and his incoming teammate Hamilton.

2020 saw the beginning of two unpredictable years, a race which saw Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri, now RB come from tenth in a chaotic race thanks to a well-timed safety car and Hamilton given  a penalty for entering the pit lane when it was closed, passing the lead to Gasly, who defended from McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. in the closing stages of the race. This race the first since 2012  not to have a Red Bull, Mercedes, or Ferrari driver on the podium, and the first since 2013 not won by one of the three teams.

The following year saw McLaren return to the top step for the first time since 2012, thanks partly to a dramatic crash between Hamilton and Max Verstappen fighting for the lead following a slow stop for the Mercedes. As they went through the first chicane the two ended up. Side by side and Verstappen hit the kerb and made contact with Hamilton’s left rear tyre, launching Verstappen’s car into the air and over the top of Hamilton’s car. Both drivers were uninjured but were forced to retire from the race

Daniel Ricciardo took his first victory for McLaren, there first in Sao Paulo 2012 with Lando Norris second their first one-two since Montreal 2010. 2022 saw Verstappen come from behind in a dominant Red Bull despite a grid penalty, finishing nearly two and a half seconds ahead of Leclerc. George Russell continued his consistent season to finish third, a smart drive saw him not get involved in the title rivals fight and finished nearly a second behind Leclerc.

Race & Circuit Guide

Fast facts

• The Italian Grand Prix is usually the shortest all season. The 2003 race at Monza holds the record for the shortest F1 race to reach full distance, with Michael Schumacher winning in a time of just over 74 minutes. Last year’s race didn’t count due to two additional formation laps cutting the race to fifty-one laps.
• Monza is one of four current Formula 1 circuits which formed part of the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship in 1950 and since then, the circuit has only been absent only once – in 1980, when the Italian Grand Prix was held at Imola.
• The circuit is unique on the current calendar for its mix of long straights and slow chicanes. The low downforce circuit puts strain on engines, which are on full power for 80% of the lap, and gearboxes, which are used heavily in the chicanes.

Event timetable

What happened in 2023?

Carlos Sainz beat Max Verstappen by a hundredths in the closing moments of Q3 to take pole. The Spaniard looked on fire going fastest on both his runs and retook pole after Charles Leclerc and Verstappen went faster, a rare error cost Verstappen pole on his final attempt sending the tosifi wild.

Mercedes knew going into this weekend’s qualifying would be difficult to challenge for pole, the characteristics of Monza, which favours strong straight-line speed and traction. Hamilton was a good example of that, he had found himself to be the driver at risk in Q2 as he struggled with the rear of the car.

Verstappen took his tenth victory in a row after building pressure on Sainz through the first half of the race, which led to his former teammate making a mistake locking up and running wide at the dello Roggia chicane. After he passed the Ferrari the Dutchman went off into the distance as Sergio Perez also past the Ferrari, but also allowed  Charles Leclerc to close up and eventually finish the race a tenth ahead of the Monacan. It was frantic at times as Sainz hung on with worn tyres, and eventually, the Spaniard pleaded to his team to let him “bring it home”.

George Russell was fifth twenty seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time champion using an alternative tyre strategy to finish in sixth despite a late collision with Oscar Piastri’s McLaren. Hamilton was given a five-second penalty for damaging the front wing as he tried to outbrake and overtake the Australian at the della Roggia chicane, the both went off but managed to continue.

Piastri had clipped his teammate Lando Norris’s rear, after the Englishman under cut him, but the incident with Hamilton was more costly dropping him down the order.  Alex Albon was seventh, giving Williams their best result of the season, he couldn’t close to within five seconds to take the place away from Hamilton.

What to watch for?

The final race of the European season one has turned the championship on it head given Max Verstappen has won only four races since May with McLaren winning two of the last five and Mercedes the other three. I think given the fact on paper this is a circuit which favours high speed and downforce, could it allow Red Bull to return to winning ways again?

Monza is a high-speed and downforce circuit as we said above, this could give us a very good idea for Baku in two weeks as well. They are the two circuits with some of the highest speeds of the season, and last time we were at this type of circuit in Barcelona the race was won by Verstappen and Red Bull. They could be very strong here, if they have another weekend like Silverstone that might send alarm bells.

Monza is another old-school circuit, while Zandvoort went without incident I think its highly unlikely we will have two races without incident. The high-speed nature of Monza makes the tow very powerful,  but they need to be careful not to trip over each other when fighting in qualifying for a tow and the FIA usually imposes a maximum out lap time.

This is also a circuit which can be hard on brakes and tyres because of the huge stops needed going into the chicanes, though in modern times this hasn’t been as big an issue as they once was. We often see new or power units with limited mileage used this weekend as power and downforce are so critical here, even some penalties are taken here because of the ability to overtake.

McLaren looks to be Red Bull’s main title challenger, Lando Norris’ win in Zandvoort almost feels like a statement of intent to go for the championships. As we said over the weekend the upgrades worked, the question I feel is how well they work at this kind of circuit for the reasons mentioned above. Zandvoort felt to me like a statement of intent to fight for this championship, Norris has it looks like the backing of McLaren to go for the title after the drama in Budapest.

This is of course Ferrari’s home race, but while Charles Leclerc was on the podium in Zandvoort but it was so tight with Mercedes as we saw Carlos Sainz join Lewis Hamilton in being knocked out in Q2. Mercedes had a tough weekend last weekend, it just didn’t come together, but I think they could fight Ferrari.

2023 vs 2022 Race Data

*Note 2023 race ran to fifty-one laps because of two aborted starts rather than fifty-three

2023 Lap time comparison

Note race ran to fifty-one laps because of two aborted starts rather than fifty-three

Tyres