Monza - il Grand Premio D'Italia

[J.Clark]

One of those iconic circuits that defines Formula 1.  A word that people who don't even follow any series of motor racing immediately identify as a significant place.

Autodromo Nazionale Monza is located in the North, near Milan.  Google maps will show you where it is.  I remember a few years ago, many of the locals protested the Formula 1 use of the circuit because of the noise.  Well, that certainly is no longer an issue with the new power units.  I thought it a bit like the person who builds/buys a home on a golf course and then complains about broken windows . . . 

Lat & Long 45°37′14″N - 9°17′22″E

It is 3.6 miles of high speed, mostly straight and/or high speed turns, of which there are eleven.  The track lap record was set by Barrichello in  that absolutely awesome 2004 Ferrari, at 1:21.046.  Current grid drivers with a win here are:
Vettel (3), Hamilton, Alonso (2), and going back to 1999, it HHF and three multiple winners - Montoya, Schumacher and Barrichello.

What that means for this year's event may not be much, but Hamilton knows how and has the car, while Alonso knows how and has the shear ability (add to that it being Ferrari's home race) so it could be a heck of a battle since Alonso has been punching well above his weight for much of the season - closing in little by little on the Mercs each race.

There was a time that the 'organizers' of such things put together a  Race of Two Worlds events, which attempted to run Formula One and United States Auto Club National Championship Indy cars against each other in a 500 mile event.  It was nicknamed Monzanapolis, and ran on the banked track.  It was won both of the two years it was held by American entries.

There are five days before free practices, but I for one can't wait.  I want to see what Williams can do at a circuit that should suit them well.  Of interest too, will be to see how Ferrari and Red Bull have improved, as both seemed at Spa to have made a good bit ground on the Mercedes and Williams teams.

Formula 1 has been here almost since the beginning.  The track was built in 1922 and had been used for a number racing formulas over the years before Formula 1 came along.  It is still used for just about anything racing.  There have been some changes to it over the decades.  For example, the high banked turns are no longer used.  There have been chicanes added in a couple of locations to slow down the cars.  Many deaths have occurred here; although, most of those before Formula 1 was officially a series.  The most recent death due to F1 was in 2000 when a marshal was killed by debris at the Roggia Chicaine on the first lap of the race, if memory serves.

There will be two DRS zones.  One on the start/finish straight and on leading up the Ascari Chicaine.  Over-taking on track should be possible, which will make the racing very good back in the mid-field most likely and perhaps in the top 5 or 6 as we have seen recently.

[cosworth151]

One of the very best, I.M.O. It certainly lives up to it's nickname: La Pista Magica, The Magic Track!

[John S]

Not sure I recognise the picture you paint of RBR & Ferrari closing up on Mercedes, I'm pretty sure it's Rosberg, almost singlehandedly, backing the Silver Arrows into the others. 

Be interesting to see if Williams can show more pace than Red Bull round Monza, especially since Red Bull have said they will put an even more minuscule wing than Spa on the car for Monza.  We'll have to watch for something fluttering like stretched cloth on the back of the Red Bull if Newey gets his way.     

[Scott]

I worry a little that the Merc's will get away from the rest on a track like Monza.  Hope not, but we'll see.

[Monty]

I know it is only FP1 but it is great to see Button in second place (yes I am a Button fan but still not a 'chapter of the Button fan club'.
Hamilton first and Rosberg third, hopefully this is a sign that the Mercedes power is working and McLaren are actually making good use of it!

[Monty]

I have just realised that Roberto Merhi was faster than Ericson. I accept this was just one practice session but I can't get away from the feeling that Ericson has now been overshadowed by two, one-off stand-in drivers. As it is always Kobicrashy that gets sidelined, I guess Ericson is paying for his drive, but these results can't be good for his future in F1.

[Monty]

Have to be impressed with Hamilton. He lost over an hour of FP2 then came out and was within 0.1second of Rosberg (1st and 2nd.... of course!).
Both Ferraris looking good in race trim.
Button slid down the table  but still in 6th and in front of his team mate.
Kamui Kobayashi faster than Ericson.

[Irisado]

Ericsson probably has sponsorship backing which keeps him in the team.  Being outperformed by Merhi wasn't encouraging for his future though.  Given Mehri's complete lack of F1 experience, Ericsson really ought to have been faster than him.

Those two practice sessions were very quiet, apart from Hamilton's problems.  He really needs to take pole tomorrow, and I do wonder whether the loss of track time will hurt his performance tomorrow.

Lotus look really slow here.  They could struggle to beat Marussia in qualifying based on Friday's times.  That says a lot for how much Marussia have improved (Monza had previously been a very poor circuit for them), and how poorly the Lotus rides the curbs.

All the other teams are more or less where they usually are on a Friday.

I'm really disappointed with the Parabolica.  It's now far too easy.  Van de Garde admitted as much to the BBC during an interview in Friday practice.

[J.Clark]

With FFP 1&2 now history:


1. Rosberg       Mercedes   1m 26.225s 41 laps
2. Hamilton    Mercedes   1m 26.286s 16 laps
3. Raikkonen   Ferrari    1m 26.331s 31 laps
4. Alonso          Ferrari    1m 26.565s 26 laps
5. Bottas        Williams   1m 26.758s 34 laps
6. Button        McLaren   1m 26.762s 34 laps
7. Vettel       Red Bull   1m 26.762s 27 laps
8. Magnussen    McLaren   1m 26.881s 44 laps
9.  Massa        Williams   1m 26.935s 33 laps
10. Ricciardo    Red Bull   1m 26.992s 37 laps
11. Perez        Force India   1m 27.079s 42 laps
12. Hulkenberg    Force India   1m 27.227s 39 laps
13. Kvyat        Toro Rosso   1m 27.476s 37 laps
14. Gutierrez    Sauber    1m 27.840s 33 laps
15. Vergne        Toro Rosso   1m 27.929s 33 laps
16. Sutil       Sauber    1m 28.029s 35 laps
17. Bianchi        Marussia   1m 28.659s 34 laps
18. Maldonado    Lotus    1m 28.700s 42 laps
19. Chilton        Marussia   1m 28.786s 29 laps
20. Grosjean    Lotus    1m 29.085s 29 laps
21. Kobayashi    Caterham   1m 29.178s 32 laps
22. Ericsson    Caterham   1m 29.275s 37 laps

I find it interesting that Bottas was surprised by the pace of Red Bull.  I would have thought he might be more surprised by the pace of the scarlet guys.  It is a home race for Ferrari and they nearly always do something a little extra to get the most of the weekend for their beloved tifosi.  I was a bit surprised to see Kimi out-pacing Fred actually.

At the end of the day, I wonder if a couple of teams may be sand-bagging a bit.  Mercs are looking like they may have to work for a win this time.  Top 12 cars are separated by only a single second.

Have Marussia eclipsed Lotus?

[Scott]

Hmm, supposed to rain on Monday in Monza...wonder what will happen if the wind pics up speed.  Rain would be nice for Monza.  I know Vettel likes it wet there. 

I think you're right J.C.  Could be some sandbagging going on.

[J.Clark]

Monday?

[Scott]

Sorry...I'm referring to mountain weather, when Monza is situated on the south side of the alps.  The wind changes here by 15-20kph and you tear up the forecast...meaning that the Monday weather could very easily come Sunday if the wind changes.

[J.Clark]

Saturday practice times:
1. Lewis Hamilton    Britain    Mercedes-Mercedes   1m 25.519s 23 laps
2. Fernando Alonso    Spain    Ferrari-Ferrari    1m 25.931s 13 laps
3. Valtteri Bottas    Finland    Williams-Mercedes   1m 26.090s 19 laps
4. Felipe Massa    Brazil    Williams-Mercedes   1m 26.114s 18 laps
5. Jenson Button    Britain    McLaren-Mercedes   1m 26.242s 21 laps
6. Sebastian Vettel    Germany   Red Bull-Renault   1m 26.290s 17 laps
7. Kimi Raikkonen    Finland    Ferrari-Ferrari    1m 26.327s 15 laps
8. Daniil Kvyat    Russia    Toro Rosso-Renault   1m 26.437s 21 laps
9. Daniel Ricciardo    Australia   Red Bull-Renault   1m 26.482s 16 laps
10. Nico Hulkenberg    Germany   Force India-Mercedes   1m 26.608s 17 laps
11. Kevin Magnussen    Denmark   McLaren-Mercedes   1m 26.829s 20 laps
12. Esteban Gutierrez    Mexico    Sauber-Ferrari    1m 27.207s 18 laps
13. Sergio Perez    Mexico    Force India-Mercedes   1m 27.312s 10 laps
14. Jean-Eric Vergne    France    Toro Rosso-Renault   1m 27.479s 22 laps
15. Adrian Sutil    Germany   Sauber-Ferrari    1m 27.498s 12 laps
16. Jules Bianchi    France    Marussia-Ferrari   1m 28.025s 19 laps
17. Pastor Maldonado    Venezuela   Lotus-Renault    1m 28.137s 20 laps
18. Kamui Kobayashi    Japan    Caterham-Renault   1m 28.265s 21 laps
19. Romain Grosjean    France    Lotus-Renault    1m 28.459s 14 laps
20. Max Chilton    Briton    Marussia-Ferrari   1m 28.579s 19 lap
21. Marcus Ericsson    Sweden   Caterham-Renault   1m 29.251s 22 laps
22. Nico Rosberg    Germany   Mercedes-Mercedes   No time 3 laps

Rosberg - only 3 laps???  Could the Mercs be suffering reliability issues?  Hamilton missed a lot of FFP-2 . . .

Qualifying could be very interesting indeed.  Recording it - on the road in a few minutes for most of the day.

[J.Clark]

Row 1
1. Hamilton    Mercedes   
2. Rosberg       Mercedes   

Row 2
3. Bottas        Williams
4. Massa        Williams

Row 3
5. Magnussen    McLaren
6. Button        McLaren

Row 4
7. Alonso        Ferrari
8. Vettel       Red Bull

Row 5
9. Ricciardo       Red Bull
10. Perez        Force India

Row 6
11. Raikkonen    Ferrari
12. Vergne        Toro Rosso

Row 7
13. Hulkenberg       Force India
14. Sutil       Sauber

Row 8
15. Gutierrez        Sauber   
16. Maldonado       Lotus

Row 9
17. Grosjean        Lotus
18. Kobayashi        Caterham

Row 10
19. Bianchi        Marussia
20. Chilton     Marussia   

Row 11
21. Kvyat        Toro Rosso*   


Pit lane
Ericsson       Caterham**

* denotes ten-place grid penalty (internal combustion engine change). Kvyat had qualified in P11)
** denotes pit lane start after ignoring yellow flags in FP3. Ericsson had qualified in P22

No big surprises.
Will Hamilton be able to keep Rosberg at bey?
Can Massa beat Bottas this time?
Button next to Mags on the grid - less than .06 separating them.  How will that turn out?

Big team rivalries lining up side-by-side on the starting grid in the first three rows should provide some very interesting racing, at least to the first round of pit stops.

Williams look, based upon qualifying times, prepared to push the Mercedes in the race today.  Both Williams are within .5 seconds of Lewis' pole time.  If either of the Mercs make a mistake, or suffer the slightest problem, I could see a Williams on the top step of the podium today and both have a very real shot at a podium finish. 

I know that many of you will be in the chat room for the race.  Have fun. I will not, because as has been the case all season, we have a group that comes to the house to watch the race over lunch (sometimes breakfast), which lets us all get to church.

[Ian]

Typical eh Scott, Eddie, David and Suzi get to drive on the old banking and we got chased off just for trying to climb up it.