It all seems that not too long ago we were setting up camp on the eve of the European season and now here we are a day before this part of F1 2011 comes to it's final weekend. The last stop on the European calendar before the far flung reaches of Singapore, India and Brazil, is the Autodromo Di Monza - the fastest course on the calendar serving as a high speed gateway into the flyaway races concluding the year.
The Italian GP is also the home of the extremely loyal Tifosi - the oceans of Ferrari fans out in force to pledge their allegiance to the red cars on home turf. One of the historic venues on the calendar Monza has been one of the staple venues on the calender. Maintain its general layout over the years, with the main exception of the terrifying steep oval banking being cut from the circuit but still remains as a reminder of the feats of bravery exerted by those who raced on the frightening slopes. Chicanes have been added and re-profiled at Retafilio and Della Roggia. But other than that Monza has retained it's atmospheric status.
The Track
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| Credit to the FIA for the track map. |
In amongst the plethora of power Monza does actually include some corners, and rather important ones at that. Offering up some strong overtaking options especially when the DRS comes into play, the first two chicanes are the most obvious places to make progress. But there is also a chance of overtaking into the Parabolica the final corner of the lap although improvements in aerodynamics and braking have made the breaking zone rather small. The slow chicanes however are a major choke point on the opening lap with the apex curbs being raised to prevent cutting funnelling the field into a rather small space. There is a significant chance that wings will be lost negotiating them on lap one, which extends through to the beginning of Sector two in Variante Della Roggia.
Because of the high speeds Monza has the lowest downforce configuration of the season since the old Hokkenheim track was neutered of it's blasts through the forest. The teams will be bringing special Monza spec parts to the cars to maximise the pace on the unique layout, in GP2 the cars run without the top wing plane to generate higher straight line speeds. But with great speed comes great risk as we say in Belgium last time out with a major accident in the GP2 race in the infamous Eau Rouge - Fabio Leimers car was torn in two in the morning race last Sunday. That sort of accident is not likely this weekend but there is a risk of the more dangerous airborne style accidents always a threat in open-wheel race cars. It's these accidents that cause the most harm to a driver when the car lands back on the ground, the lack of padding in the base of the vehicles sends the impact force into the driver's spine causing injuries. Such a problem did arise in Spa as well also in GP2 where Colletti fractured vertebrae after flying over Russian driver Aleshin's car.
Fortunately such events are rare and Monza despite being the fastest of layouts has offered mostly carnage free racing - with the exception of the unfortunate events of 2000 - but now it is time to unveil the video prepared for this weekend, free from doom saying words of carnage and mayhem. Not free from some naff driving and inaccurate racing lines however.
As normal the lap time is a long way from the times that will be produced over the weekend, even the F1 2011 mod I have is running in the 1:27's compared to the 1:30's of the Blogmobile.
What to Expect
Well being one of the more unique layouts of the year focussed more on speed and low downforce the front teams should be even closer then usual. The inherent grip of the Red Bull car won't be as effective here as aerodynamic prowess is aimed further away from cornering speed and more towards straight line speed. This is beneficial for their immediate rivals, McLaren will be looking to perform well, with an in form Button racking up the Bonus Points and Hamilton eager to recover from an error in Spa. On top of that there is Ferrari, spurred on by the devout Tifosi crowd and a very competitive car with strong mechanical grip demonstrated in Monaco.
Behind them, Mercedes will be aiming for another strong weekend, where the strengths of their car match the format of the track - allowing them to close the gap to the division one cars and pull away from a resurgent Renault Squadron. Things in the black and gold awning have been subject to change, former driver and bonus points championship contender Squadron Leader Heidfeld has been honourably discharged from the Squadron, making Senna a more permanent recruit. With Grosjean waiting in the wings for a possible future call back since his season finishes this weekend, Renault Squadron will be hoping to stay away from the gaining mid-field.
Speaking of the mid-field, determining how that is going to end up is much of a lottery, as when downforce is lowered the distance between the cars will close so it it will become more competitive. Force India and STR will likely be towards the front of the group but Sauber and Williams won't be too far behind, the struggle to keep out of the first relegation zone in Q1. Provided of course the bottom 6 places are held by the newer teams and that is no longer a certain fact, alternate tyre strategies or some alternate weather could see Lotus mixing up that pack in the first session.
KERs and DRS
KERs this weekend may not be as useful as on other circuits as the gains at higher speeds aren't as strong as the gains when appliying the additional power out of slower corners to draw up on the car in front. But this accounts for the overtaking element of the system, in terms of lap time it will be invaluable as on a power track having more power is always a good idea. It will hamper the ambitions of the newer teams to break out of Q1 where their lack of the system could be quite a hindrance.
Then there is DRS - theories are conflicting on how it will affect the racing this weekend, of course both of those theories are mine at the moment but I'm sure other more rational who actually know about these things folk can come to similar conclusions. The first possibility is that because the rear wing angle will be much lower than normal anyway the speed increase from activating the system will much weaker than at other events.
On the other hand there is a new system in place in Monza - two independent zones with their own detection and activation points opening up more opportunities across the lap. One being on the main straight leading into the Retafilio chicane and the other after second Lesmo on the run down to Ascari. Both sections are preceeded by a high speed corner exit, possibly ending with DRS performance similar to Spa and Turkey where the zones proved excessive and the overtaking was rather easy indeed.
Those theories are based on the events for the race itself, where as in qualifying there is no limit on the DRS usage and it will provide significant lap time gain as so much of the lap will be at full power with the wing open. Despite it being on a low downforce circuit, the quantity of the application points will severely out weigh the reduced gains it will have to offer on Saturday afternoon.
The Italian Grand Prix marks the end of the European season which started in Turkey all those months ago - with a little break for the scheduled madness and mayhem that is also named the Canadian GP. Monza is a nice atmospheric conclusion to this phase of the season upon the spectacular blasts through the royal park in the shadow of the imposting former banking. It is going to be another outstanding weekend through all sessions, the precision and competition of qualifying and then the main spectacle of the race itself which will be another outside broadcast.
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