After another very difficult week in the world of motorsport, the teams drivers and fans will be heading to Monza for an expectedly sombre weekend. During the Hungarian GP we mourned the loss of Jules Bianchi, and now in the week leading up to the Italian GP, we were faced with the news that former F1 driver and Indycar driver Justin Wilson was also fatally injured. Justin was struck on the head by the nosecone from another car which had crashed during the race at Pocono. This has sparked rejuvenated discussions about head protection in open wheel race cars - while this incident took place in an Indycar, the same threats do remain present in F1. Felipe Massa was struck by a metal spring which had fallen out the back of the car in front and suffered severe head injuries. There have also been several close calls involving cars clambering over each other dangerously close to the cockpit, most recently involving Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso in Austria. The suggestion of closed cockpits has been raised again, but tests on current prototypes of the concept have proven to be not entirely helpful. Different materials have either shattered after taking an impact or deflected too much. Parallels have been drawn to closed LMP class cars, but the difference there is that those cars have a load bearing metal roof with doors - not just a big curved windscreen.
In other news, the driver market is looking far more stable than it was this time last season - more teams have locked in their current line up. The most recent being Williams who confirmed that both Bottas and Massa would be staying with the team for the next season. Also Force India have announced that they have extended Nico Hulkenberg's contract for the next two seasons... no news on whether they intend to keep Perez as his team-mate yet however. Looking at the grid as it stands, there are very few teams with available seats, potentially the biggest name change we might see is what happens to Jenson Button, as his contract negotiations have not started yet. With the likes of Vandoorne and Magnussen waiting in the wings - I'd say the pressure is on. But considering McLaren already have a spate of grid penalties coming their way, that seat may not be on anyone's wish lists for a little while. Until the problems with the Honda PU get sorted out anyway.
Monza
After a trip to Spa, few venues can boast a similar level of tradition and history - Monza however certainly can. The temple of speed has been hosting races since the 1920's and for the most part the layout remains remarkably similar. Over the years modifications have been made, mostly in the general interests of safety as the cars grow increasingly faster. For many years the circuit featured an enormous oval with steep banked curves and minimal protection from being launched into the trees if something goes wrong. The historic banking remains a prominent feature of the venue - even if it has been decades since it was last used in anger. Standing as a ghostly reminder of a riskier, more dangerous time - and in light of recent events, some of those dangers have not gone away.
The Monza circuit is typified by it's huge top speeds, and in this era of DRS and hybrid turbos those speeds are higher than they've been in the past few years. Unless of course you are driving anything powered by Honda. So it is no surprise to find the lap starts in the middle of one of the high speed blasts with a long run down to the first corner. The main straight starts off being nice and wide, to accommodate the madness that generally is the opening lap, but by the time it reaches the Rettifilo Chicane - (lets see whether Antony Davidson remembers the iconic corner names to this historic venue unlike Spa...) - the track gets noticeably narrower. The Rettafilio - like Spa's Bus Stop Chicane - has undergone several versions over the years, more recently it has only been subject to the occasional re profiling. With various anti-cheating ramps and bumps being tested once the grass was removed. Once upon a time the opening lap at Monza almost guaranteed that a few front wings would go missing, but recently the drivers have grasped the idea of going through turn one without ramming each other. Which is a little boring, but with few competitive cars as is, we can't really go around losing any in turn one.
The Rettafilio is followed by Curva Grande - on the surface a simple flat out left hander - but it becomes very important when you are trying to set up a pass into the second chicane - Variante Della Roggia. The conventional racing line leaves you exposed to a pass down the inside of the chicane, whereas a defensive line on the outside of the corner is slower allowing a competitor to draw alongside - on the outside. At the start of the race, the Della Roggia does present another opportunity for carnage and mayhem. The fateful incident of the 2000 Italian GP where a loose wheel claimed the life of a trackside marshal illustrated the challenges posed on the opening lap. Throughout the weekend I expect to see many drivers short-cutting the chicane and taking advantage of the run-off area. So I expect there will be a montreal-esque mandated route drivers must take to get back to the track without the risk of gaining an advantage.
After Della Roggia we take a break from the chicanes for a couple of corners and reach the two lesmos, which give or take a little bit of re-profiling, have been part of the circuit for generations. Both corners are surrounded by the trees of the parkland circuit and both corners are gently cambered, dragging the car to the apex. Lesmo one tightens slightly on the exit, which is why we shall see many cars running wide over the course of the weekend - more so in the support races I suspect. The second Lesmo is a shorted corner and constantly tempts the driver to carry that little bit more speed each time - until eventually one or two will visit the gravel. It is nice to say that there is gravel on the exit of both Lesmos, which is a pleasant departure from the acres of tarmac that have plagued so many of the world's most famous corners. The second Lesmo is succeeded by the second of Monza's high speed straights heading through the heart of the royal park and descending underneath the historic banking.
At the end of the straight we have our third and final chicane - the Ascari Chicane. Which is the fastest of the three across the lap comprising of three apexes of gradually increasing speeds. Surrounded by more traditional gravel and featuring potentially the only piece of tarmac where the laws of track limits never really seem to have applied. After the final part of the Ascari chicane cars are often seen running out wide on to the access road for the shorter national circuit which rejoins on the back straight. Leaving only one more corner to go. That corner is one of the corners, if not the corner that Monza is known for - The Parabolica. This final corner came in for a lot of discussion this time last year as the plague of tarmac run-off had started to encroach upon the hallowed ground. But it was pointed out that the modifications had been made for other categories which use the circuit - mostly for bike races - rather than to annoy F1 fans. The Parabolica opens out through the exit as the speed builds back onto the main straight to start another lap.
The Form Guide
Due to being a little pre-occupied yesterday, the blog post was not quite completed on time - well it wasn't actually started until today. I know I am getting lapse in my irrelevant publication times. Anyway this delay does mean that all of the Friday practice sessions have been completed - and the results are rather obvious. Anyone with a Ferrari or Mercedes engine is well suited to a track which is almost entirely based on raw power rather than aerodynamic stability. The factory Mercedes squad are comfortably ahead - 0.7s in FP2, with all Mercedes powered cars in the top ten along with the two Ferraris. The Mercedes teams all seem to be split into team order - Force India are the quickest customer team, followed by Lotus and surprisingly Williams are the slowest of the cohort. I find the Williams decline rather puzzling, tracks like Spa and Monza were good for them in their recovery year, but since Silverstone it has all been a bit of a poor showing for the Grove based team. But practice pace doesn't necessarily correllate to qualifying and race pace, so it may just look worse than it is.
On the other hand, things look just as bad as they are for the Renault powered runners - 75% of the Renault powered cars have grid penalties along with both of the McLaren drivers (surprise, surprise). Daniel Ricciardo has been handed a 25 place grid penalty which normally sound very extreme, but after the McLaren drivers were handed a cumalative total of 105 grid place penalties... Ricciardo is in for a relatively easy day out. Even if it is from the back. So the back five places will be decided by penalty order rather than qualifying - considering none of the cars are likely to break into the top ten.
What it does mean is that Manor might start a little further forward than usual - but their older spec Ferrari engine won't have the power to keep them there. Neither do they have the overall chassis and aero development to race any of the contenders on pace.
So on the surface of it, barring mechanical failures - qualifying for the Italian GP appears to be almost sewn into position... but there is one more little caveat. The weather may play a role on Saturday - some people are predicting a potentially damp track to start on or even a full wet session. But I've seen those predictions before and they came to naught. Just look at the Belgian GP, there was so much chatter about rain, rain that never materialised. So I'm not holding my breath but I am open to being pleasantly surprised.
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