After the chaotic Dutch GP, the dust of Zandvoort has barely settled, and it’s another race weekend. Formula One ( F1) comes to Italy for round 16. This is the second Italian race on the calendar, taking place at Monza, which is known as the Temple of Speed. The Italian GP also marks the End of this year’s European leg.
Track and Weather
Monza is one of those tracks where drivers have many overtaking opportunities, which will be beneficial for those starting at the back of the grid. There is a breaking demand, and the down force is low. Monza has one of the highest average speeds on the calendar.
The track is famous for its iconic Parabolica and Lesmo corners, and the average time loss at pit stops is 22 seconds. Usually, .September typically brings warm, dry conditions. For the race weekend on Friday, it will be clear skies and sunny weather, followed by partly cloudy Saturday and Sunday.
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| Circuit Name | Autodromo Nazionale Monza |
| Circuit Length | 5.793 km |
| Race Distance | 306.720 km |
| Number of Laps | 53 |
| Turns | 11 |
| DRS Zones | 2 |
| Fastest Lap | 1:21.046 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari 2004) |
What’s Next for Lando Norris?
The Dutch GP caused a major blow to Lando Norris’s championship dreams when a mechanical failure forced the Briton to retire during the later stages of the race. After the poor outing at Zandvoort, Norris is 34 points behind his championship rival and teammate Oscar Piastri.
Norris has nine races to minimize this deficit. Will the McLaren driver go for the aggressive approach from now on? Minimizing such a gap is not impossible, as Sebastian Vettel reduced Fernando Alonso’s 35-point gap in just 5 races to win the 2012 championship.
The question is, does Norris have the same skill set or talent? Some argue that going all out aggressively will do more harm than good. Lando Norris and Piastri both are were neck to neck before the incident, although so far Piastri has been ahead of his teammate.
Monza GP will be the first race after this, at it will be interesting to see what approach Norris will take.
Ferrari’s second homecoming
Ferrari would like to put the Dutch GP behind them and move on. Ferrari looked strong in the earlier sessions of the weekend after recent upgrades, but on the race day, first Lewis Hamilton crashed into the barriers to end his race, and later Kimi Antonelli collided with to second Ferrari driver in an attempt to overtake.
Monza is the second home race of the team, and expectations to perform in front of tifosi will be high. The Maranello-based team looked strong at Monza last year when Charles Leclerc won the race. The Team is just 12 points ahead of Mercedes at P2 in the constructors’ championship. They need to increase this gap before rivals can catch up. The question is, can they use their home track as the starting point for a comeback?
Apart from front-runners Italian GP will also be important for midfield teams. With the close gaps between these teams, even a single point matters each weekend is the opportunity to move up the ladder and get to the bigger prize pot of the constructors’ championship.
