We're Back!!
I hope you're not sick of hearing it yet, because it’s RACE WEEK! This week, we are in for a treat as we are headed to Italy! More specifically, Monza, home of the Tifosi, which is particularly exciting due to the amazing results Ferrari have provided this last week in Zandvoort. On top of this, we return yet again to the Sprint Race Format - so check out the schedule below so you don’t miss a thing! With that out of the way, let’s take a further look into Monza.
A Bit of History...
The Italian GP is one of the oldest on the calendar, being held since 1921 and (along with Silverstone) is the only GP to have happened every season since 1950 when the championship was introduced. Specifically, the track in Monza was the third track built for motor purposes in the world and itself, has three separate tracks. The first, and most popular, being the Grand Prix track which stands at 5.793km, a junior track (2.405km) and an oval track, that is very high speed and has steep bankings (4.250km).
Monza plays host to many other sporting events, including cycling events such as the Monza 12hr Cycling event and running events including half marathons. Other notable motorsport events that have been held there also include:
Le Mans series
Race of Two Worlds Event
Superbike World Championship
Auto GP
The Finer Details...
The circuit itself is quite famous for high speed corners and its shape, which allows it to be arguably the fastest F1 Track currently on the calendar.
There are 11 corners on this track, and usually 53 laps. The lap record is currently held by Rubens Barichello at 1.24.016, which he earned in 2004 with Ferrari.
Turn 11 is particularly well known as Parabolica - though for the 2021 season, the name was changed to Curva Alboreto in honour of Michele Alboreto, a 5x GP winner with over 200 starts in F1. This corner is infamous for its shape and the high-speeds drivers take the sharp right hander.
Monza is also well known for its chicanes, which can cause havoc for a lot of drivers. This is especially due to the extreme braking, gear changes and downforce changes that occur on this track. While this makes this track a particularly hard one, it all the more rewarding for the drivers.
Blast to the Past...
In 1971, at this circuit, Peter Gethin and Ronnie Peterson claimed the closest ever finish to an F1 race - with the former just taking the win by 0.01 seconds. Not only was it Gethin’s maiden win in F1, but until 2003, this particular race was the fastest to ever be held.
In 2008, in the dreary wet conditions, Sebastian Vettel went on to claim his first ever pole position with Toro Rosso after fan favourites such as Hamilton and Raikkonen left qualifying earlier than expected. This pole position led Vettel to start the race leading comfortably under a safety car until the real racing began, in which he went on to claim the win, becoming (at the time) Formula One’s youngest race winner. This was also Toro Rosso’s last podium until 2019.
Monza in 2020 was a crazy race, a red-flag period took out Charles Leclerc who was one of the favourites to win the race, and Lewis Hamilton, another set to win, wound up with a penalty for entering the pit lane whilst it was closed. These unexpected events meant a fresh face made its way up the ranks - Pierre Gasly. The Frenchman drove incredibly, having to fend off the McLaren of Carlos Sainz for a lot of the race, especially in the final laps, and eventually was able to bring back a win. This was the first win for a Frenchman since 1996 (Monaco), and was also the first win for the RedBull junior team in 12 years (Vettel). It was an emotional win, with Gasly dedicating it to Antione Hubert - his best friend and F2 driver who was involved in a serious crash in Spa and passed away in 2019.
It is also interesting to note that currently, Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher hold the award for most race wins at Monza both with 5 wins each - Lewis’s in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and Schumacher’s in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006. As well as this, the constructors who hold the record for most wins at this track is Ferrari, with an incredible 20 wins. They are followed by McLaren with 10 wins, Mercedes with 9, Alfa Romeo with 8, and Williams with 6. It will definitely be interesting how these numbers change after this race!
When To Watch:
Formula 1:
(FRIDAY) Free Practice starts on Friday 10th of September at 1:30-2:30pm (BST) or 2:30-3:30pm local time.
(FRIDAY) Qualifying for the sprint qualifying follows at 5:00 to 6:00pm (BST) or 6:00-7:00pm local time.
(SATURDAY) Free Practice 2 gets underway on the 11th of September at 11:00-12:00pm (BST) or 12:00-1:00pm local time
(SATURDAY) Sprint qualifying returns at 3:30-4:00pm (BST) or 4:30-5:00pm local time.
(SUNDAY) The race will begin on the 12th of September at 2:00pm BST or 3:00pm local time and should finish around 4pm (BST) or 5pm local.
Formula 2:
All times shown below are track times:
(FRIDAY) Free Practice will start at 11:20-12:05pm
(FRIDAY) Qualifying is held at 4:50-5:20pm.
(SATURDAY) The two sprint races are both taking place on Saturday, with the first being at 8:50-9:35am.
(SATURDAY) The second sprint race is at 2:45-3:30pm.
(SUNDAY) Now it is time for the feature race! This will take place at 10:25-11:25.
(All times collected and calculated from the official Formula 1 website)
(Information for this post uses previous race data collected from the internet and official sources. No copyright intended)
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