[Official] Italian Grand Prix 2022: Grand Prix Weekend Thread - Round 16 of 22

[Born Racer]

Formula 1 arrives at the final stop of its current triple-header this weekend within the sombre shadow of the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, an event which is bound to have touched many the world over. Regardless of one's feelings towards the concept of monarchy, this queen was rather universally respected and often admired or even loved by many, such was the diligent, dignified manner in which she operated, the somewhat enigmatic persona she consciously or inadvertently cultivated and the inevitable grandmotherly presence she created in her latter years, as she opened up more to a delighted audience.

Nonetheless, the intangible beauty of sport has the spirit to summon up positive sentiment in times of wider global issues, particularly in the world championship of Formula 1, and it would certainly be a poignant result this weekend were Mercedes to finally deliver a Grand Prix win and offer one of their drivers a chance to stand atop the special Italian Grand Prix podium with 'God Save the King' resonating out, an occasion which would no doubt occur with a sense of the outgoing of the former 'God Save the Queen'.

The Grand Prix at Monza celebrates its centenary this year, as the race was first run a year after Montichiari held Italy's first Grand Prix. In this country, it is generally not drivers who inspire the nation, but Ferrari, and the 'tifosi' (the Italian word for 'fans' which is also adopted by the F1 community to refer to those of the Prancing Horse) get behind any driver that drives for their beloved Scuderia. What began as a promising 2022, with Charles Leclerc well-placed to battle Max Verstappen in the title, has become more and more calamitous as the races have gone on, with the team apparently strategically crippled and scuppering their chances of winning in what is a fast car in a season littered with mystifying tactical errors, unreliability and arguably, a worrying lack of direction. Nonetheless, the tifosi will steadfastly turn out and root for the red team (with flashes of yellow this year).

The history

Monza is a high-speed blast on a pistol-shaped track through a park outside Milan, and although it is now punctuated by tight and tricky chicanes, it maintains its high average speeds due to some long straights and some key fast corners, many of which have been there since its inception. In the early days, it featured some high banking, which still stands as a relic of a bygone age. After Brooklands and Indianapolis, Monza is considered to be the third permanent racing circuit to be built.

In the Italian Grand Prix 1922, the Fiat 804s of Pietro Bordino and Felice Nazzaro came home 1st and 2nd, with the lead car completing the 80 laps in 5 hours 43 minutes and 13 seconds. Pierre de Vizcaya finished a further four laps back in a Bugatti Type 29. Nazzaro was 2nd again in 1923, this time to Carlo Salamano, both in Fiat 805s, while 3rd-placed Jimmy Murphy was the only other driver to finish on the lead lap in his Miller 122.

In 1924, Alfa Romeo P2 8C/2000s took the top four places, with Antonio Ascari winning from Louis Wagner. The next year, in a joint Grand Prix/ voiturette race, the Grand Prix Alfa Romeo P2s of Gastone Brilli-Peri and Giuseppe Campari and Giovanni Minozzi took 1st and 2nd from the Bugatti 39 voiturette of Meo Costantini.

In 1926, the Italian Grand Prix consisted of the 1.1-litre cyclecar class in addition to the 1.5-litre Grand Prix cars. The cyclecars completed 40 laps and the Grand Prix cars 60. André Morel won the cyclecar race in an Amilcar in just over 3 hours, while the only 2 Grand Prix finishers were the Bugatti 39As of Jean Sabipa and Meo Costantini in a little over 4 hours 20 minutes. Costantini had dominated up to Lap 58, but had to finish on 3 out of 8 cylinders.

Robert Benoist completed the 50 laps (500km) of 1927 in almost 3 hours 27 minutes in his Delage 15 S 8. In 1928, it was 60 laps to be conquered, and Louis Chiron was first in just over 3 hours 45 minutes in a Bugatti T37A. Achille Varzi and Giuseppe Campari were next up in an Alfa Romeo P2, while Tazio Nuvolari came 3rd in a Bugatti T35C. A terrible accident involving Emilio Materassi entering a grandstand killed over 20 spectators and the Italian Grand Prix was not held again until 1931 (although a Monza Grand Prix took place). When the national race returned, it was run in June and the Alfa Romeo team took 1st and 2nd, with Campari and Nuvolari driving the lead 8C-2300. Nuvolari won again a year later in May in the Alfa Romeo Tipo B.

Luigi Fagioli, in an Alfa Romeo B finished ahead of Nuvolari, in a Maserati 8CM in 1933, when the Monza Grand Prix was also run on the banked circuit, on which several drivers, including Baconin Borzacchini and Giuseppe Campari, lost their lives. Subsequently, a new layout was incorporated into the 1934 race, featuring two double chicanes, the southern part of the oval and the main straight going both ways, connected by a hairpin. Mercedes-Benz (Rudolf Caracciola and Luigi Fagioli) won from Auto Union (Hans Stuck and Hermann zu Leiningen).

There were five chicanes used in the 1935 edition, with the Scuderia Ferrari team 2nd with René Dreyfus and Nuvolari in an Alfa Romeo 8C-35 in an Auto Union B sandwich, Hans Stuck being the winning driver. Bernd Rosemeyer delivered another win for Auto Union in the C car 1936, with Nuvolari runner-up again in an Alfa Romeo 12C-36. In 1937, the race was run at the Livorno circuit, where Caracciola fought Daimler-Benz team-mate Hermann Lang hard to take the win in the Mercedes-Benz W125, while coming back to Monza, Nuvolari won in an Auto Union D in 1938.

The Italian Grand Prix returned after World War 2 with a street circuit in Milan and a track in a Turin park, before finding its home at Monza again in 1949, an event that Alberto Ascari won for Ferrari. Since then, the Italian Grand Prix, along with the British, has featured in every Formula 1 season.

Monza usually features the shortest race time of the season. Michael Schumacher completed the race in 2003 in a record of 1 hour 14 minutes 19.838 seconds, and he did it a record average speed of 247km/h (153mph). In 2018, Kimi Räikkönen also set the fastest ever lap for average speed here in qualifying, at 263.587km/h (163.785 mph).

Among its dramatic records, Monza also hosted the closest race finish in history; in 1971, Peter Gethin led a six-car train across the line that was covered by a 0.61 seconds. Gethin’s margin over Sweden’s Ronnie Peterson in second was a mere 0.01 seconds.

Other moments that stick out in the memory include 1988, when Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto forged a Ferrari 1-2 a month after the death of the team's founder, Enzo Ferrari. This was the only race which McLaren didn't win that year.

2001's race took place five days after the 9-11 terrorist attacks and was won by Juan Pablo Montoya in his Williams. The race's occurrence was not popular in all quarters, but stood as a resolute example of defiance in the face of devastation.


The track

It has gone through some overhauls, including the addition of the Parabolica curve and the abandonment of the banked track. The circuit now has three chicanes to avoid fumbling over. The Lesmos, two fast right-handers (Turns 6 and 7) are great fun for the drivers, and can reward the successful and punish those who fail, while the third and final chicane is a very fast one and propels the drivers and cars towards Parabolica. A long, long right-hander, apexing this just on point hangs on a fine thread of grip. The corner tempts drivers to barrel in there, later and later on the brakes, but they also have to get the start-finish straight right.




Other information

Circuit length: 5.793 km
Number of laps: 53
Race distance: 306.72 km
Dry weather tyre compounds: C2, C3 and C4

Race Lap Record: 1:21.046 (2004 - Rubens Barrichello - Ferrari)
First Italian Grand Prix: 1921
First Grand Prix at this circuit: 1922
First Grand Prix on current configuration: 2000

Join in the fun with the F1 Predictions Contest and Fantasy F1:

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=157402

https://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156986

[Mike Harte]

Verstappen will have a 5 place grid penalty, Perez one of 10 places and Hamilton is reported to be having to start from the back. The Red Bulls are engine penalties whilst Hamilton's is engine related plus something else that will be announced later by the FIA.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Hamilton's is engine related plus something else that will be announced later by the FIA.

Interesting - what is this other announcement?

There is already a publication confirming the start from the back of the grid - https://www.fia.com/sites/default/fi...%20element.pdf

"No / Driver: 44 - Lewis Hamilton
Competitor Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
Time: 14:01
Session: Practice 1
Fact: The following Power Unit Elements have been used:
4th Internal Combustion Unit (ICE)
4th Turbo Charger (TC)
4th Motor Generator Unit – Heat (MGU-H)
4th Motor Generator Unit – Kinetic (MGU-K)
Offence: Breach of Article 28.2 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.
Decision: Required to start the race from the back of the starting grid."

[bjohnsonsmith]

I'm looking forward to the race, particularly as it is at Monza.

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

Verstappen will have a 5 place grid penalty, Perez one of 10 places and Hamilton is reported to be having to start from the back. The Red Bulls are engine penalties whilst Hamilton's is engine related plus something else that will be announced later by the FIA.

F1.com, are reporting: ''With a fourth power unit and related components, Hamilton will exceed his allocation of power units and therefore take a grid penalty at Monza – though it has not yet been confirmed whether the seven-time champion will be relegated to the back of the grid.''

''The constructors' champions reasoned that Hamilton's third power unit was damaged after his collision with Fernando Alonso at Spa-Francorchamps, and the team are still working to recover that engine and its related parts – temporarily taking it out of the pool of PUs.''

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...zfxL7HWjH.html

[steve_r]

Tsunoda has a 10 place penalty for accruing too many reprimands. So expect a raft of new engine parts for him as well.

[S griffin]

Ferrari looking good in practice and need to take advantage of Verstappen’s grid penalty tomorrow. They can’t afford an embarrassment here on their home ground

[seanyb505]

Sainz also finding his way down penalty street, so we'll see how many ziti are still left in the chamber come race day.

[Aysedasi]

Thanks for the intro as always BR and particularly for the super first paragraph.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Ferrari looking good in practice and need to take advantage of Verstappen’s grid penalty tomorrow. They can’t afford an embarrassment here on their home ground

They don't want a repeat of 2020.

[S griffin]

I don’t think it will be as bad as 2020, but they need to not let RBR dominate

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Thanks for the intro as always BR and particularly for the super first paragraph.

Thanks. That was a somewhat spontaneous addition which seemed relevant within the wider context of the world and a world championship. I didn't want to just pay lip service to a mention the Queen had died.

[S griffin]

Albon is ill, so de Vries will make his F1 race debut in his place.

[BTCC frog]

What a strange grid we are going to have! If FP3 was qualifying I believe it would be:

1. Charles Leclerc (+1)
2. Fernando Alonso (+3)
3. Lando Norris (+3)
4. Max Verstappen (-3)
5. George Russell (+2)
6. Zhou Guanyu (+5)
7. Pierre Gasly (+5)
8. Nicholas Latifi (+5)
9. Sergio Perez (-6)
10. Nyck De Vries (+4)
11. Esteban Ocon (-2)
12. Daniel Ricciardo (+3)
13. Sebastian Vettel (+4)
14. Lance Stroll (+6)
15. Valtteri Bottas (+1)
16. Kevin Magnussen (+2)
17. Mick Schumacher (+2)
18. Carlos Sainz (-14)
19. Yuki Tsunoda (-11)
20. Lewis Hamilton (-10)

[S griffin]

De Vries in the top ten would be quite interesting

[bjohnsonsmith]

Leclerc takes his 8th Pole of the season, but can he convert that into a win? So far in his F1 career he has started 16 times from Pole, but has only four wins.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Albon is ill, so de Vries will make his F1 race debut in his place.

How come Williams didn't use their reserve driver and multi Formula W champion Jamie Chadwick?

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

How come Williams didn't use their reserve driver and multi Formula W champion Jamie Chadwick?

I am not sure that she has acquired sufficient points to qualify for a Super Licence and therefore race, although she may have enough to do FP1.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I am not sure that she has acquired sufficient points to qualify for a Super Licence and therefore race, although she may have enough to do FP1.

Ah didn’t think of that.

[bathurst77]

So who would have guessed a few days ago both Willies starting in top 10 and Nick DV beside max And Danny Ric on 2nd row within a few 10ths of Norris?

Penalties certainly make for mixed grid, but I do think they need a rethink

[S griffin]

The Tifosi no doubt very happy with Leclerc on pole. Shame grid penalties once again wreck the grid. But with Max a bit down the grid this is Ferraris big chance to close the gap

Great to see both McLarens up there, car seems to suit the track here. Hope for a good race for those two. Great debut from de Vries. Who would have thought he would start alongside fellow Dutchman and reigning champion Max Verstappen?

Anyway should be a cracking race today

[gert]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Great to see both McLarens up there, car seems to suit the track here.

They're still only the 4th fastest car in Q3, after both Red Bulls, both Ferrari's, both Mercedes -- in both Q2 and Q3.
And just 0.03 in front of the Alpine of Alonso when all set a represenative time.

That's about where they should be accoridng to their championship position. So not really anything specials at all?

In fact I would have expected them higher up or at least closer to the front.

It's still a 0.9 (Q2) - 1.3 seconds gap (Q3) we're talking about.
That is HUGE.

Originally Posted by S griffin

Who would have thought he would start alongside fellow Dutchman and reigning champion Max Verstappen?

He did alright. But don't let the grid order fool you.
That's the 2nd and 13th from qualifying who just happen to be on the 4th row.

When they last were on track together the difference between them was > 1.2 seconds.


So I see nothing to be excited about the starting positions as that doesn't really relate to their qualifying positions at all.

FWIW, we could have had almost anybody without penalty in the top 10.
That's what you get when you line up as

1st - 6th - 7th -8th - 9th - 10th - 2nd - 13th - 14th - 16th - 17th - 18th - 4th -11th - 12th - 19th - 20th - 3rd - 5th - 15th



It may make for an interesting few first laps, maybe.
But that's about it.

Originally Posted by S griffin

Anyway should be a cracking race today

Let's hope so but FWIW it could equally be nothing more than a long boring DRS-train.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by bathurst77

Penalties certainly make for mixed grid, but I do think they need a rethink

Utterly absurd if you ask me. As we'#ve said before, I wonder what the 'casual observer' would make of it all....?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by S griffin

The Tifosi no doubt very happy with Leclerc on pole. Shame grid penalties once again wreck the grid. But with Max a bit down the grid this is Ferraris big chance to close the gap

Great to see both McLarens up there, car seems to suit the track here. Hope for a good race for those two. Great debut from de Vries. Who would have thought he would start alongside fellow Dutchman and reigning champion Max Verstappen?

Anyway should be a cracking race today

Yep. Max wins comfortably. We'll have to see who completes the podium.

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by gert

He did alright. But don't let the grid order fool you.
That's the 2nd and 13th from qualifying who just happen to be on the 4th row.

When they last were on track together the difference between them was > 1.2 seconds.


So I see nothing to be excited about the starting positions as that doesn't really relate to their qualifying positions at all.

.

You seem to be making a habit of letting a bit of humour go over your head

[AndreasDavour]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Yep. Max wins comfortably. We'll have to see who completes the podium.

That's one thing. Let's not forget the rest of the pack. Well let's give it to them. Ferrari will surely find some way to amuse us, with some shenanigans. They have done so far this year.