Monza has long been a circuit tinged with sadness, it is where drivers such as Alberto Ascari, Jochen Rindt and Ronnie Peterson met their unfortunate ends and this year it is where Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button will try to breathe life into their ailing title charges.
The Circuit
Monza has hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix every year since 1950, with the sole exception of 1980 when Imola played host to the Italian Grand Prix. The circuit has changed very little since its initial races in 1922. The challenges remain the same today as they were when Formula 1 engines first roared into life through the woods of the Villa Reale Park with the current generation of drivers experiencing the highest speeds of the season as they drive from one chicane to the next touching 200 mph four points each lap.
The lap starts with drivers braking from 200 mph down to 50 mph for the Reffililo chicane before the flat out Curva Granda that leads into another slow chicane where drivers slow from top speeds. It was at the start of the ’78 race that Ronnie Peterson died following a mass crash as the field headed to the first corner. Peterson was hit from behind by James Hunt after the 1976 world champion made contact with a fast starting Ricardo Patrase. The Lotus of Peterson was pitched into the barriers with his car then catching fire before Hunt managed to extract the Swede from his car and placed him on the track.
Peterson was still conscious at this point but amazingly Italian police formed a cordon around the title contender and would not allow him to receive medical attention until 15 minutes after the accident. When medics were given access to Peterson he was treated for his burns and a fractured leg and had surgery to set his leg but later that night Peterson died due to fat embolism. This can be quite a common complaint after a fracture of longer bones, and sees fat build up in blood vessels which in this case occured in the lungs and caused brain failure due to a lack of oxegen.
After this tragedy it was decided that medical facilities at race tracks needed to be brought up to a more acceptable standard, a process that has undoubtedly saved countless of lives in the mean time.
Once through the second chicane the middle sector begins and this is where the top drivers will show their speed. The Lesmo corners are two of the greatest challenges facing drivers in the entire season, with low downforce, as a result a slightly skittish car, drivers have to challenge themselves to take these corners as fast as possible because speed is of the essence on the way to the Ascari chicane, named after the spot where double world champion Alberto died in 1955 while testing a Ferrari sports car.
From here the drivers are homeward bound with only the parabolic remaining. This corner can catch out even the very best; Ayrton Senna misjudged his braking in 1987 and slid into the gravel costing him the chance of a superb win for Lotus. In 1970 Jochen Rindt died at Parabolica following a brake failure. The German went on to become the sports only posthumous champion.
Race Preview
Lewis Hamilton comes to Italy fresh from his Spa victory and as the title leader. The McLaren driver will be confident that his MP4-25 will once more be the car to beat this weekend due to their superior F-Duct system that has consistently seen the team top the speed traps throughout the season. Hamilton, the 2008 world champion, is yet to win at Monza but this year should offer him the best opportunity to win at the most historic of all Formula 1 circuits.
Hamilton’s closest title challenger is Red Bull’s Mark Webber and while the Australian will not start this race expecting another victory, he will approach it the same way as he did at Spa-by maximising whatever opportunities come his way. Webber’s race at Spa was once more an illustration of his intelligence and desire to be champion. Following a poor start from pole position Webber was the only driver not to make an error for the duration of the race and was rewarded with a runner up finish.
While everyone around him was making a sizeable error-Vettel crashing into Button, Hamilton running wide when rain fell at the end of the race, Alonso crashing out and Robert Kubica misjudging his braking in the pits and letting Webber slip ahead of him-the 34 year old Australian kept his composure and was rewarded by leaving Belgium as the favourite for the world title.
Robert Kubica has proven this season that he is an elite driver and this weekend’s race should play to the strengths of the Polish driver once more. Kubica has finished on the podium in two of his four Italian Grand Prix and could challenge for another podium at Monza. The Renault was very strong at Spa, and Monza should offer the Enstone based team the opportunity for another strong weekend. The team has developed a very efficient blown rear wing and Kubica will be a challenger once more this weekend. His teammate Vitaly Petrov has shown consistent signs of progress in recent races but the Russian will know that with his future still unsecured that it is crucial for him to have another strong showing.
Alonso and Ferrari know that their title chances are at a crossroads and this weekend’s is the most important race for the team in the last two years. The team face the FIA World Motorsport Council hearing in Paris this week in relation to their team orders in July’s German Grand Prix, which will undoubtedly distract the team in the run up to this race. Alonso needs to maintain his focus and concentrate solely on the race and preparing his car. If there is any driver on the grid suited to this task it is Alonso but with the McLaren expected to be faster this weekend the Spaniard faces an uphill struggle to move himself back into title contention.
This weekend will see one stop strategies abound, this has long been the traditional strategy for Monza, with total pitstop times expected to take in the region of 21 seconds.
This weekend’s weather
The weather was crucial to the excitement of the last race at Spa but at Monza we will characteristic weather with the forecast for clear skies and warm sunshine.
Past Races
With such a rich history of racing it is easy to pick numerous races of note from Monza’s past but some stand out above others. One such race was the 1971 race which was won by Peter Gethin for BRM. Gethin won by a margin of just 0.01 seconds with just 0.61 seconds separating the leading five finishers. This was also the fastest ever Grand Prix featuring a thrilling slipstreaming battle to the finish. Gethin only led three laps, but the led the most important one.
In 1956 Juan Manual Fangio finished second behind Stirling Moss but the race was noteworthy because Peter Collins, Fangio’s Ferrari teammate, graciously stepped out of his car when Fangio suffered a mechanical failure and allowed Fangio to continue in his car. Collins was a title contender but knew that it would take a failure by Moss to win the title for him. His selfless act allowed Fangio to win his fourth title.
1988 was a year that featured unparalleled success by McLaren; the Honda powered team won 15 of 16 race. It was only Monza success that eluded the Woking based team. Monza was staged just a few weeks after the death of Enzo Ferrari and as a result the tifosi came out to pay their respects to the “Commendatore.” The expectation was that McLaren would win once more; qualifying gave good reason for the team to be confident with Senna and Prost locking out the front row. Prost though would not see the flag; he suffered an engine failure at half distance leaving Senna with a comfortable lead at the head of the field. With two laps to go Senna came up to lap the Williams of Jean-Louis Schlesser, making the only Grand Prix start of his career in place of a sick Nigel Mansell, Senna collided with the stand in driver at the first corner and spun into retirement leaving a delighted home crowd to see Gerhard Berger win for Ferrari, to make it even sweeter Michele Alboreto finished in second in a Ferrari one-two.
In 1999 Heinz Harold Frentzen was victorious following Mika Hakkinen’s retirement. The Finn was leading comfortably before making a mistake at the first chicane and spinning into retirement. The win thrust Frentzen into genuine contention for the title and was to be the last win by Jordan Grand Prix.
2008 was one of only four Italian Grand Prix to staged in wet conditions. Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix after the German was victorious for Toro Rosso after converting pole position to dominate the race.
