Formula One Preview: Italian Grand Prix
- Peter Johnson
- Sep 4
- 6 min read
Written by Peter Johnson, Edited by Meghana Sree
Formula One returned from its summer break last weekend with a chaotic Dutch Grand Prix, with Lando Norris’ retirement possibly a decisive moment in this year’s world championship.
He will be in search of a better weekend at Monza, as will the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton at their home Grand Prix, who also failed to finish in the Netherlands.
Circuit Guide
Situated just north-east of Milan, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza has hosted more Grands Prix than any other circuit in F1, with 74. 1980 is the only year in the sport’s history which did not include a trip to the venue.
Nicknamed the “Temple of Speed”, Monza is the fastest circuit on the calendar, with Norris setting an average speed of just under 263km/h en route to pole position last year.
Several long straights are punctuated by three chicanes, two Lesmos and the famous Parabolica, with drivers putting their foot flat to the floor for 80% of the lap.
Slightly counterintuitively, though, given the circuit’s high speeds and long straights, overtaking can be difficult, with teams tending to run a low downforce set-up to maximise top speed. This in turn reduces the slipstream effect, while tyre overheating is also a common occurrence.
Weekend Format
Perhaps given the difficulty of overtaking around Monza, the circuit has not been selected to host a sprint race. The weekend format therefore follows a traditional pattern.
Session times (BST)
Practice 1: Friday 12:30
Practice 2: Friday 16:00
Practice 3: Saturday 11:30
Qualifying: Saturday 15:00
Race: Sunday 14:00
Weather Forecast
No rain is currently predicted for this weekend’s Grand Prix. In fact, there has not been a single rain-affected race at Monza since Sebastian Vettel’s triumph for Toro Rosso in 2008.
Major Talking Points
Norris’ uphill struggle: Having clawed his way back to within nine points of Oscar Piastri before the summer break, Norris suddenly finds himself 34 points adrift following his second retirement of the season in the Netherlands. With just nine races remaining, can he start to reduce the arrears once again?
Ferrari’s hopes at home: Last weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix was another low point in the recent history of the Scuderia, with Hamilton and Leclerc both crashing out. However, the last time Ferrari suffered a double DNF right before the Italian Grand Prix was at Spa in 1998. They then went on to claim a 1-2 in front of the Tifosi…
Hadjar’s heroics: Isack Hadjar claimed the first podium of his career last weekend at Zandvoort in just his 15th Grand Prix. Monza has been kind to his Racing Bulls team in the past, with Vettel and Pierre Gasly winning under the guise of Toro Rosso and Alpha Tauri respectively. Anyone fancy an unlikely hat-trick?
Italian talent on the grid: Kimi Antonelli will become the first Italian Formula One driver to race at Monza since Antonio Giovinazzi in 2021. With just one point in five races, can the young man from Bologna crack the top 10 in front of his home crowd?
The midfield scrap: Just 11 points separate Aston Martin, Racing Bulls and Sauber in sixth, seventh and eighth in the Constructors’ Championship. All three teams have scored in six of the past eight races, so who will steal a march at Monza?
Past Italian Grands Prix
The Italian Grand Prix is the only event aside from the British Grand Prix to be an ever-present event on the F1 calendar. Even in 1980, when no race was held at Monza, the race found a temporary home at Imola.
Leclerc brought the house down when he won for Ferrari last year, his second victory at Monza following his success in 2019.
Racing Bulls, also based in Italy, has also won here twice - with Vettel (as Toro Rosso) in 2008 and Gasly (as Alpha Tauri) in 2020.
Michael Schumacher won the 2003 Italian Grand Prix with an average speed of 247.586km/h, making it the fastest F1 race ever. Hamilton’s pole lap in 2020 saw an average speed of 264.362km/h, the fastest single lap ever recorded in F1.
1961 World Champion Phill Hill picked up two of his three career wins at Monza (1960 and 1961), while three-time champion Sir Jackie Stewart achieved his maiden win there in 1965.
Clay Regazzoni (1970), Juan-Pablo Montoya (2001) and Vettel (2008) also collected their first victories at Monza, while Ludovico Scarfiotti (1966) and Peter Gethin (1971) claimed their only career wins there.
Gethin’s victory in 1971 saw the smallest winning margin in F1 history, when he pipped Ronnie Peterson to the flag by 0.01 seconds. Indeed, the top four were separated on the line by just 0.18 seconds.
John Surtees (1967), Jody Scheckter (1979), Heinz-Harald Frentzen (1999), Rubens Barrichello (2009) and Daniel Ricciardo (2021) all achieved their final F1 triumphs at Monza.
Last Race Recap
Piastri achieved the first Grand Slam of his career last time out at Zandvoort, claiming pole position and taking a lights-to-flag victory, achieving the fastest lap in the process.
However, this dominant display only told a fraction of the story. Chaos unfolded behind the Australian, with Hamilton crashing out of the race on Lap 22, before the sister Ferrari of Leclerc suffered a race-ending collision with Antonelli on Lap 52. The Italian received a 10-second penalty for his trouble, plus a further five seconds for speeding in the pit lane.
On Lap 64 came the most pivotal moment of the season to date, when an oil leak forced Norris into retirement, and in so doing handed Piastri a 34-point lead in the Championship.
Meanwhile, many others behind profited from the incidents up the road. Hadjar claimed a sensational maiden podium, fending off Leclerc and George Russell to maintain his starting position of fourth before vaulting ahead of Norris.
Oliver Bearman took his Haas from the pit lane to a career-best sixth place, achieving his first top-10 finish since the Bahrain Grand Prix in April.
Alex Albon achieved his joint-best result of the season coming home in fifth, while Lance Stroll jumped from P19 on the grid to P8 for Aston Martin despite crashing in practice and qualifying and colliding with Gabriel Bortoleto at the race start.
Meanwhile, it was a tough day at the office for Carlos Sainz, who looked set for his best finish of the season before picking up a puncture and highly controversial 10-second penalty for a collision with Liam Lawson.
Got your breath back? Good, because it’s Monza next.
Drivers to Watch
Lando Norris: The McLaren driver responded fabulously to his retirement in Canada, scoring 99 of a possible 108 points over the next four weekends. A similar run following his DNF at Zandvoort is surely paramount to keeping his title hopes alive.
Oscar Piastri: He may have led the Drivers’ Championship since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix back in April, but for the first time this season the Australian can now be considered the overwhelming favourite for the title. He has been coolness personified so far this season, but how will he cope with the pressure of expectation?
Charles Leclerc: It has been a disappointing season for Ferrari to say the least, but the fact remains that the Scuderia sits second in the Constructors’ Championship and with as good a chance as any other team of capitalising on a poor weekend for McLaren. Roared on by the Tifosi as well, you can never fully write Leclerc off around Monza.
Peter’s Prediction
Since Norris’ retirement in the Netherlands, the picture has changed dramatically for both him and Piastri. Will the Australian feel a weight off his shoulders given his dominant position, or will he feel an additional burden of pressure? Likewise, how will Norris react to the compromised position he now finds himself in?
I expect the Briton to fly this weekend – in one regard, he has the advantage of now having nothing to lose, and I expect his performance to benefit.
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