RACE PREVIEW F1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 8

ITALIAN GP 4-6 September Monza

THE MAIN EVENT

The only sound at Monza apart from racing engines this year will be the famous whispering trees of the royal park. An Italian GP without the tifosi will be bizarre indeed, even as we’ve become used to empty grandstands elsewhere.

Dipping in and around the gradually decaying concrete banking of the moribund oval circuit, Monza remains a temple of speed despite the chicanes introduced to keep velocities under control. Efficient low-drag aerodynamics, great traction and resilient brakes follow in close attendance to outright power in terms of importance here.

While the present generation of F1 cars are ultrapowerful and endowed with massive downforce which yields record laptimes elsewhere, their sheer width makes them draggy in a straight line – one of the reasons behind the lap record persisting from the time of the V10s.

2019 RACE RECAP

Charles Leclerc won his second consecutive race from pole for Ferrari while his team-mate made a sorry mess of things from the off. Sebastian Vettel only qualified fourth and then spun at the Ascari chicane on lap six, rejoining in the path of Racing Point’s Lance Stroll.

Lewis Hamilton led the Mercedes challenge and battled Leclerc, but was unable to make a pass stick – though Leclerc received a warning for nudging him off-track. Later on Hamilton locked up under braking and Valtteri Bottas moved into second, but he couldn’t get by Leclerc either.

KEY CORNER: TURN 1 Yes, it’s a fiddly little chicane, the bane of drivers’ lives, but involves a perfectly judged braking moment in which the cars must shed nearly 180mph in less than 100m…

RACE DATA

Venue Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

First GP 1950

Number of laps 53

Circuit length 3.599 miles Longest straight 0.696 miles Elevation change 41.99 feet Race distance 190.591 miles Lap record 1m21.046s Rubens Barrichello (2004)

F1 races held 69

Winners from pole 25

Pirelli compounds C2, C3, C4

CAR PERFORMANCE Downforce level Low Cooling requirement Medium Fuel consumption 1.89kg/lap Full throttle 75%

Top speed 220mph Average speed 157mph

TIMETABLE (UK TIME) Friday 4 September Practice 1 10:00-11:30 Practice 2 14:00-15:30 Saturday 5 September Practice 3 11:00-12:00 Qualifying 14:00-15:00 Sunday 6 September

Race 14:10

Live coverage Sky Sports F1 Highlights Channel 4