2021 Formula One Italian Grand Prix

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For the third weekend in a row, Formula One is back in action. This time the field takes on the Monza circuit for the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

Amidst one of the closest championship battles in in memory, Formula One’s field of 20 cars is taking on the legendary Temple of Speed this weekend. The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is host to the 2021 Grand Prix and will test the teams’ abilities to field a car that prioritizes straight line speed.

The tight battle for the lead in the drivers' standings has now carried past the midway point of the season. Lewis Hamilton held a small advantage going into the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort a week ago, but that advantage has now flipped back to Max Verstappen after his exciting home win.

In the constructor’s championship, Mercedes has gained a 12-point lead after a double podium finish at Zandvoort. Like the drivers’ standings, this is another hotly contested battle that could easily be reversed if Red Bull has a strong result at Monza.

Much of the excitement away from the track has centred around the confirmation of George Russell joining the Mercedes team next season alongside Lewis Hamilton. Russell has impressed many in the F1 world with his performance in the lower-tier Williams car. He will be replacing Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes, who was confirmed to be moving to Alfa Romeo next season.

And speaking of Alfa Romeo, Kimi Räikkönen’s final season in Formula One has been cut short due to a positive Covid-19 test and associated protocol, and he’ll be replaced this weekend by Robert Kubica, who also stood in for the 2007 drivers’ champion last weekend as well.

Lando Norris’ amazing season has somewhat slowed over the past two weeks. The “technically a race” at Spa two weeks ago saw him finish outside of the points, and then a 10th place finish at the Dutch Grand Prix have dropped him from 3rd to 4th in the championship. His 114 points this season account for two-thirds of the McLaren team points, so the unfortunate results recently have allowed Ferrari to open a gap of 11.5 points in the constructors’ championship after having been tied recently. Excitement from the crowd will be high at Monza for the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz to maintain or expand this gap to McLaren.

So, the fight between Verstappen and Hamilton continues for another week, as does the battle between their respective teams. This looks to be another exciting week in the middle of an outstanding year of F1 action. Give us your thoughts below in the comments on who you think will emerge victorious at Monza.
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Mike Smith
Mike Smith
I have been obsessed with sim racing and racing games since the 1980's. My first taste of live auto racing was in 1988, and I couldn't get enough ever since. Lead writer for RaceDepartment, and owner of SimRacing604 and its YouTube channel. Favourite sims include Assetto Corsa Competizione, Assetto Corsa, rFactor 2, Automobilista 2, DiRT Rally 2 - On Twitter as @simracing604

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Comments

PickABetterUsername01
Man, Hamilton is being utter pathetic.
"You saw the pace of the Red Bull," Hamilton said. "I don't know if he was quicker than Valtteri, but they're so fast, and now he's on pole.

"So it should be an easy win for him. Me, I've just got to try and get past these two guys [McLarens] ahead."
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Another case of playing the underdog. Oh poor Lulu...
 
BP
Pat_Bull_pc said:
nobody noticed Hamilton used his DRS 150 m before ascari in lap 6 ? it was still not allowed no ?
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Once it's open (after exit from Lesmo 2), it can stay open until he brakes, at which point it closes automatically.
 
Richard Wilks
davehenrie said:
Pointless, other than possibly ending the battle for the driver's championship. Monza is a must win for mercedes, now a 2nd or 3rd by Verstappen will probably still increase his points lead. The cars are running such low downforce, DRS does not appear to be much of a factor.
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Yes, but that had nothing to do with the format itself, but with Hamilton fluffing the start. So the only thing this brings to the table is making the race have one extra start and first lap to reshuffle the grid with mistakes/accidents. After lap 1, not much happened, and they start from that point again tomorrow for the "proper" race. People expecting wild action ah la touring car racing were dellusional. But still, the powers that be in the F1 and FIA will say it was a massive success, keep it for next year, and bump the calendar with even more races, because you have to milk the cash cow.
 
BP
The only ways I could imagine trying to improve this sprint format is:

  1. Force all teams to use the softest compound (C5) and set the race length to a distance that would kill those tyres before the end (changes depending on track, not 100km like the current sprint race).
  2. Do not let this race determine the order for the GP; Qualifying should apply to both races (only exception being if something happened during or after the sprint race that incurs penalties).
  3. Give more points to make fighting during the sprint worthwhile; I was thinking they could apply the classic points system (9 for 1st, top 6 awarded points). Fighting for 1-3 points isn't enough for them to risk it.
 
GP STONER
BP said:
The only ways I could imagine trying to improve this sprint format is:

  1. Force all teams to use the softest compound (C5) and set the race length to a distance that would kill those tyres before the end (changes depending on track, not 100km like the current sprint race).
  2. Do not let this race determine the order for the GP; Qualifying should apply to both races (only exception being if something happened during or after the sprint race that incurs penalties).
  3. Give more points to make fighting during the sprint worthwhile; I was thinking they could apply the classic points system (9 for 1st, top 6 awarded points). Fighting for 1-3 points isn't enough for them to risk it.
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My opion about sprint race on monza i think it would have worked if they had special tyres that drops off massively after 8 or 10 laps.
Drs zone on the main straight earlier. Add a drs zone between variante ascari to parabolica.

Or do 2 sprint races both 50% of the total laps and no main race.

If f1 would have the same kind of battles /slipstreaming like f3, maybe next year its all different
With those new aero
 
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P
BP said:
Probably a rule change for sprint format since the race is so short already
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maybe , but strange that 30 secondes later ( after the parabol ) race control said " DRS enabled " , in lap 7 ....
 
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GP STONER
Pat_Bull_pc said:
maybe , but strange that 30 secondes later ( after the parabol ) race control said " DRS enabled " , in lap 7 ....
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Fia (the owners of the tv graphics, fom also keeps track of the timing)

But the fia graphics are all weekend off, onboard voice dont work.
First part of the weekend the helmet cam at russell was too low placed its a messy weekend for fia
 
Badwheels
I finally have figured something out. Lewis Hamilton has lost his reaction time. The Red Bull and Max is fast, but Lewis is not driving well. He hasn't had a decent start in who knows when. That isn't the car it's him. And he doesn't seem to see things as quickly as he used to. There is a lag on track in his ability to analyze things. He is not driving up to his former standards.

The decline has started.
 
S
I'm all for the sprint race format. Nice to see Mercy not on top 3 for the start of race that would never happened without this sprint race. Everything is better than three boring practice sessions. Also, I don't agree in having high deg tires needed for overtake. If next year following closer is indeed the case, then problem solved, may the best racing driver win. At least some action every day of the weekend.
 
D
Badwheels said:
I finally have figured something out. Lewis Hamilton has lost his reaction time. The Red Bull and Max is fast, but Lewis is not driving well. He hasn't had a decent start in who knows when. That isn't the car it's him. And he doesn't seem to see things as quickly as he used to. There is a lag on track in his ability to analyze things. He is not driving up to his former standards.

The decline has started.
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He and Vettel are definitely heading down a curve, but he is still well above most drivers. I 'think' he moved first at Zandvoort, even tho Max still beat him to the first turn. (by move I mean he got underway not crept forward before the lights went out) So, if his reaction time is lessened, it is not yet as bad as it appeared this morning. That was more than just slow reaction.
 
PickABetterUsername01
When this season began, some people were saying that "Max is finally seeing how good Lewis is" and how Lewis was still on his prime. Now because of 1 bad start, the blame is on his age LOL.
 
A
BrainsBush said:
a RedBull on pole at Monza. When was the last time? (never?). Indeed totally not expected. Its going to be a interesting race also with Lando and Daniel on 2&3
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Isn't Verstappen responsible for Gasly crash.
Not directly.
But I think he push Norris a bit too much outside the track, in the 1st chicane.
Norris had to release throttle, perhaps even brake.
And Gasly could not avoid contact.

Perhaps Verstappen has inherited Schumacher's "luck" from the early 2000s. He remember GP starts being like : start / crash in the first corners / is M. S. OK ?
- yes : let them continue / get the safety car out
- no : red flag, red flag / let him get to the spare car !
 
Richard Wilks
I am 100% with Alonso on this:

www.crash.net

Alonso: F1 “too worried” about trying to improve show

Fernando Alonso believes Formula 1 has become too preoccupied in its attempts to improve the show.
www.crash.net www.crash.net

F1 keeps changing things and trying to solve problems that aren't there. They dont want to severely limit the aero development because the teams have a lot of workers and invested a lot on wind tunnels, so they keep destroying the sport with gimmicks like the DRS trying to solve a problem that wasn't there in the first place.
 
R
Badwheels said:
I finally have figured something out. Lewis Hamilton has lost his reaction time. The Red Bull and Max is fast, but Lewis is not driving well. He hasn't had a decent start in who knows when. That isn't the car it's him. And he doesn't seem to see things as quickly as he used to. There is a lag on track in his ability to analyze things. He is not driving up to his former standards.

The decline has started.
Click to expand...
Like we say here in Finland, Merc replaced wrong guy...
 
Sigwolf
Ternauwies2020 said:
I'm all for the sprint race format. Nice to see Mercy not on top 3 for the start of race that would never happened without this sprint race.
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How do you figure that? Bottas would be on pole tomorrow with or without the sprint race if they didn't decide on taking the engine penalty, so the sprint race had nothing to do with it. As for Hamilton, he could easily have screwed up the start of tomorrow's race just as he did the sprint race, so again, the sprint race didn't really determine anything.
 

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