FB_IMG_1631281533313.jpg
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.
About author
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

Comments

Wonderful - it's another sprint race weekend.

As the most interesting tracks to drive often don't provide good racing I'm counting on Monza to give us some excellent racing, 'cause it's probably the most boring track to drive on the F1 calendar - at least as a sim-racer.
As much as I don't like to blow my own horn*, I was right.


*well I would, but at my age it'll bugger up my back for days.
 
Verstappen: This is what you got when you don't left space.
After Verstappen have done the same move on Hamilton in the first lap I tend to say:
This is what you got when you unable to back off at the right moment.
Right. They need to show Max the replay side by side with a replay of what he did on lap 1. He didn't leave Lewis any space, and Lewis chose to drive off track to avoid major contact (losing another place in the process). When Lewis didn't leave him any space, Max said "f" it, and drove over Lewis. It all depends on how you want to play the game, but it was a racing incident just as it was on lap 1.
 
So nice to see Ricciardo at the front again!

as for the incident: I seem to remember in silverstone the Max fans consensus was that Lewis on the inside “was never going to make that corner”. Hamilton was judged at fault.

Roles reversed in a much slower corner (i.e. more time to react) and Max stuck his nose in there, incident be damned…now people are saying it’s a racing incident? Come on!
 
Last edited:
Right. They need to show Max the replay side by side with a replay of what he did on lap 1. He didn't leave Lewis any space, and Lewis chose to drive off track to avoid major contact (losing another place in the process). When Lewis didn't leave him any space, Max said "f" it, and drove over Lewis. It all depends on how you want to play the game, but it was a racing incident just as it was on lap 1.
While I agree on mostly everything I'm not the opinion it was just a racing incident were both driver are to blame 50/50.
;)
 
Redbull does an 11 second pitstop, and what is Mercedes answer, a 4 second pitstop. Both Mercedes and Lewis have squandered so many golden opportunities this season that they really don't deserve to win anything at all. I do understand that the raw performance of their car has been taken away this year, and you can definitely see the cracks in their armor this season because of it.
 
So nice to see Ricciardo at the front again!

as for the incident: I seem to remember in silverstone the Max fans consensus was that Lewis on the inside “was never going to make that corner”. Hamilton was judged at fault.

Roles reversed in a much slower corner (i.e. more time to react) and Max stuck his nose in there, incident be damned…now people are saying it’s a racing incident? Come on!
In Silverstone it was Lewis fault a weak 10 penalty dissision... he push Max of the track on Silverstone in a very high speed corner... a lot of LH fans say it is a race incident.. today Max fans say the same ;)

Happy for Ric!
 
Last edited:
Premium
Fantastic for McLaren - they belong at the top. Like 1998 again.

Hamilton and Verstappen are as bad as each other. If one of them had given a bit more space or got out of the throttle, they would have both finished the race and scored points. Completely unnecessary and bone headed in my opinion from the pair of them. If that was an RD race, one of them would have been banned.

If that's world class driving, I am a pineapple.
 
Last edited:

Latest News

Article information

Author
Mike Smith
Article read time
2 min read
Views
24,599
Comments
314
Last update

What's needed for simracing in 2024?

  • More games, period

  • Better graphics/visuals

  • Advanced physics and handling

  • More cars and tracks

  • AI improvements

  • AI engineering

  • Cross-platform play

  • New game Modes

  • Other, post your idea


Results are only viewable after voting.
Back
Top