Rap Monza and Alex Albon

Monza holds the report for many System 1 World Championship races, with this 12 months’s version being the seventy fifth Grand Prix, held at Temple of Pace. Solely in 1980, the Italian Grand Prix, held at Imola, was upgraded by Monza and the highest ten in every of his final two visits with Williams, with the information to the high-speed 3.6-mile tracks being Williams Racer Alex Albon.

“I first got here to Monza in 2012 and have been racing right here yearly since 2021. So it is fairly a bit. My first race in single theatre was Monza. I had the most important crash of my life. My largest crash in motorsport was my first race in single seaters.

“I received out of Ascari and I clipped one other automotive, the again of the rear wheel, and principally did a backwards flip, touchdown on my nostril and touchdown about 4 or 5 instances.

“That has modified a bit since then, however there may be the best way they resurfaced it final 12 months, and so they additionally modified the Parabolica fairly a bit.

“I feel I most likely preferred it probably the most after I first drove it. When it was type of an old-fashioned curb, there was no spill space or the rest.

“The brake factors are actually troublesome. One of many odd issues about this truck is that the tire compound is gentle, very low rear wing, very low downforce, and usually a scorching observe. So, regardless of solely seven good corners, it is actually exhausting to maintain the lap and lap lasting.

“The deg right here is very large. It is all straight, you will suppose the tires are cool, however that is not. So, that is a problem. Concentrate on getting on the curb nicely and driving a low, exhausting automotive or a barely greater, gentle automotive. The trade-offs are crucial.

“Sadly, once they resurface it, it does not get too large. Right now the automotive is a little bit stiffer and a little bit decrease than it was just a few years in the past. It is simple in that sense.

“I discover it unusual that it is driving right here in comparison with different vans. You all the time come to FP1 right here and complain, ‘The automotive is horrible, there is no grip.’ And because the weekend progresses, you adapt to it.

“That is bizarre. For instance, Drs does little round this observe. I feel they get a tenth of a flip once they’re not utilizing DRS. There is a unusual quirk across the observe.

“From an engineering setup perspective, it isn’t simple. There are gradual corners and the whole lot else is the fourth or fifth gear nook. Even at low speeds, it isn’t medium. At low speeds it is medium/quick.

“You are virtually all the time within the steadiness between the 2. You may’t get an excellent automotive at gradual and quick speeds. It’s important to commerce someplace alongside the best way. You do rather a lot by analyzing your opponents and seeing the place your rivals are. You surrender a little bit.

The mixture of high-speed and gradual sections provides you a compromise on setup on Monza. Lars Baron/Getty Pictures

“Primarily, there are quite a lot of entrance ends for turns 1 and a couple of and turns 4 and 5 as a result of it is the nook of the route change. With these slower chikanes you have to flip the entrance, carry the minimal velocity and get straight on the exit.

“For those who have a look at Parabolica and Resmos, it is good to have stability on these lengthy combos of corners. You need to have minimal velocity and get on the throttle and never activate the rear very a lot. Then you definitely’re preventing.

“I feel it is really a bit overrated in that sense in relation to driving vans. It is stopped and began so there is no spa or Zandvoort movement.

“There’s quite a lot of thought time between straights, but it surely’s fascinating. It is like golf, so it is a problem in itself. You may rethink it, and you may rethink it.

At a look
Race distance: 53 laps/190.8 miles
2024 Pole Time: 1M19.327S (Lando Norris, McLaren-Mercedes)
2024 Winner: Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc
Pirelli tire allocation: There hasn’t been a change within the compound in comparison with final 12 months, when the observe simply resurfaced on the Italian Grand Prix on the Autodromo Nazionale Di Monza. C3 is tough, C4 medium, and C5 gentle. After 12 months, the floor will inevitably age, however it’s unlikely that this circuit may have a major impression on the scope of doable methods.

The preferred selection within the race itself might be exhausting and medium. With the truck sleeping, we are able to assume it is going to be decrease than final 12 months. The time misplaced within the pit lane attributable to tyre modifications is the longest time of the season, so the workforce is aiming to strive stints so long as doable and alter one tire.