#F1 @Pirelli #ItalianGP 2022 Race Preview.

2022 Italian GP Preview – After Max Verstappen claimed victory at his home Dutch Grand Prix to increase his points lead to 109 points over both Charles Leclerc and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, round 17 of the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship heads to the iconic Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, Italy for the Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio D’Italia 2022, the second home Grand Prix of the season for Ferrari where the “Tifosi” will be in their droves. This will be the 92^nd Italian Grand Prix since 1921 and the 88^th time that the event will be held at Monza. Monza also celebrates its 100^th year anniversary since the famous circuit opened. This event concludes the third back-to-back-to-back series of triple headers in the 2022 calendar to close out the European part of the schedule.

 

 

2022 Italian GP Preview – A look at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza

 

 

Built in the Royal Villa of Monza Park in its woodland setting, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a permanent racing circuit located near the city of Monza, North Milan in Italy. The circuit has played host to the Italian Grand Prix since the sport of Formula 1 began in 1950 with the exception of 1980 where the race was held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (Imola) in San Marino while the Monza circuit underwent refurbishment. The site has three tracks including the Grand Prix circuit, the 2.405km (1.494 mile) short circuit and a 4.250km (2.641 mile) high speed oval with steep banking which has been unused for many decades. The main features of the Grand Prix circuit include the Curva Grande, the Lesmos, Variante Ascari and Parabolica.

 

The first track was built from May 15 to July 1922 and financed by the Milan Automobile Club. The original circuit was 10km (6.25 miles) long with a flat banked oval section and a road circuit all combined into one. Since then, it has continuously undergone many modifications and changes due to driver and spectator safety reasons.

 

The 1.6L turbocharged V6 hybrid engines displayed speeds of up to 360 kph (223 mph) in 2016. The circuit is mostly flat but has a gradual gradient from the second Lesmo up to the Variante Ascari. Due to low aerodynamic profile needed, with its resulting low downforce, the grip is very low, and understeer is a more serious issue than at other circuits on the calendar. However, oversteer is also present in the second sector, requiring use of a very distinctive opposite lock technique. Since both maximum power and minimal drag are key for speed on the long straights, only drivers with enough power or aerodynamic efficiency are able to challenge for the top positions. The drivers are full throttle for nearly 80% of the lap due to its long straights and fast corners.

 

 

The modern Grand Prix layout is 5.793km (3.900 miles) in length with 11 corners and runs in a clockwise direction.

 

Race distance is 306.720km (190.597 miles) in length with 53 laps in total.

 

Rubens Barrichello holds the fastest lap record with a 1:21.046 set at the 2004 event in his Scuderia Ferrari F2004.

 

Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton holds the record for most victories at the Italian Grand Prix with five to their respective names.

 

Scuderia Ferrari is the most successful constructor at its home Grand Prix with 20 victories.

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2022 Italian GP Preview – Onboard Pole Position Lap of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza

 

 

Here is the onboard pole position lap of the Autodromo Nazionale Monza from last year’s event, set by Valtteri Bottas in his Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team F1 W12 E Performance racer, which put the Finn starting P1 on the grid for the F1 Sprint. Bottas posted a 1:19.555. You can watch the footage right here at the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXPbeaLaowA

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2022 Italian GP Preview – The Last Five Winners

 

 

2021: Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren-Mercedes. 2020: Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri-Honda. 2019: Charles Leclerc, Scuderia Ferrari. 2018: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1. 2017: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1.

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2022 Italian GP Preview – Tyres

 

 

With the Autodromo Nazionale Monza featuring some of the F1 calendar’s fastest straights and the teams running a low downforce/drag setup, F1’s sole tyre supplier Pirelli will be bringing with them the white-branded P Zero C2 Hards, the yellow-marked P Zero C3 Mediums and the red side-walled P Zero C4 Soft tyre compounds along with the green-marked Intermediates and blue-branded Full Wet compounds in case of rain.

 

With high energy loads up to 4.5g and all forces at work encouraging heat build-up through the tyres and big impacts with the kerbs, the tyre compound and structure is tested to its limits throughout the lap and is more demanding than a slow circuit. With a low downforce setup used at Monza, the drivers need to take care of the rear tyres, so they don’t provoke wheelspin especially out of the Variante del Rettifilo and Variante della Roggia chicanes.

 

All drivers will have eight sets of the C4 red side-walled Softs, three sets of the yellow C3 Mediums and two sets of the white C2 Hard rubber.

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2022 Italian GP Preview – DRS Zones

As in 2021, there will be two DRS zones at Monza. The first zone detection point is 95 metres before turn seven with the activation point 210 metres after turn seven. The second zone detection point will be 20 metres before turn 11 with the activation point 115 metres after the finish line.

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2022 Italian GP Preview – Pitlane Speed Limits

Pitlane speed limits will be 80km/h during practice, qualifying and the race.

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ICYMI: Dutch GP Race Report: Verstappen clinches 10th victory of season at home race.

 

 

Verstappen Dutch GP victory – Home favourite Max Verstappen took victory at the Dutch GP ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, after late safety car drama.

 

Although Verstappen won from pole position and at first looked to have Leclerc easily covered, Mercedes’ race pace brought it into contention with a one-stop vs Red Bull’s planned two-stopper.

 

This gave Sir Lewis Hamilton a whiff of an unlikely victory chance before he initially lost that and regained it due to dramatic virtual and full safety cars close to the end of the Grand Prix.

 

When the 72-lap Dutch GP began, with thick cloud hovering over the Circuit Zandvoort, pole-sitter Verstappen quickly covered Leclerc who had a look into the inside of the Red Bull at the opening corner.

 

However, the Ferrari was not close enough to make the move, whilst behind, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Hamilton tangled slightly as the Silver Arrows gained ground significantly around the inside at Tarzan Hairpin.

 

The field made it through the opening sequences of corners with no problems, with Hamilton the only frontrunning driver to run the low line at the banked turn three Hugenholtz Corner.

 

Verstappen pushed his advantage to get out of DRS range to Leclerc by the end of lap two, with Leclerc going from 1.5 seconds behind two tours to only a second behind his title-rival over the next few laps.

 

But just as it appeared as if Leclerc might be able to gain DRS assistance, Verstappen managed to find some extra pace in the low 1:16’s bracket to re-establish his lead.

 

The two leaders were the only drivers running in the 1:16’s, with Sainz soon dropping far behind team-mate Leclerc and with Hamilton close behind, the highest placed pilot running the C2 yellow side-walled medium compound compared to the C3 red=marked softs used by the front-three.

 

As the Grand Prix settled, Verstappen increased his gap to Leclerc, his advantage rising steadily close to three seconds before reaching five before Ferrari pitted the Monegasque driver at the end of the 17^th tour.

 

Red Bull reacted on the following lap and despite his similar pit-stop service to go from softs to mediums being almost a second slower than Ferrari’s, Verstappen re-joined with his gap barely touched given his in- and out-lap pace.

 

The front-two pitting let Hamilton run loose in the lead on his initial stint on the medium rubber, with team-mate Russell having started on the same tyre and battled with McLaren’s Lando Norris once DRS was activated after the MCL36 jumped the Silver Arrow at the beginning of the race.

 

Verstappen and Leclerc used their fresh mediums to good use and pushed back towards the two F1 W13 entries over the next stage of proceedings, with the Red Bull, which had been almost nine seconds adrift of Hamilton’s lead when he returned from the pits, reaching DRS range behind Russell on the 27^th tour.

 

But at the start of the following tour, Verstappen used DRS to fly behind the Mercedes and zoomed into second place on the outside run into the Tarzan Hairpin.

 

Before Verstappen could close in on Hamilton, Mercedes brought in the seven-time world champion to take the C1 white-branded harder tyres at the end of the 29^th tour, an attempt to finish the Grand Prix on a one-stop strategy.

 

With the home favourite handed P1 back and saying he was not interested in running the harder rubber, Hamilton emerged in a net-fourth place behind the second RB18 of Sergio Perez, as Sainz fell out of contention due to a disastrous Ferrari pit-stop shortly before Leclerc stopped for the initial time.

 

As Verstappen began his charge that would double his gap over the Ferrari and be 10 seconds clear shortly after the mid-way point of the race, whilst Hamilton and Russell used their harder compounds to quickly pull in Perez.

 

On the 36^th tour, Hamilton used DRS assistance to attack on the outside line of Perez at the Tarzan Hairpin, with the latter locking up on the inside and aggressively running the Mercedes wide before Hamilton pulled out.

 

Hamilton tried again on the entry of turn eleven to the Circuit Zandvoort’s stadium, but was again resisted on the outside line, but the next time by into Tarzan, the Briton was able to run around the outside to take third place.

 

But there was immediate danger when a lapped Aston Martin of Sebastian Vettel came out from the pits just in-front of the duo and remained ahead for several corners, which meant Perez could mob Hamilton but was unable to pass when Vettel eventually allowed them by, as the German was hit with a five-second timed penalty for his actions.

 

Hamilton chased off after Leclerc and Verstappen, who had changed his mind about the durability of his C2 medium tyres and Red Bull considered hards for his second pit-stop, which it gave to Perez on the 40^th tour, just after Russell had also overtaken him into the first corner.

 

Ferrari realised Leclerc would have no defence against the charging Silver Arrows pairing and he also came in for a set of hards by the end of the 45^th lap, by at this time Hamilton had gone from almost 20 seconds behind Verstappen to not much above half that.

 

But at around the same time, the Grand Prix changed dramatically when AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda came to a halt in the middle of the turn 4/5 rapid sequence, initially worried his wheels were not properly attached after his second pit-stop at the back in the field.

 

The Japanese driver got going again and returned to the pits where the Faenza-based squad spent 30 seconds checking something inside his cockpit – possibly his seat belts – before he emerged, but then did stop at turn four saying he thought the differential of his AT03 racer was broken.

 

This meant the virtual safety car was deployed and Red Bull could then bring Verstappen in for harder tyres with a cheap stop, which preserved his race lead.

 

It remained exactly the same as Mercedes who also used the temporary virtual safety car to put Hamilton and Russell back onto the mediums – the former recognising the VSC had “stuffed” his previous push on the one-stop strategy.

 

When the action went green on lap 50, Verstappen and the Mercedes moved into the 1:14’s range, with Hamilton facing a 12.6 second gap and Leclerc back to fourth after losing out having made his stop before the deployment of the virtual safety car.

 

Over the next couple of tours, Hamilton cut the gap to 11.4 seconds before the race was massively changed again when the full safety car was brought out after Valtteri Bottas’s Alfa Romeo pulled over just before Tarzan Hairpin on the main-straight.

 

Red Bull then brought Verstappen in to return back to the harder compounds and the two Mercedes remained out – whilst most others – including Leclerc opted to put on the C3 red-marked softs.

 

The next time round, Russell demanded Mercedes put on the softs as he was losing tyre temperatures in his mediums at low-speed, which allowed Verstappen to go back into second behind Hamilton who stayed on the mediums.

 

The race went back to green on the 61^st tour, where Verstappen was all over Hamilton’s gearbox as they flew down the main-straight and he easily slip-streamed passed to re-claim the lead.

 

Verstappen flew to a 1.7 second lead at the end of the first lap back to race-speed, with Hamilton furious at his Mercedes team about its decision to leave him on the medium rubber.

 

His pace was off-par, as Russell who had seen off Leclerc’s push around the outside of Tarzan Hairpin at the restart, was able to rapidly close in and pass his Mercedes team-mate, although not before they almost came together running down the main-straight when Russell had DRS assistance.

 

Hamilton was then overtaken by Leclerc to drop off the podium, still sending angry messages to his team over the radio about his final tyre strategy, whilst Verstappen crossed the line to claim his 30-th career victory at his home Dutch GP by 4.071 seconds over Russell.

 

Sainz settled for fifth place having comeback into the battle and got in-front of Perez during the virtual safety car and safety car drama, but the Spaniard was relegated to eighth in the final classification due to an unsafe release into the path of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso at their final pit-stops during the Bottas stoppage-caused race stabilisation.

 

This meant, Perez, Alonso and Norris were promoted to fifth-seventh positions respectively, with Sainz also having to explain post-race an incident with ninth-placed Alpine of Esteban Ocon, where the Ferrari looked to have overtaken the A522 racer under yellow flag conditions when Bottas came to a halt.

 

This followed Sainz’s first pit-stop blunder when the Scuderia did not have all his medium tyres ready in time and Perez, behind the Spaniard in the opening stint after starting fifth, running over and breaking Ferrari’s wheel gun that had been left in his path in the tight pit-lane.

 

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll completed the top ten and ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly who was 11^th and Williams Racing’s Alexander Albon who took 12^th.

 

Haas F1 Team’s Mick Schumacher placed 13^th in the order and in-front of German compatriot Vettel who came 14^th for Aston Martin as the other Haas VF-22 entry of Kevin Magnussen ended the Grand Prix in 15^th.

 

Alfa Romeo’s sole-running Zhou Guanyu settled for 16^th in the classification and ahead of McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo who finished where he started in 17^th place whilst Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi brought up the rear and a lap down from the lead.

 

The aforementioned Bottas and Tsunoda were the only retirees of the race.

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2022 Italian GP Preview – The Situation

 

 

Max Verstappen returns to Italy sitting on top of the Driver’s Championship with 310 points and has a 109-point advantage over title rivals Charles Leclerc and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez who are both tied on 211 points in second and third places respectively.

 

Verstappen scored his fourth consecutive victory last time out and further extended his World Driver’s Championship lead and with seven races to go, the Dutchman is on course to defending his crown.

 

Oracle Red Bull Racing comes to the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on top of the Constructors Championship with 511 points and a 135-point lead over nearest rival Scuderia Ferrari who are second on 376 points whilst Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team is third and a further 165 behind the Milton Keynes based-outfit on 346 points.

 

Click here for Formula 1 2022 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.

 

The Formula 1 Gran Premio Pirelli D’Italia 2022 weekend begins Friday September 9 with Free Practice 1 and 3, followed by Free Practice 3 and Qualifying Saturday September 10 and will the 53 lap Race Sunday September 11.