In Pictures: Italy 2023
Monza… Perhaps the most iconic name in the history of the sport… Not in vain it is called, “The Temple of Speed”.
THE AREA
The circuit is located near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy, hence its name. Monza is a city and commune on the river Lambro, a tributary of the river Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Monza and Brianza, and it is best known for its Grand Prix motor racing circuit, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, which hosts the Formula One Italian Grand Prix with a massive Italian support Tifosi for the Ferrari team.
Funerary urns found in the late 19th century show that humans in the area date at the least to the Bronze Age when people would have lived in pile dwelling settlements raised above the rivers and marshes.
During the Roman Empire, Monza was known as Modicia. During the 3rd century BCE, the Romans subdued the Insubres, a Gaul tribe that had crossed the Alps and settled around Mediolanum (now Milan). A Gallo-Celtic tribe, perhaps the Insubres themselves, founded a village on the Lambro. The ruins of a Roman bridge named Ponte d'Arena can be seen near today's Ponte dei Leoni (Lions Bridge).
Theodelinda, daughter of Garibald I of Bavaria and wife of the Lombard king Authari (and later of King Agilulf), chose Monza as her summer residence. Here in 595, she founded an oraculum dedicated to St. John the Baptist.
MILAN
Milan is an ancient city in northern Italy first settled in about 400 BC by Celtic Insubres. The settlement was conquered by the Romans in 222 BC and renamed it, Mediolanum. Diocletian divided the Roman Empire, choosing the eastern half for himself, making Milan the seat of the western half of the empire in the late 3rd and early 4th century AD. In 313 AD, Milan officially ended the persecution of Christians. In 774 AD, Milan surrendered to Charlemagne and the Franks.
The Great Plague of Milan in 1629–1631 killed an estimated 60,000 people out of a population of 130,000. This episode is considered one of the last outbreaks of the centuries-long pandemic of plague that began with the Black Death.
Napoleon invaded Italy in 1796, and Milan was declared the capital of the Cisalpine Republic. Later, he declared Milan the capital of the Kingdom of Italy and was crowned in the Duomo. Once Napoleon's occupation ended, the Congress of Vienna returned Lombardy, and Milan, along with Veneto, to Austrian control in 1814. During this period, Milan became a center of lyric opera. Here in the 1770s Mozart had premiered three operas at the Teatro Regio Ducale. Later La Scala became the reference theatre in the world, with its premières of Bellini, Donizetti, Rossini, and Verdi. Verdi himself is interred in the Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, his present to Milan.
In 1919, Benito Mussolini's Black-shirts rallied for the first time in Piazza San Sepolcro and later began their March on Rome in Milan. During the Second World War Milan suffered extensive damage from Allied bombings. When Italy surrendered in 1943, German forces occupied most of Northern Italy until 1945. As a result, resistance groups formed. As the war came to an end, the American 1st Armored Division advanced on Milan – but before they arrived, the resistance seized control of the city and executed Mussolini along with several members of his government. On 29 April 1945, the corpses of Mussolini, his mistress Clara Petacci, and other Fascist leaders were hanged in Piazzale Loreto.
During the post-war economic boom, the population grew from 1.3 million in 1951 to 1.7 million in 1967. During this period, Milan was largely reconstructed, with the building of several innovative and modernist skyscrapers, such as the Torre Velasca and the Pirelli Tower.
Milan is the second-most populous city in Italy after Rome. It is the wealthiest city in Italy, has the third-largest economy among EU cities after Paris and Madrid, and is the wealthiest among EU non-capital cities.
THE CIRCUIT
The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza was built in 1922, It was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis, and the oldest in mainland Europe. With the exception of the 1980 running, the Italian Grand Prix has been hosted there since 1949.
Built in the Royal Villa of Monza Park in a woodland setting, the site has three tracks – the 5.793 km (3.600 mi) Grand Prix track, the 2.405 km (1.494 mi) Junior track, and a 4.250 km (2.641 mi) high-speed oval track with steep bankings which was left unused for decades and had been decaying until it was restored in the 2010s. The major features of the main Grand Prix track include the Curva Grande, the Curva di Lesmo, the Variante Ascari, and the Curva Alboreto (formerly Curva Parabolica). The high-speed curve, Curva Grande, is located after the Variante del Rettifilo which is located at the end of the front straight or Rettifilo Tribune and is usually taken flat out by Formula One cars.
The first track was built from May to July 1922 by 3,500 workers, financed by the Milan Automobile Club. The track was officially opened on 3 September 1922, and the maiden race, the second Italian Grand Prix, was held there on 10 September that same year.
The outbreak of World War II meant racing at the track was suspended until 1948 and parts of the circuit degraded due to the lack of maintenance and military use. Monza was renovated over a period of two months at the beginning of 1948 and a Grand Prix was held on 17 October 1948.
In 1954, work began to entirely revamp the circuit, resulting in a 5.750 km (3.573 mi) course, and a new 4.250 km (2.641 mi) high-speed oval with banked sopraelevata curves (the southern one was moved slightly north). The two circuits could be combined to re-create the former 10 kilometers (6.214 mi) long circuit, with cars running parallel on the main straight.
The banking held the last race in 1969 with the 1000 km of Monza, the event moving to the road circuit the next year. The banking still exists, albeit in a decayed state in the years since the last race, escaping demolition in the 1990s. It is used once a year for the Monza Rally, which served as part of the 2021 World Rally Championship, which was the first FIA championship event since 1969.
The current circuit is located at 45°37'06" N - 9°16'54" E. It is 5.793m long and 10 to 12 m wide. It has 7 right turns, and 4 left turns.
The maximum speed achieved in a 2022 Formula One car was 356.4 km/h (221.5 mph), established by Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari F1-75 at the end of the start/finish straight. Drivers experience a maximum g-force of 4.50g during deceleration, and the track has many dramatic high to low-speed transitions.
FRIDAY
Friday was Carlos Sainz’s birthday and what a way to celebrate… Also, it was informed that Lewis Hamilton had signed a two-year contract with Mercedes, staying at least until 2025.
FP1
After so many wet sessions this year, it was dry at Monza. Ferrari sported a new livery for the weekend, to celebrate the team’s victory at Le Mans. But they weren’t the only ones with special livery as Alfa Romeo displayed one to celebrate the launch of the brand’s new supercar, the 33 Stradale.
Everyone was out there getting as much information from the track as possible, except for the Alfa Romeo duo. The team worked feverishly to sort their respective issues out.
In the end, it was job done for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. His 1:22.657 lap was 0.046s ahead of Carlos Sainz's Ferrari, with Sergio Perez third, and Charles Leclerc fourth.
FP2
It was a glorious late summer's day in Italy, warm and perfect for some fast laps of this iconic circuit. At exactly 5:00 PM local time, practice two started. And as soon as the green light was shown, both Ferrari cars headed straight out on the medium tires, while Haas opted for the hards, and Sargeant on softs.
Then, with less than three minutes into the session, the first red flag of the weekend. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin stopped on the grass beside the track, and the team tried to fix the issue from the pits to no avail. The marshals ended up pushing the car backward down an escape road.
FP2 got back underway, and there was a queue at the end of the pit lane before the cars were released back onto the track. Then Oscar Piastri ran wide through the chicane after coming up behind a very slow moving Hamilton who was right on the racing line.
Halfway through the session, Hamilton continued his discussions with his team in private. He wanted to change back to his previous rear wing configuration but was told that in doing so, he’d lose a lot of lap time.
Just a few minutes before the end of the session, Sergio Perez had a bit of understeer midway through the Parabolica, getting his RB19 in a spin, and slowly sliding into the barrier rearwards. Second red flag.
Practice resumed with just four minutes on the clock, but everyone wanted the ‘best’ place on track, so traffic was an issue for most. In the end, it was the birthday boy, Carlos Sainz, the fastest, ahead of Lando Norris and Sergio Perez.
SATURDAY
The weather was simply gorgeous at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza…
FP3
Free Practice Three started, and as soon as the lights went green, the roars from the pit lane indicated cars were on the move. Bottas was the first car out, followed by Stroll and Hulkenberg.
Several teams were practicing ‘The Toe’, which is potent at Monza, and by halfway through the session, it was Verstappen who was on top. Then Alex Albon in the Williams went P2, splitting the Red Bulls with a fantastic lap on medium tires.
"Everyone is slow," said Alonso. "They will have a surprise come qualifying!"
That was because Race Control placed a maximum lap time, so you can't go too slowly around Monza. That's not the only traffic complaint coming in, as Norris had to take avoiding action thanks to a slow Alfa Romeo.
With a bit more than 10 minutes left, Hamilton went fastest, then came Verstappen, again, meanwhile, Perez’s RB19 was broken in the garage.
By the end, it was Carlos Sainz, with a blistering 1:20.912 lap the fastest of the practice. The Ferrari driver was followed by Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, and Fernando Alonso.
Everything was set for a thrilling Qualifying!
QUALIFYING
This weekend saw another trial of the 'Alternate Tire Allocation' - in short, the teams must use the hard compound in Q1, the mediums in Q2, and the softs in Q3. Overall, they have 11 sets of tires for the weekend rather than the usual 13.
IMPORTANT STATISTIC: Four of the last five races have not been won by the pole-sitter…
Q1 - HARD TIRES
Qualifying started and it did not take long before all twenty cars were on track. Verstappen set a very quick lap, but it got deleted for exceeding track limits at the second Lesmo corner. Then, Albon and his slippery Williams moved into P1!
There was drama elsewhere when Norris came close to banging wheels with Ocon on the approach to the Curva Alboreto (Parabolica), the slower moving Alpine changing direction just before the braking zone and forcing the McLaren to take avoiding action. Then Ocon had a high-speed snap exiting the Ascari chicane, taking him through the gravel and forcing him back to the pits for a check of the floor.
During Q1’s final moments, news came in that the stewards would be looking into Ferrari pair Leclerc and Sainz for potentially failing to follow the Race Director’s notes regarding maximum lap time. However, no further action was taken.
Out were Zhou, Gasly, Ocon, Magnussen, Stroll
Q2 - MEDIUM TIRES
The second part of qualifying started, and the fifteen drivers left were on the medium tires.
The final few minutes brought lots of improvements, ending with Verstappen the fastest, only a few hundredths ahead of Leclerc and Sainz, with teammate Perez in fourth and a fast Albon still in fifth.
Knocked out were Tsunoda, Lawson, Hulkenberg, Bottas, Sargeant
Q3 - SOFT TIRES
Fantastic, thrilling, and impressive third stage of qualifying at Monza.
After a very orange celebration in Zandvoort when Max Verstappen took pole, it was a red day for Ferrari, as Carlos Sainz delighted the Monza crowd by securing the number one slot on the grid. It was a very close three-way fight between him and his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who finished third and reigning world champion Max Verstappen in second place, the trio separated by just 67 thousandths of a second!
““It’s been such an intense qualifying, especially in Q3, where we all three went for it, we were very, very on the limit in that last lap, I knew I had some lap time to come in Ascari and Parabolica. I went for it, and it worked well, thank God, because I really pushed hard in that last lap!””
SUNDAY
It was a gorgeous day at magical Monza in Italy.
After an amazing qualifying the day before, the Tifosi came in the thousands to fill every seat in the house at Monza, hoping the Ferrari duo could deny Verstappen getting a record-breaking 10th successive win.
Before the start, it was revealed that the majority of the field would be starting on the medium compound tires, while Hamilton, Bottas, and Magnussen were on the hards. Pirelli had forecasted a one-stop strategy as the quickest one for the 53-lap race.
The formation lap started right on cue at 3:00 PM local time, but during it, Tsunoda stopped on the back straight with a smoking AlphaTauri. Race Control decided the field should do another reconnaissance lap. But with Tsunoda’s car still parked on the grass after that second formation lap, the race start procedure was aborted and mechanics returned to the grid to prepare their respective cars for another attempt at getting the action underway, with the lap counter brought down to 51.
Some 20 minutes after the planned start, the race started with Sainz making a clean getaway to keep his lead into the first chicane as Verstappen slotted into second and Leclerc fended off Russell to keep third.
Further back, Albon tucked into the slipstream of Piastri at the start of Lap 2 and made a move going into the second chicane, putting him sixth behind Perez, as Norris, Hamilton, and Hulkenberg.
A couple of laps later, DRS was enabled, and Verstappen started his heated pursuit of Sainz. But despite Sainz’s best efforts to avoid giving the Dutchman a tow, Verstappen continued to close in, and, on Lap 6, the Red Bull driver made his first move for the lead around the outside of the first chicane, almost leading to contact at the apex as the race leader held firm.
The trio of Sainz, Verstappen, and Leclerc, raced at a tremendous pace. Behind them, Russell and Perez fought for fourth place, passing each other several times.
On Lap 15, the pressure Verstappen had been applying on Sainz finally paid off, with the Ferrari man locking up heavily into Turn 1 and eventually losing the lead into the second chicane after the pair ran side-by-side through the Curva Grande.
A lap later, Albon was the first of the leading group to pit, swapping his medium tires for hards.
On Lap 20, Ferrari called Sainz into the pits for his first and only pit stop. A lap later, Verstappen and Leclerc went into the pits. The Red Bull driver came out in clean air, Leclerc on the other hand, was right after Sainz.
Perez spent a lap in the lead before pitting for hards, filing back in just behind the Ferrari drivers. Elsewhere, the stewards noted an incident involving Russell and Ocon, with the Mercedes driver given a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage as he skipped the first chicane to secure the position.
It was the seven-time World Champion, yet to make his stop, who was leading the race when, on Lap 25, Verstappen approached him down the main straight to regain the lead.
The three-car train of Sainz, Leclerc, and Perez also passed Hamilton a bit later, as the Mercedes driver pitted for mediums on Lap 28.
Verstappen was flying up in front, but behind him, the battle between the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc, and Red Bull’s Perez was in full swing. The Mexican tried a move on Leclerc at the second chicane, but got two wheels onto the grass… Next lap, Perez tried again at the first chicane, getting third place, and started his pursuit of Sainz to claim second.
Sainz was having problems with his worn tires, which allowed Perez to close on him rather quickly.
Behind them, another fantastic battle was taking place between the Williams of Albon and the McLaren of Norris for sixth place.
A bit further behind, Hamilton tried a move on Piastri into the second chicane on Lap 41, only for the pair to bang wheels and take to the runoff. The Australian had to come into the pits for a new front wing, regretfully dropping out of the points. Hamilton, still in eighth place, was hit with a five-second penalty by the stewards.
Back in front, Perez tried and tried again but Sainz was defending as well as he could. The Mexican shouted over the radio: “He’s not leaving any room, man. Come on, we can’t race like this.”
Finally, on Lap 46, Perez passed Sainz at Turn 1. So, it was the two Red Bulls first and second, and the two Ferraris third and fourth, but instead of driving as they were to the end, the Ferrari teammates started a battle of their own for the final podium position. And what a battle it was. Leclerc got ahead a few times just to get Sainz back ahead again.
After a very entertaining race, Max Verstappen got his tenth victory in a row, breaking the record he shared with Sebastian Vettel for a week… Perez claimed second and a happy Carlos Sainz, third.
Carlos Sainz was voted “Driver of the Day” by the F1 fans. And as for the IMPORTANT STATISTIC mentioned above, make it five of the last six races have not been won by the pole-sitter…
QUOTES FROM THE PODIUM
““I never would have believed 10 wins in a row was possible, but we had to work for it today and that was definitely a lot more fun, we had good pace, we were good on the tires, but Ferrari had a lot of top speed. It was so hard to get close and make the move into Turn 1. I had to force Sainz into a mistake and luckily it came at some point where he locked up, and I had better traction out of Turn 2, which was good, so I could do my own race.””
““To get through Charles and then Carlos, I had to use all of my tires. I really thought at times, especially at the beginning... in the end we managed to get both of them. I feel a lot more comfortable in the car so I think we’ll see my best form in the next races.””
““Very tough, very tough. It can’t get any tougher than it was today. To keep up with the Red Bulls, I paid the price with the rear tires but I did everything I could to defend. Hard racing, it’s always a pleasure to race Charles when we had a chance. We had fun out there!
It was a great weekend all along and to be able to celebrate a podium with the tifosi is the perfect icing on the cake! I really want to thank every single one of them for their endless support. They are very special!
Now we have some time to regroup and start preparing for Singapore as soon as possible.” ”
