The French may have invented motor racing, the British held the first World Championship Grand Prix, but the Italians give the sport its heart. This weekend the F1 circus visits Monza, a circuit affectionately referred to as the Temple of Speed, and with good reason. In 2020 Lewis Hamilton took pole at Monza with an average speed of 264.362 kph, or 164.267 mph, and Lewis claimed he could probably have gone quicker. If you would like to enjoy watching this lap again just click on the video below, it doesn't take long, and you will notice that it was only in the middle sector that Lewis set the fastest sector time!
Monza is the home of the fastest F1 race. In 2003 Michael Schumacher averaged 247.585 kph, 153.842 mph, which included a pit stop on lap 15.
In 2005 Juan Pablo Montoya peddled his Williams up to 372.6 kph, 231.523 mph. To put this in to a context which you can visualise, that is 103 metres per second. So if JPM were racing Usain Bolt, Bolt would have covered about 10 metres when the Williams crossed the finish line.
There is only one team to support in Italy, and that is Ferrari. There may be other companies who make racing cars in Italy, but there is only one which reaches in to the very soul of what it is to be an Italian motor racing fan. It doesn't matter who is driving their beloved red cars, the Tifosi (which literally translates as "fans") they will arrive in their red shirts, they will cheer the cars round every lap, and more often than not they will go home disappointed. Ferrari have won 20 times at Monza in the World Championhips era, in the last 20 years they have only won 6 times.
Monza has also given us some odd winners. In 2008 Sebastian Vettel won his first Grand Prix driving for Toro Rosso. Pierre Gasly also took his first race win at Monza in the Alpha Tauri in 2020. For those who know their F1 history, both these teams can trace their lineage back to Minardi who are based in Faenza. For the Italian fans, even though this team is also based in Italy, them winning the race is still a disappointment as they are, very simply, not Ferrari.
To find the last Italian driver to win in Italy, you have to go back to 1966. Ludovico Scarfiotti won the race in a Ferrari. But Ferrari has never been wedded to the idea that it needs to have Italian drivers, rather they want to have the fastest drivers in their car. Ferrari has won the World Drivers Championship 15 times, but the only Italian to win the World Championship in a Ferrari is Alberto Ascari, way back in 1952 and 1953.
Last year we had what will probably be the last ever win for Daniel Ricciardo, driving for McLaren. It will be interesting to see where Ricciardo ends up next season given Oscar Piastri will be taking his seat for 2023. The 2021 race is probably more famous for the incident at the first chicane between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, where the Mercedes ended up underneath the Red Bull with the halo saving Hamilton from what could have been a far more serious injury.
What can we look forward to this year? I'm going to stick my neck out here and suggest that Max Verstappen will take pole, will probably lead every lap and take the fastest race lap as well. Come on Ferrari and Mercedes, prove me wrong!
Here's the schedule for Sky coverage:
Enjoy.
Monza is the home of the fastest F1 race. In 2003 Michael Schumacher averaged 247.585 kph, 153.842 mph, which included a pit stop on lap 15.
In 2005 Juan Pablo Montoya peddled his Williams up to 372.6 kph, 231.523 mph. To put this in to a context which you can visualise, that is 103 metres per second. So if JPM were racing Usain Bolt, Bolt would have covered about 10 metres when the Williams crossed the finish line.
There is only one team to support in Italy, and that is Ferrari. There may be other companies who make racing cars in Italy, but there is only one which reaches in to the very soul of what it is to be an Italian motor racing fan. It doesn't matter who is driving their beloved red cars, the Tifosi (which literally translates as "fans") they will arrive in their red shirts, they will cheer the cars round every lap, and more often than not they will go home disappointed. Ferrari have won 20 times at Monza in the World Championhips era, in the last 20 years they have only won 6 times.
Monza has also given us some odd winners. In 2008 Sebastian Vettel won his first Grand Prix driving for Toro Rosso. Pierre Gasly also took his first race win at Monza in the Alpha Tauri in 2020. For those who know their F1 history, both these teams can trace their lineage back to Minardi who are based in Faenza. For the Italian fans, even though this team is also based in Italy, them winning the race is still a disappointment as they are, very simply, not Ferrari.
To find the last Italian driver to win in Italy, you have to go back to 1966. Ludovico Scarfiotti won the race in a Ferrari. But Ferrari has never been wedded to the idea that it needs to have Italian drivers, rather they want to have the fastest drivers in their car. Ferrari has won the World Drivers Championship 15 times, but the only Italian to win the World Championship in a Ferrari is Alberto Ascari, way back in 1952 and 1953.
Last year we had what will probably be the last ever win for Daniel Ricciardo, driving for McLaren. It will be interesting to see where Ricciardo ends up next season given Oscar Piastri will be taking his seat for 2023. The 2021 race is probably more famous for the incident at the first chicane between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, where the Mercedes ended up underneath the Red Bull with the halo saving Hamilton from what could have been a far more serious injury.
What can we look forward to this year? I'm going to stick my neck out here and suggest that Max Verstappen will take pole, will probably lead every lap and take the fastest race lap as well. Come on Ferrari and Mercedes, prove me wrong!
Here's the schedule for Sky coverage:
Enjoy.
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