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The Italian Grand Prix this weekend in Monza sees Components 1 return to the scene of probably the most dramatic moments in current reminiscence, at a degree the place Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes seem to have overtaken Ferrari because the closest rivals to Max Verstappen and Purple Bull.
However with Purple Bull having such a bonus at low-downforce circuits this season, can Verstappen and Hamilton be anticipated to renew their on-track rivalry as soon as once more this weekend?
Listed here are the highest speaking factors for the Italian Grand Prix.
Rivalry revival
One yr in the past at Monza, the season-long world championship duel between Verstappen and Hamilton noticed certainly one of its most dramatic moments. Whereas battling for place on observe with Hamilton having left the pit lane following a cease, the 2 championship contenders ran side-by-side into the Rettifilo chicane and collided, sending the Purple Bull on high of the Mercedes and each into retirement.
It was the second main conflict between the pair in the course of the 2021 season, following their high-speed tangle at Silverstone, which served to stir up the rivalry that constructed till the dramatic season finale in Abu Dhabi.
However whereas 2022 has seen the 2 champions not often preventing on-track, with Mercedes unable to match the Purple Bull for efficiency all through the season, that modified final weekend in Zandvoort the place Hamilton and Mercedes pushed Verstappen more durable than at any level since that infamous Yas Marina showdown. Verstappen could have overtaken Hamilton to safe yet one more victory, however Mercedes’ race tempo left Ferrari workforce principal Mattia Binotto admitting that Mercedes have been now seemingly forward of them by way of total efficiency on the observe.
Whether or not that would be the case this weekend stays to be seen. Monza is the last word low-downforce circuit, and Mercedes produced certainly one of their worst performances of the season relative to Purple Bull on the final comparable observe, Spa-Francorchamps.
However the W13 has confirmed a mysterious creature, being unexpectedly aggressive at some circuits and underperforming at tracks Mercedes didn’t anticipate to do as properly at. If Mercedes can sustain with Purple Bull this weekend, it could possibly be Hamilton who’s Verstappen’s closest adversary as soon as once more.
No excuses for Ferrari
Ferrari’s continued slide away from championship rivalry has been one of many excellent tales of the 2022 season – not only for how they’ve misplaced contact with Verstappen and Purple Bull within the standings, however the generally shambolic approach through which they’ve carried out so.
From baffling technique calls to seemingly fundamental errors of operation, corresponding to Carlos Sainz Jnr being left with only three wheels on his car during his first pit stop final Sunday, it has been a difficult and embarrassing few months for the Italian workforce as their title aspirations have evaporated into the air just like the flare smoke from the Zandvoort grandstands.
Heading to Monza, Ferrari’s dwelling race, the workforce know they are going to get pleasure from as a lot partisan help from the followers in attendance as Verstappen loved final weekend. However the Tifosi’s help comes laden with excessive expectations and the Scuderia’s supporters is not going to be shy to voice their disapproval if Ferrari put in one other lacklustre weekend.
Nonetheless, given the Italian Grand Prix is such a particular occasion for Ferrari, it’s unsurprising that the workforce have plans to introduce new, low-downforce upgrades for this weekend – significantly within the type of a brand new rear wing. With Purple Bull holding a big high pace benefit that has allowed them to breeze previous their rivals in races and be nearly unbeatable in qualifying periods round excessive pace circuits, any upgrades to handle that deficit will probably be most welcome round Monza. So long as the workforce don’t commit extra unforced errors on Sunday.
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Can Ricciardo discover some kind?
Already within the information he is not going to be racing with McLaren for subsequent season, Daniel Ricciardo endured yet one more barren weekend of efficiency at Zandvoort, qualifying ten locations behind workforce mate Lando Norris and nearly being lapped by him on his method to ending second to final of all 18 vehicles that have been operating on the chequered flag.
Because the outgoing driver continues to contemplate his restricted choices for 2023, he’s eager to see off his time at Woking the easiest way he probably can. With that in thoughts, there may be maybe no higher race to be up subsequent within the calendar than Monza – scene of Ricciardo’s outstanding and sudden victory right here simply 12 months in the past.
Whereas McLaren’s first victory in practically a decade was largely helped by Verstappen and Hamilton taking one another out of the operating, it got here throughout a weekend the place Ricciardo felt essentially the most comfortable together with his 2021 McLaren all that season and was not merely the results of a chaotic mixture of circumstances. The win additionally got here after he had spent the yr struggling to rise up to hurry together with his automotive and he needed to maintain off workforce mate Lando Norris with a purpose to take the chequered flag first.
McLaren workforce principal Andreas Seidl was fast to minimize any strategies that his workforce could possibly repeat their achievement final yr throughout this weekend’s occasion, however even having Ricciardo in a position to run near his workforce mate and assist safe necessary factors of their battle with Alpine for fourth within the constructors’ championship will definitely go a protracted method to serving to Ricciardo finish his time with the workforce on a optimistic notice.
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Return of Antonio
For a nation whose historical past in Components 1 is richer than nearly every other, it’s outstanding to suppose that there aren’t any Italian drivers at the moment on the grid. In actual fact, solely Antonio Giovinazzi has represented Italy as a driver within the final decade, earlier than he misplaced his drive at Alfa Romeo on the conclusion of final season.
Nonetheless, the racer of 62 grands prix will return to a Components 1 session on Friday when he steps in for Mick Schumacher within the Haas VF-22 throughout first observe – his first outing in a Components 1 automotive since final yr’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and his very first time behind the wheel of a brand new floor impact F1 automotive.
After a season spent scuffling with ill-optimised equipment in Components E, Giovinazzi’s runs in Monza and in Austin subsequent month will probably be an important alternative for Giovinazzi to stake his declare for a return to Components 1 for 2023. With Schumacher’s future surrounded by query marks and Haas’s shut reference to Ferrari, the Italian driver might have a golden probability at a second wind in F1 – very similar to Haas handed Magnussen in the beginning of the season.
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Mr America
With McLaren securing the appropriate to run Oscar Piastri of their workforce for 2023, it appeared as if an avenue for the extremely touted American IndyCar driver Colton Herta to be given a chance to race in Components 1 was closed. Nonetheless, Purple Bull admitted that Herta was very a lot into consideration for his or her junior workforce AlphaTauri in 2023, making the prospect of an American racer in Components 1 extra potential than it has appeared for nearly 20 years.
AlphaTauri could also be a Purple Bull workforce, however they’re based mostly in Italy in Faenza – a legacy of their unique guise as Minardi again in days earlier than Purple Bull started dramatically ramping up their involvement in Components 1. Famously, the workforce have taken two victories of their historical past – each right here at Monza. First with Sebastian Vettel underneath the workforce’s earlier guise of Toro Rosso in 2008, earlier than Pierre Gasly claimed a shock victory in 2020 for the workforce he’s nonetheless contracted to race with in 2023.
The prospect of Gasly seeing out his contract with AlphaTauri subsequent yr has come into query with Fernando Alonso’s transfer to Aston Martin leaving an empty seat at Alpine that can now undoubtedly not be stuffed by Piastri. Regardless of Esteban Ocon’s lobbying for Schumacher to be supplied the seat, a second French driver on the solely French workforce on the grid appears a likelier match and a chance for Gasly to depart from the Purple Bull ecosystem and try to forge an identification elsewhere.
All that stands in the way in which of Herta’s transfer to Components 1 is his superlicence eligibility. Regardless of his wealth of expertise and success in IndyCar, he at the moment doesn’t meet the edge of factors to qualify him to race in Components 1. If Purple Bull can efficiently foyer the FIA to supply Herta dispensation to earn a superlicence, then we might see the announcement of Components 1’s long-awaited latest American driver prior to many would have anticipated.
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Are you going to the Italian Grand Prix?
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2022 Italian Grand Prix
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