F1 Madness

Tag: italian grand prix

  • Monza Preview Quotes: Sauber F1 Team

    Monza Preview Quotes: Sauber F1 Team

    Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber

    “Monza is a track with a lot of history and the only true high-speed circuit of the season. I still remember sealing my GP2 title there in 2009. After the race on Sunday morning I was the champion. Monza requires a low-downforce configuration, which can make the car quite tricky to drive when braking from 340 km/h down to speeds of about 60 km/h in the chicanes. It’s a very nice race with a good atmosphere in the Parco di Monza where a lot of passionate Italian fans cheer on the Scuderia Ferrari. I enjoy driving there, as it’s a simple layout but it’s not as easy as it looks. There are some technical bits and chicanes and you really have to master the kerbs.”

    Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber

    “Monza is a great track, and very different to Spa. It’s important to consider that. Coming from a track like Spa, we need to adapt to Monza in terms of driving style, strategy and set-up. It will be a crucial weekend, because stability in slow corners is important and, unfortunately, this is where we’ve been struggling. We have to focus on that and try to improve. My favourite part of the track is the Variante Ascari, a left-right-left combination. It’s very quick, you have to get the right line, react quickly to the kerbs and the bumps, and it’s fun. Our pace is good, but now we need to complement that with the right decisions. I have great memories of Monza, as I won the Formula BMW and GP3 titles there. I remember very well my pole position lap there in GP3, this point made the difference and I went on to win the championship, so it was very special.”

    Tom McCullough, Sauber head of track engineering
    “Monza is a unique challenge for the drivers and engineers as the circuit efficiency requires our lowest drag configuration of the season. The track is well known for its long straights. The majority of the grip-limited time comes from medium-speed cornering and two lower-speed chicanes. The track is pretty bumpy in some areas and you need to be able to use the kerbs, so the ride quality is also an important factor. The track tends to favour strategies with less stops because of the low fuel effect and the time you lose in the pit lane. We have some further developments to be tested. Again, Pirelli has selected the medium and hard tyre compounds. Coming from Spa we are confident we can fight for points in this final European race.”

    Photo: Sauber F1 Team

  • Monza Preview Quotes: McLaren F1 Team

    Monza Preview Quotes: McLaren F1 Team

    The McLaren F1 team give their preview quotes ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

    Jenson Button, McLaren

    “I’ve always loved Monza. I really enjoy circuits that have a bit of history to them, and Monza has that in abundance – it’s one of the greatest tracks on the calendar. The place is unique: ever since we lost the ‘old’ Hockenheim, this has been the only place on the calendar where you run a really super-low downforce configuration. And you can feel it – the car accelerates up to speed incredibly quickly, feels skittish and loose when you’re running flat-out, and can be tricky and unpredictable under braking. But that’s what makes the place a special kind of challenge, and I really enjoy that. When you have the car hooked up beneath you, you get into a special kind of rhythm around Monza: you’re going so fast that the whole lap just flows together. There’s nowhere quite like it. So it’s really appropriate that McLaren will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in the paddock over the Monza weekend. Both names are synonymous with motorsport history – you couldn’t imagine Formula One without them – so I’ll be hoping for a strong result to show the strength and depth that we have as a team.”

    Sergio Perez, McLaren

    “Monza is probably the most beautiful circuit in Formula One – it’s just so historic; from the moment you arrive, you can feel it’s just different from any other place we visit. In fact, I had one of my best races in Formula One at Monza last year – everything came right on Sunday afternoon, I looked after the tyres beautifully and overtook Fernando Alonso on my way to finishing second, which equals my best-ever result in the sport. That was a fantastic day.

    “After the disappointment of Spa, where we had the pace to score points, I’m keen to get another shot. As in Hungary and Belgium, we don’t expect to have a car that’ll be capable of fighting right at the front, but I hope we’ll be scrapping for points positions. That’s always fun, because then it’s really down to the team and the driver to maximise every opportunity on the day. When you’re racing hard like that, a good lap in quali or a clever strategy in the race can make all the difference to your result – and that’s great to experience. So, as always, I’ll be looking to push on every lap.”

    Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
    “This year’s Italian Grand Prix will be a very special weekend for the whole Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, as it’ll be the race where we celebrate our 50th anniversary – a landmark for any sporting organisation, let alone a Grand Prix team. Since the formation of Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd in September 1963, and our Formula One debut at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix, no F1 team has won more races (182) than McLaren – an incredible record.

    “It’s appropriate that we’ll be marking the passage of time at a circuit that is both venerable and yet eternally evergreen: in terms of history, nothing really comes close to Monza in terms of capturing the spirits past of motor racing. Yet, it’s also the fastest racetrack in Formula One, a temple to raw speed, and a circuit that will always deserve its place on the calendar. It’s richly evocative, and a place that I love. We have some special events and surprises planned to mark our anniversary, but it’ll be Monza itself that will make the weekend unique.”

    Photo: Wikimedia Commons

  • Italian Grand Prix Preview Quotes: Caterham F1 Team

    Italian Grand Prix Preview Quotes: Caterham F1 Team

    Italian Grand Prix Preview Quotes from the Caterham F1 Team ahead of this weekend’s race at Monza.

    Charles Pic, Caterham

    “Monza’s a great place to race F1 cars. It’s so quick, the atmosphere is amazing (even though it’s almost only Ferrari supporters out there!) and it’s a track that has a lot of history, some of which you can see in the old banking on the way out of the track to remind you what it used to be like. It’s our last race in Europe this year and it would be good to finish the European season on a positive. We’d put in strong performances in the three practice sessions in Spa but we were unlucky, both with the call to the weighbridge in Q1 and the oil leak in the race so Monza gives us a chance to move straight on and put that bad luck behind us.

    “I’m in the simulator at Leafield before we arrive in Monza, so we’ll have a chance to try a few setup options before we get to the track. We’ll be running the low-downforce package for this race and the main focus will be on finding a setup that gives us maximum straight-line speed and a car that we can really attack the kerbs with. That’s important for lap time, particularly in T3 and T7, as you need to be able to minimise the time in the corners by pushing the car over the kerbs, so having the right mechanical setup is crucial. We’ll also be working a lot on braking stability – brake wear and cooling are both pretty manageable at Monza, but it’s important to have a car that’s behaving consistently in the braking zones as that’s where you can make up, and lose, time.”

    Giedo van der Garde, Caterham

    “Our last European race of the season is Monza, another classic Grand Prix venue and a track where I’ve won in both Formula Renault 3.5 and in GP2. After the last couple of races I’ll go to Monza feeling positive about the next race and the rest of the season. The whole team had a lot of praise for what we did in Spa, particularly taking advantage of the conditions on Saturday, and it’s good to see people understanding that what we’re doing now is exactly what we said we would do this year – learn, improve and deliver the results we want. Fourteenth in Hungary and both qualifying and the race in Spa show how the package is coming on and it’s a good feeling for me and the whole team.

    “Moving on to Monza – it’s a track that could suit us in the fight with our nearest competitors. It’s often hot and it’s the quickest track of the year, one where we run very low-downforce settings and that should suit our car. Last year the team was pretty competitive and we’ll aim to make sure we are again. If it’s not hot and we have anything like the conditions we did in Spa then we’ve shown we can take advantage of unpredictable weather, and even though another P3 in Q1 might be unlikely, we still know we can be bold and aggressive when there’s a chance to surprise a few people. Maybe our next chance will be Monza – if not I’m sure there will be other races this year when we can show what we can do.”

    Photo by Caterham Twitter Team

     

  • Broadcast Times for the Formula 1 Gran Premio D’Italia 2013 – Monza

    Broadcast Times for the Formula 1 Gran Premio D’Italia 2013 – Monza

    We are at the legendary Autodromo Nazionale Monza for round 12 of the Formula 1 World Championship. A favourite for some of the drivers, a favourite for some of the fans, but most importantly, its the home of the Tifosi.

     

    Below are the broadcast times for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza (GMT+2).

    Free Practice 1: Friday 10:00

    Free Practice 2: Friday 14:00

    Free Practice 3: Saturday 11:00

    Qualifying: Saturday 14:00

    Race: Sunday 14:00

     

    You can catch our live coverage of qualifying and the race on Twitter (@F1_madness) and we will have periodic updates throughout the free practice sessions.