After the chaotic and incident-filled Dutch Grand Prix, Formula One heads to the final European spherical with the Italian Grand Prix bringing this a part of the 2023 F1 season to a detailed. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó picks out the important information forward of Round 14 of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship.
Monza is a fan and driver favorite with the Italian Grand Prix being arguably one in every of the most atmospheric races of the entire season. It was on the calendar in the first season of Formula One and other than 1980 has hosted the Italian Grand Prix yearly. The Temple of Speed as it’s sometimes called continues to dwell as much as its identify as the quickest venue in the championship, its format nonetheless dominated by lengthy straights regardless of the chicanes that now intersect them.
Despite the excessive speeds achieved at Monza, the three softest compounds have been chosen for the ‘Temple of Speed’: C3, C4, and C5. This is one step softer than final yr’s nomination which sported the trio of the C2, C3, and C4 compouncds.
Drivers will face one other sporting problem at Monza as the Italian Grand Prix might be the second time that Pirelli implements the various tyre allocation. The new method that made its debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier than the summer time break implies that drivers will solely get 11 units as an alternative of the typical 13 units.
This means simply three units of Hard tyre, 4 units of Medium, and 4 units of the Soft tyre. Furthermore, they’re compelled to run the onerous in the first qualifying phase, adopted by the use of the medium compound in Q2 and the tender compound in Q3.
It is all about understeer, traction and mechanical grip round the legendary circuit of Monza. Eliminating the pure understeer tendency of the present automobiles is a problem at the sluggish corners, with a robust rear finish wanted to attain an ideal steadiness by way of the quick sections. Traction is essential to make sure an excellent drive into the flat-out straights from the slower and extra technical components of the circuit: one other well-known attribute of the Temple of Speed, with notable kerbs at the chicanes.
Third purpose-built monitor
The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza is the third oldest circuit in the world after the Brooklands circuit in England and Indianapolis in the United States. Construction of the racing circuit close to Milano was determined in January 1922 to mark the twenty fifth anniversary of the Milan Automobile Club.
The building work was accomplished in file time of 110 days and the monitor opened its gates on 3 September 1922. The unique monitor featured a mixture of a 5.5km highway monitor and a 4.5 high-speed oval.
The unimaginable pace of the monitor, significantly reached on the oval half which featured two banked curves, led to many deadly accident. The worst ever one occurred in 1928, leading to the dying of the driver Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators. It was then determined that various layouts could be adopted in the future and a few synthetic chicanes had been additionally put in.
In 1938, the circuit went by way of intensive modification, together with the resurfacing of the highway curse. However, the World War Two ended each exercise on the monitor and it was not sooner than 1948 when the Milan Automobile Club may full restoration.
Formula One automobiles returned to the monitor in 1948 and the monitor performed host to the first ever F1 Italian Grand Prix in 1950. That inaugural race was received by Alfa Romeo’s Nino Farina. In 1954, a serious reconstruction started. The whole circuit was modified and that resulted in a 5.75 km highway course and a brand new 4.25 km high-speed oval.
The circuit was used for the Italian Grand Prix races till 1961, with the 10 km format utilized in 1955, 1956, 1960 and 1961. The 1961 Italian Grand Prix noticed the dying of the Ferrari driver Wolfgang Von Trips and 15 spectators on the straight earlier than one in every of the banked curves which then ended the high-speed monitor utilization in Formula One racing and different single-seater races.
The final race on the longest Monza format was held in 1969. After that, all races had been eliminated to the 5.75 km highway course. Two chicanes had been inbuilt 1972 at the entrance to the quickest curves on the monitor – the Grande curve at the finish of the grandstand straight and the Ascari curve. The chicanes had been named Variante del Retifilo and Variante Ascari.
In 1989, the monitor went by way of a serious renovation of pits advanced. Ayrton Senna’s dying at Imola in 1994 prompted the organizers to extend the security requirements which shortened the monitor to 5770 meters. The closing change of the configuration and monitor format occurred in 2000, when the redesign of some curves resulted in the present monitor size of 5793 meters.
Velocity as first precedence
On paper, Monza appears simple, however its high-speed format brings challenges of its personal. Its chicanes are essential to lap time, or to establishing an overtake in the race.
After the lengthy start-finish straight, drivers must decelerate for the first chicane, titled Variante del Rettifilio, the place they normally run wildly over the kerbs to straighten their racing line. The focus is on the exit as one other lengthy full-throttle part follows up. It is a curved phase, however it’s simply taken flat out.
At the finish of this full-throttle phase, drivers rely as soon as once more on their brakes as they should decelerate dramatically whereas approaching the second chicane, named Variante della Roggia. This chicane represents the begin of Sector 2 and requires automobiles that may keep steady whereas being thrown aggressively over the excessive kerbs.
Following this comparatively sluggish mixture of corners, drivers head in direction of two medium-speed bends. Turn 6, titled as Lesmo 1 is taken at 200kph in fifth gear. It is a tough nook as automobiles have a tendency to supply understeer at entry whereas the rear finish can change into free at the exit.
Following a couple of seconds spent at full throttle, Lesmo 2 follows up that may be a barely slower nook than the earlier one. It is important to get a clear exit out of this bend as one other part follows that’s taken at most throttle with the speeds climbing as much as 320kph.
The Ascari chicane, shaped by Turns 8, 9 and 10, is a comparatively slender, however a brutally quick part the place the rear is all the time free attributable to the extraordinarily low-downforce aerodynamic setup. The exit of the Ascari chicane is of key significance as drivers discover themselves on the again straight the place they’ll attain a most pace of 330 kph.
The 180-degree Turn 11, named Parabolica is an actual check for automobiles attributable to the lack of aerodynamic downforce. Drivers normally are on the restrict in terms of the monitor limits at the exit of the Parabolica nook as they’re adamant to achieve all the things the tarmac run-off zone provides. However, they are going to should be further cautious this yr as timing loops have been put in that ought to give the FIA stewards extra weapon of their fingers to scrutineer monitor limits round this tough part.
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