Next September 14th at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in the northern part of Italy, the 86th edition of the Italian Grand Prix will take place and it will gather all the Formula One best drivers as the season’s end approaches and a new world champion becomes more a reality.
On Friday the 12th the Formula One authorities will held two test practices from 10 in the morning to mid afternoon, while on Saturday the qualifying practice will determine the starting positions of Sunday’s race at the 5,793 kilometres long circuit. The Italian Grand Prix has been held at this location since it first opened to the motor racing world reason why it is one of the two oldest Formula One professional races.
Amongst some of the F1 drivers who have achieved to win at Monza we can mention; the German Michael Schumacher, the Brazilian Rubens Barrichello, and the Spaniard Fernando Alonso, who alongside with his former racing team McLaren managed to win last year’s race. Besides being one of the longest races in the calendar, the circuit encloses many different sectors which increase the difficulty for the drivers to keep a steady pace. First, we find the Viariante del Rettifilio then the Curva di Lesmo where the vehicles make a turn at estimated speeds of 260 KM/H then the Variante Ascari which becomes a tricky move as there are three consecutive turns and the Curva Parabolica where the highest velocity of 335 KM/H has been timed.
After the Italian Grand Prix there are only other four races left in the calendar and the top five contenders continue to strive for all the possible points they can win. Along these five positions we find the best three car makers; Ferrari, which is the current team leader followed by McLaren and BMW-Sauber, which had a breakthrough year during the present campaign. Out of the top five drivers there is a very small gap of only six points between the British Lewis Hamilton and the Brazilian Felipe Massa, a McLaren’s and Ferrari’s drivers respectively.
Now, if we base on past facts of what could happen at the next Italian Grand Prix in a couple of weeks, we find the Italian team Ferrari leading the charts with the most wins at this circuit, a total of 18 different times, but let’s not forget that last year the UK team took the crown home. Nevertheless, things just look a bit different as many of the other drivers have plagued the season with unexpected surprises that could easily repeat in Monza.
Over the past days most Formula One teams began their advance preparations and practices for the Italian race, despite all of us knowing that this is basically a routine work for the drivers, mechanical staff, and managers as within less than a week they will all meet once more at the Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix. But let’s not forget the range of difficulties between these two races, as Monza will definitely require complete concentration and power force from the one who will become the new winner at the Autodromo Nazionale circuit.
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