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Race Name: Italian Grand Prix
Circuit Name: Monza
Circuit Length: 3.580 miles
Race Length: 189.74 miles 53 laps
Lap Record: Michael Schumacher 1m21.832s

Alex Wurz's View

"Starting a lap of Monza, you power up through the gears along the wide Rettifilio Tribune straight reaching the top speed of all the circuits on the calendar, 218mph / 350km/h in seventh gear. The right-left Rettifilio Chicane is located at the end of the straight and sees your speed drop as you brake dramatically to 71mph / 115km/h in second. As you exit, you immediately reach the Curva Grande. This long, bumpy right-hander is taken flat out and your speed increases to some 181mph / 290km/h in sixth before arriving to the Variante dello Roggia.

You brake from some 200mph / 335km/h in sixth to 71mph / 115km/h to negotiate the left-right chicane, which has a tricky entry as it is very bumpy and slippery. Another short straight follows and takes you to the double apex right hander of Curva di Lesmos. You enter the first turn at 104mph / 168km/h in third. A quick burst of acceleration sees your speed increase up to 140mph or 225km/h before you then brake for the second apex, which is negotiated at 94mph / 150km/h also in third.

It is important to maintain a good speed through Lesmos, as it takes you onto a long straight, which has a slight left curve. You reach 212mph / 340km/h in seventh as you blast towards the Curva del Vialone. Another hard braking zone takes your speed down to 90mph / 145km/h in third to negotiate the left hander, the entry of the famous Ascari chicane, which is immediately followed by right-hander leading into the next left hand corner. This is quite an exiting section of corners, which then flicks you onto the back straight, achieving speeds of 212mph / 340km/h in seventh gear as you approach the famous Parabolica.

The tight entrance to this long sweeping right hander is taken at some 100mph / 160km/h and as the curve opens out your speed increases and you are swung back onto the start-finish straight to begin another lap."

The Track

Monza used to be an over and under circuit with a banked area similar to that seen in the US CART series (the banked oval section is on the bridge under which the cars travel about 2/3rds of the way around today's lap) but over the years this has been changed to the more familiar layout used today. It boasts some of the highest average speeds on the calendar and is a combination of 2nd gear chicanes, long straights and some sweeping bends. The change to the regulations has eliminated the slipstreaming (following close behind a car to lessen wind resistance) that used to be such a factor here. In addition the lack of mechanical grip coupled to the close grid this year will lead to it being very difficult to pass opponents this time around. (In 97 the race was notable because not one passing move took place — the only attempt was by Ralfy on Herbert which took them both off quite spectacularly). The drivers market is more or less settled in the major teams this year and there are unlikely to be many announcements this weekend.

The Track's F1 History

This is the 54th grand prix to be held at Monza and there are few places where the emotion of grand prix racing is more evident. In recent years emotion has been more important here than racing as the racing itself can be quite dull! Last year a dull race was spiced up by the closeness in the title chase and the fact that Ferrari had shown itself to be woefully off the pace in Hungary. Michael Schumacher put himself back into contention for the title with a romp home ahead of Montoya's Williams with Barrichello confirming Ferrari's renaissance with a fine third. Kimi Raikkonen reminded everyone of his still being in the title chase with 4th ahead of Marc Gene who drove a fabulous race for Williams depressing for Ralf Schumacher who put his back out. Villeneuve, Webber and Alonso rounded out the top 8.

In 2002 the Ferraris return home was for a glorious homecoming that was marred only by the fact that Ferrari had succeeded in the championship so easily that even the Tifosi were staying away in their masses. In the end Rubens Barrichello again took glory in his quest to secure runner up in the standings. Michael was second after an easy romp to the flag and Eddie Irvine produced the surprise of the season by taking a decent third in his Jaguar.

In 2001 the events of September 11th cast a shadow over the race. Several teams decided to run partially in black while Ferrari made the laudable decision to run without sponsor's logos and with black noses for the weekend. Schumacher was in lackluster form and the news over the weekend that Alex Zanardi had had a huge crash at the Lautsuzring in Germany sent further shockwaves through the sport. In the end Sunday was a good race with Montoya winning his first race.

2000's race was overshadowed by the death of a marshal as an accident between the two Jordans of Frentzen and Trulli led to a monumental pile up at Variente della Roggia. Schumacher ended up winning pretty easily to start the run of wins that would net him and the team the driver's and constructor's titles.

In 1999 Hakkinen was looking set for an easy win when he spun off at the first chicane handing an unexpected victory to Frentzen in the Jordan. Before that Hakkinen managed to lead to about 50 yards when Coulthard blew up in front of him and Schumcher capitalized on Hakkinen's avoiding action to get past the Finn.

In 1997 a thoroughly dull race saw Coulthard win with very few overtaking moves indeed while in 1996 the field was wiped out by some bolted tires at the first chicane.

In 1995 Johnny Herbert won after Hill crashed into Schumacher as they lapped Inoue's Arrows at the second chicane (Inoue escaped the carnage!) while Hill won here in 1994 after the on board cameras managed to wipe out both Ferraris! (The camera fell off Alesi's car and hit Berger's on one of the straights!)

2003 Italian Grand Prix Results*

Circuit Name / Location:  Monza

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