MONZA 2010

Once again the F1 World Championship comes to Monza, the city where the Italian Grand Prix has been held for every year since 1950. Located 210 km from Maranello- the home of Scuderia Ferrari, it is not surprising to find that the Prancing Horse has won here 18 times till date, 9 times more than the next team on the list- Mclaren. The race will also mark a return to Ferrari’s home track for the great Michael Schumacher who is the most successful driver on this circuit. The venue, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza Circuit is one of the fastest circuits in the F1 calendar.

Last 10 winners.-

Year	Driver	Constructor
2009	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn GP
2008	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing
2007	Fernando Alonso	Mclaren-Mercedes
2006	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2005	Juan Pablo Montoya	Mclaren-Mercedes
2004	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
2003	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2002	Rubens Barrichello	Ferrari
2001	Juan Pablo Montoya	Williams-BMW
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari

Driverwatch.-

1.    Lewis Hamilton (183 points).

Last 5 races.-

EUR  GBR  GER  HUN  BEL

 2^nd     2^nd    4^th    Ret    1^st  

Ahead of Mark Webber by a mere 3 points, Hamilton must not finish anywhere far behind him. The gearbox failure at the Hungarian GP doesn’t seem to have affected him in any way as he came back strongly at Spa with a win.

2.    Mark Webber

Last 5 races.-

EUR  GBR  GER  HUN  BEL

 Ret    1^st      6^th    1^st      2^nd 

After getting on the podium in three of the last four races Mark Webber surely seems to be in perfect form. He will want to erase last year’s bitter memory of Monza where he was forced to retire on the opening lap after a collision. A good qualifying result would mean that the Aussie would be the man to beat at Monza.

3.    Sebastian Vettel

Last 5 races.-

EUR  GBR  GER  HUN  BEL

  1^st      7^th       3^rd     3^rd     15^th   

A 15^th place at Spa hasn’t helped the German in any way to get closer to the World Championship crown. He must recover from that position soon if he hopes to get a decent result. He will be trying to match his performance to the one in 2008, when he finished 1^st.

Teamwatch.-

1.    Red Bull Racing (330 points)

The team that started in 2005 has surely made rapid progress as it vies for the title this year. Leading Mclaren by just a single point Red Bull have to at least match the tally obtained by the Brits or they will loose their top spot.

2.    Mclaren-Mercedes (329 points)

In spite of Button’s failure to complete the race at Spa, the victory for Hamilton meant that Mclaren are now breathing down on the neck of Red Bull. With Button ready to make up for lost opportunities and Hamilton in good form we might see Mclaren take the top spot in the Constructors Championship this weekend.

3.    Ferrari (250 points)

Scuderia Ferrari will be for sure the most cheered team at Monza. After losing out on the top spot at the Italian GP for the last three years, Ferrari will be looking for some payback.

What about Force India?

Adrian Sutil qualifying in 2^nd at Monza in 2009 is one of the memories that every Force India fan cherishes. At sixth place on the Constructors Championship with a tally of 58 points, Force India should keep ahead of Williams who are 18 points behind and at the same time try to get as close to Renault as possible who are 65 points ahead of the Indian team.

    What’s special at Monza?

·        You surely can’t miss the Tifosi- the Ferrari faithful- who turn up huge numbers for their home race. Just find a huge Ferrari flag in the stands and you have found the Tifosi (in pic).

·        This race has been considered as jinxed with only 2 drivers- Michael Schumacher and the late Ayrton Senna-managing to win this event and then going on to win the World Championship in the last 20 years.

·        It is always interesting to see how every driver takes on the Ascari chicane which lies before the final corner leading to the main straight where the cars touch speeds like 345km/hr.