The cathedral of four-wheeled racing, Monza plays host to the twelfth round of the 2015 Formula One world championship, and the famed Italian Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live coverage from 9:30pm (AEST).
The historic Autodromo Nazionale Monza is set to see some of the highest speeds of the season. Furthermore it is the only circuit that will see the teams bring a unique ultra-low downforce package to achieve the highest possible top speeds.
As is tradition, there will be 53 laps of the 5.7-kilometre circuit.
Tyre company Pirelli have opted to retain the soft and medium rubber for the race, despite the blowouts that occurred at the Belgian Grand Prix
Mercedes AMG ought to maintain their ascendancy in the shortest race on the calendar, with their superior all-round pace favoured too by their power-unit.
Lewis Hamilton crossed the line as victor last year, just under the 1 hour and 20 minute mark, ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. With a 28-point championship lead over Rosberg, Hamilton is the favourite.
Driving at Monza for Italian marque Ferrari for the first time, Sebastian Vettel has admitted it will be incredibly difficult to take out the win give the Silver Arrows’ pace on a circuit that has a massive preference for power. However three-time winner, along with teammate Kimi Räikkönen, will benefit from upgrades to their power-pack for this race.
Can Williams rectify their torrid outings in both Belgium and Hungary? The nature of Monza should suit the FW37 chassis, but with mistakes like Valtteri Bottas’ duly noted pit-stop at Spa, there are other drivers lurking to pick up the all-important points on offer.
One of those contenders will be Romain Grosjean, who after his podium a fortnight ago claimed “Monza should suit the Lotus better than Spa”, so another podium could be within reach.
Red Bull too, despite the lack of Renault horsepower being provided, had a decent outing at Spa, with Daniil Kvyat finishing fourth behind Grosjean. Daniel Ricciardo was in line for a podium on that occasion but reliability robbed that opportunity.
Look out as well for the Mercedes-Benz powered Force India vehicles, who with Sergio Perez were at the sharp end at Spa. Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg will look to avoid a third consecutive retirement.
Join The Roar from 9:30pm (AEST) for the 2015 Italian Grand Prix, and be sure to leave your comments in the section below.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Until tomorrow then, where I'll be back at 9:30pm AEST for a full pre-race build up and live blog of the Italian Grand Prix, it's ciao from me.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Surely this will have Hamilton looking over his shoulder for tomorrow's 53 lap race. With the run down to the first chicane quite long and two fiery Ferraris breathing down his neck.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
What a strong qualifying for Kimi, claiming his first front-row start for Ferrari since the Monaco GP in 2009. Here is a look at the qualifying standings then after the hour-long session. 1 L. Hamilton 2 K. Räikkönen 3 S. Vettel 4 N. Rosberg 5 F. Massa 6 V. Bottas 7 S. Perez 8 R. Grosjean 9 N. Hulkenberg 10 M. Ericsson 11 P. Maldonado 12 F. Nasr 13 C. Sainz* 14 D. Kvyat* 15 D. Ricciardo* 16 J. Button* 17 F. Alonso* 18 W. Stevens 19 R. Merhi 20 M. Verstappen* *denotes that driver is set to incur grid penalties.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: CHECQUERED FLAG POLE POSITION for Lewis Hamilton, who claims his seventh pole in a row! Kimi Räikkönen improved on his final lap to leap to second, with Sebastian Vettel third fastest. Nico Rosberg meanwhile, was only fourth fastest.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: The order on track is Vettel, Räikkönen, Rosberg and Hamilton. Can anyone challenge Hamilton's provisional pole time?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: A stream of cars exiting the pit-lane as they all go out to complete their final flying laps with under 2 minutes remaining. Williams to try the tow again?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: FOUR MINUTES TO GO
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: Hulkenberg's Force India stranded at the start of pit-lane. The German reported a loss of power, so that appears to be his session over then.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: Provisional goes belongs to Hamilton who has a 1:23.397. Vettel +0.308 is second, Räikkönen +0.315 third, Massa +0.543 fourth and Rosberg +0.545 in fifth. All the drivers return to the pits before they get set to go out for their final flying laps.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: 1:25.317 is the first lap set by Hulkenberg. Pole will most likely be a lap in the low 1:23s.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: All the cars but Perez, Grosjean and Ericsson have gone out for their first run in the shootout.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q3: GREEN LIGHT And we're ready to go for the final phase of this qualifying session.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q2: CHECQUERED FLAG Maldonado (unluckily), Nasr, Sainz, Kvyat and Ricciardo are all eliminated from Q2. The Venezuelan's elimination will be much to the relief of Hulkenberg who was right on the cusp at the end of that session.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q2: Williams looking to exercise 'the tow' to see if their drivers can make any gains on their lap times.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q2: 5 MINUTES TO GO Kimi reports that a bit of plastic is hanging from his Ferrari's rear-wing. NAS, GRO, SAI, KVY, RIC are all in the bottom five at the moment and it's likely that the three Red Bull sponsored cars won't come out of their boxes for a lap during the remainder of qualifying. It'll be tight though now between the Saubers, Lotus' and Force Indias to seal top-ten berths!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q2: Räikkönen now slots into P2, Vettel P3 and Rosberg P4.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q2: Vettel enters the 1:23s with that last lap and is now splitting the two Silver Arrows.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q2: 10 MINUTES TO GO 1:23.383 for Hamilton as he eclipses his teammate for the top spot. Everyone but Sainz, Kvyat and Ricciardo now on track.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Q2: 1:24.128 for Rosberg - the first lap of the session.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
The tyres with which the drivers who make it into the top-ten set their fastest lap on during Q2, will be the tyres that they start the race on - as per the regulations enforced in 2014.