Changes made at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix

Is Monza really a track that deserves modifications? Shouldn't the temple of speed and the myth that accompanies it be preserved in their current skin? Of course not ! The sport is evolving, and so is safety. While no more rounds on the calendar F1 is not guaranteed to return beyond the end of its contract, due to the strong competition installed by Liberty Media which pulls the strings, the Lombard route, despite its dilapidated installations, has made several substantial modifications upstream of the Grand Italian Price, just to make the weekend even more attractive. 

This probably hasn't escaped your notice. EL1 and EL2 Friday, but the track has been partially resurfaced. Partially, because it's not even just certain turns, but only portions of turns! To be clear, a new tarmac has in fact been installed at turns 1 and 2 (the chicane), 4 and 5, then 8 and 10 (Ascari sequence), but only on the trajectory! This has the gift of being pragmatic and less expensive than a global resurfacing... if not aesthetic. 

During the track walk, Guanyu-Zhou et Alfa Romeo were able to discover the resurfacing that occurred on the trajectory. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI

Also, due to recent incidents that have occurred at Monza in recent years, the bananas located upstream of the curbs have been removed. As a reminder, in 2019, in Formula 3, the Australian Alex Peroni literally took off on a banana at the exit of the Parabolic, finishing with fear in the Monza barriers, with broken bones in his back. For his part, Henrique Chaves experienced this year in WEC driving his Aston Martin a similar fate in the second chicane of the circuit for the same reasons. They were all removed, which the pilots, and in particular Checo Perez welcomed with satisfaction: “I still have the impression that there would have been too many incidents for us not to deign to remove them, the Mexican got annoyed. Already several years ago, we saw how dangerous they were.” Here they are removed, particularly in turns 4 and 5 where they remained.

The fear was total when Alex Peroni took off on a banana in 2019. © Sebastiaan Rozendaal / DPPI

A different parabolic exit at Monza

Finally, the last modification will perhaps be the most “game changing” as the English like to say. This is the reduction of the asphalt clearance to just two meters at the parabolic exit (painted green), with the implementation of a gravel trap beyond, whereas a large asphalt escape route was there previously. This could obviously change everything for the drivers, who have gotten into the habit for years of coming out of the last corner very hard by playing with the track limits. Except that the speed of passing the curve and the forces exerted are such that at the slightest deviation, the sanction will be direct and total. Besides, we had to wait until Friday to see him in F3 and in F2, with the crashes at this precise location of the two protected Red Bull Junior Team Isack Hadjar and Ayumu Iwasa. 

A defining moment in the championship?

Isack Hadjar, second in the standings, crashed out of qualifying and ended down in P16…#ItalianGP #F3 pic.twitter.com/Tm6p5ngE8u

- Formula 3 (@ Formula3) September 9, 2022

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