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  1. #1
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    2020 Italian GP - Monza





    Last season, Charles Leclerc won this Monza race to a very jubillant Itallian crowd. One could say that was the race win that effectively shifted the love of the Ferrari team and all of Italy from Vettel to Leclerc. The Ferrari cars dominated that race emphatically, making the silver Mercedes look somewhat ordinary on that occasion. That went on, in a season that Mercedes comfortably won, even though they found themselves fighting from their back foot on most occasions. Most of us were certain at that point, that Ferrari would turn up this 2020 season and dominate it to establish themselves as the defacto dominant force and put an end to Mercedes dominance in F1.

    2019 closed with an FIA investigation into Ferrari's smokey engine which resulted in what appears to be the much criticized private deal between the FIA, F1 management and Ferrari. The aftermath of that, resulted in a poor showing of Ferrari at winter testing. Ferrari has started this season mostly fighting in the midfield with Alpha Tauri and Renault.

    At the last race at Spa, Ferrari had both cars qualify and finish the race outside the top ten. A race that clearly underlined the crisis at Ferrari. We head into the Monza track of Italy, which is essentially a power track, with Ferrari bracing themselves for what could be a very embarassing weekend. A weekend which Ferrari would [at least] be happy to know the Tifosi fans would not be in attendance to see the ignomity of their situation.

    It is going to be a race with Mercedes powered cars dominating the weekend. Redbull may be racing on their back foot. With Racing Point likely to be giving them a harder time than usual, l suspect. We get to see the true performance of the Renault engine at this race as well. Is the Renault engine faster than [or as fast as] the Honda for instance.

    This is a race in which Bottas can recover some ground in the drivers championship. Tyres may once again be a subject of discussion as high engine torques and speeds may result in high tyre wear this weekend. We can expect real competitive racing to end at around lap 45 and tyre management to continue from then on. Thanks Pirelli.

    The ban on engine party mode comes into effect at this race weekend. It would be interesting to see what effects that may have on closing up the sharp end of the grid. i wonder if the Honda powered cars are going to suffer more. Ferrari already have an underpowered engine, hence l suppose this ban does not affect Ferrari much, but it will help them get within the mix of the midfield more effectively.



    Wear masks, protect yourself!
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 4th September 2020 at 18:39.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
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  2. #2
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    Along with Canada and Suzuka this is my favourite track. However I'm fully aware it's most probably going to be another Mercedes cruise to an easy unchallenged win.

    I hope people spare a moment on Saturday to remember Jochen!

  3. #3
    Senior Member Storm's Avatar
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    Last year at Monza was the first complete race my 6 year old son ever saw and became a fan of Leclerc instantly...this year, well he has not bothered much because he already knows Hamilton is winning
    Tito Vilanova = :champion:

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    Lets not forget the shambolic qualifying scenes from last year for which I still think all top ten driver’s should have been disqualified for, the exception being Vettel whom actually tried to get a qualifying lap in. Any driver that doesn’t cross the line and do their last lap should be auto disqualified imo. Load squabbling school children last year. Absolutely ridiculous shenanigans.

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Black Knight View Post
    Lets not forget the shambolic qualifying scenes from last year for which I still think all top ten driver’s should have been disqualified for, the exception being Vettel whom actually tried to get a qualifying lap in. Any driver that doesn’t cross the line and do their last lap should be auto disqualified imo. Load squabbling school children last year. Absolutely ridiculous shenanigans.
    I remember that one. I would not be surprised to see a repeat again this season. Overcrowding is likely to happen again during qualifying.

    With a single engine mode for qualifying and the race, there is also a good chance that some might push the engine to the ragged edge. We may be treated to a few engine failures during the race as drivers take too much life from the engine during qualifying.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 4th September 2020 at 18:49.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
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    Senior Member truefan72's Avatar
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    I have zero empathy for all these F1 teams who decide to all wait until the last minute to go out and create unnecessary traffic. Many compromising their lap times.

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    That was an interesting quali result, with Red Bull and particularly Renault being a bit more slow than I expected. At the same time, good for the Tracing Points and McLaren. I'm totally stoked with that P3 for Sainz, although it's going to be super hard to hold on to that tomorrow, particularly if he doesn't make it to the start again.

    Good to have one Ferrari driver on the second row at Monza too.

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    Mercedes stuck a finger up at the meddling FIA and F1 establishment with their infective party mode ban. What a waste of time! With no party mode, Hamilton manages to break the track record. What effing time wasters!

    Out of it all, only Honda appears to have suffered the most. And it did not benefit Ferrari one bit.

    What a lap from Sainz? Redbull get to see what a loss Sainz has been to them as they struggle to find a replacement for him.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 5th September 2020 at 19:02.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
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  9. Likes: truefan72 (6th September 2020)
  10. #9
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    I'm still shocked and flabbergasted that the rules changes have been put back to 2022. it's just giving Merc another title on a silver platter.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveF1 View Post
    I'm still shocked and flabbergasted that the rules changes have been put back to 2022. it's just giving Merc another title on a silver platter.
    At this rate, l am beginning to think the rule change is also a bloody waste of time. They are messing about with all these short notice changes and are getting eggs in the face for it. If this is what the new regulation regime is going to look like, l think l shall pass on F1 from 2022. It is just a shamble.

    From a spectator perspective, it did nothing to enhance my enjoyment. It only served to increase my doubt of the sanity of these crazy short notice rule changes. It is hard to understand why they introduced it? It seemed quite pointless and it turned out to be starkly pointless. What the F?

    Well, l am glad Redbull got the shitty end of the stick on this one. Because it appears to be their idea to ban party mode.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 5th September 2020 at 19:03.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  12. Likes: truefan72 (6th September 2020)

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