The Italian GP preview

When it was put to Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali that Monza would be Red Bull's worst circuit, he scoffed. So fast is the Red Bull RB6, that there is no such thing as a bad track configuration, but there's no question that Christian Horner's squad is hoping to leave Monza with a handful of points rather than a hatful.

Last year, the team managed only one point in the Italian Grand Prix, and that was handed on a plate courtesy of Lewis Hamilton's last lap shunt exiting the first Lesmo. Chances are, Red Bull will do better than that, but there's no question that a 13th pole position out of 14 races is a long shot on a weekend of damage limitation.

Enter Ferrari and McLaren. The winner of the Italian GP will most likely come from one of these two stables, which means that a Hamilton versus Fernando Alonso scrap is in the offing.

The Mercedes powerplant is the engine of choice on the long straights of Monza, although the Ferrari F10 is regarded as a little stronger over the kerbs. But for Hamilton and Alonso, the agenda for the race is very different. While Hamilton knows that he needs to take home big points from Milan, as it is the last track that should allow him to beat the Red Bulls in a straight flat-out fight (unless the team's Singapore upgrade is a big step forward). But he can't afford a DNF.

Alonso, by contrast, is now 41 points off the championship lead and must rack up some big results it he is to have any realistic chance of taking a third world title. A win for Hamilton will give him at least a 10-point lead in the championship over Red Bull's Mark Webber, while if Alonso can haul himself back to within, say, 25 points of the lead he will be back in the thick of the fight rather than a long-shot.

But what of Red Bull? The Renault engine is regarded as the weakest on top speed, and team principal Christian Horner would probably be consider a podium or two as good as a win. Last year, Webber ended the race in the gravel on the first lap, so the instruction for Monza could be simply for his drivers to finish, pocket a few points and head east to tracks that will allow the RB6 to stretch its legs again.

The other big question for Red Bull is the state of mind of Sebastian Vettel. The ragged edges have started to show in recent races, what with his clash with Webber in Turkey, his Hungary penalty and collecting fellow title contender Jenson Button at Spa. That said, the trail of catastrophe that some pundits describe is not yet a reality. He's 31 points behind Hamilton, and needs a clam, solid weekend at Monza to go into the final five races on an even keel. After all, it's not impossible that he could win all five...

There are several wild cards at Monza. Adrian Sutil showed that the Force India-Mercedes remains a potent force on lower downforce tracks with big straights, and although a repeat of last year's front row qualifying performance is a long shot, he could be a top six contender. Come to mention it, so too could team-mate Tonio Liuzzi who was in a with a shout of a podium on his comeback at Monza last year when he retired.

Renault too, specifically Robert Kubica, could also be a contender. At Spa, the Pole finished third despite a fraught race and the team's new F-duct was worth over half-a-second. Whether the team can run the system in Monza is yet to become clear, but even without it the Renault could potentially near the sharp end. Again, winning is unlikely, but like the Force Indias, Kubica could potential get in amongst the title contenders and allow the likes of Alonso and Hamilton to make bigger gains over the Red Bulls.

Monza will be the final European leg of the title fight before the five-race flyaway sequence culminating in Abu Dhabi. There are still five drivers in with a shout of the title. Come Sunday evening, five might well have become three or four.

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*The score is calculated by each driver's position (1st = 1 point, 24 for a DNF and 25 if not present). Lowest score wins.

Lotus's last stand... until now

This year, Lotus returned to Formula 1 after a decade-and-a-half away. It was at Monza, for the 1994 Italian Grand Prix, that the team's previous incarnation had its last competitive hurrah.

The campaign had been a dismal one for Lotus. Johnny Herbert had managed only a trio of seventh places and qualified no higher than 16th and the team was on course to notch up its first pointless season in F1.

Staring financial oblivion in the face, Herbert was a remarkable sixth fastest during Friday qualifying. The reason for his pace was a new Mugen-Honda V10 powerplant, which put out 740-760bhp with a peak of 14,000rpm. It was 16kg lighter than the previous unit, but the key to its performance was a wider power band thanks in part to a variable camshaft system.

Some set-up tweaks before final qualifying further improved the car, and Herbert put his Lotus 109 fourth on the grid, prompting him to admit that he was "stunned" after the session. With only the Ferraris of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi, plus Damon Hill's Williams-Renault, ahead of him confidence was high. Could Sunday afternoon produce the big result that might secure Lotus's future?

The race started well, and Herbert was challenging Hill for third into the first chicane. Enter Eddie Irvine, who broke too late as the field concertinaed and struck the back of the Lotus.

"Irvine has done far too much damage this year and should be properly penalised," said Herbert after the race. "Formula 1 doesn't need drivers like this."

Irvine was later hit with a one-race ban, suspended for three races, after admitting that he was caught out by how early Herbert braked.

"Johnny braked earlier than expected," said Irvine. "I locked the fronts and couldn't stop myself hitting him."

With David Coulthard, Olivier Panis and Eric Comas also involved in the pile-up, the race was red-flagged. Unfortunately for Herbert, a damaged undertray and broken steering arm meant that he was forced to take the start in the spare Lotus 109. From the pits. With the old engine. Oh dear.

He climbed to 14th by the time his alternator let him down after completing 13 laps. How the course of Lotus's history might have changed but for Irvine's mistake is one of the great 'what might have beens'. Chances are, Herbert would have made the podium and a victory wasn't impossible.

But it wasn't to be. The day after the race, Lotus applied for administration with debts estimated to be as much as £10 million. Herbert started only one more race for the team before being sold on first to Ligier and then Benetton and Lotus slid out of F1 at the end of the season after finishing a pointless 12th in the constructors' championship.

From the forum

"Every other race we seem to be at a circuit that doesn't suit the RB. But still: 12 out of 13 poles. And the one they missed they could have taken had they chosen the quicker tyre. Still, on paper Monza should be not just a weak track but their weakest track. And there's another round of new tests. So we'll see. But the easy dismissal of RB seems premature."
Gareth

"I genuinely think Sutil can challenge for the win here. That Force India was mighty in a straight line at Spa.""
phil1993

"For Monza, I believe Red Bull are massively underestimating themselves just to sure whatever they get from the race seems satisfactory. But I still remember them being terrific wherever there were chincanes this season, and Monza has three of them plus three corners in which downforce is relatively important. In all probability, it'll be like Montreal, with the top three teams all very close to one another. But it will be straightforward with the tyres."
Atreiu

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