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 form? Of course not ! Sport is changing, and so is safety. While no more rounds on the calendar F1 is 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 facilities, has made several substantial modifications upstream of the Grand Prix d’Italie, just to make the weekend even more attractive.
It probably didn’t escape your notice. EL1 and in EL2 Friday, but the track has been partially resurfaced. Partially, because it’s not even just certain turns, but only parts of turns! To be clear, a new tar has indeed 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 and Alfa Romeo were able to discover the resurfacing that took place on the trajectory. © Antonin Vincent / DPPI
Also, due to recent incidents at Monza in recent years, the bananas located upstream of the vibrators have been removed. As a reminder, in 2019, in Formula 3, the Australian Alex Peroni had literally taken off on a banana at the exit of the Parabolic, finishing in horror in the barriers of Monza, with fractures in the level of the back. For his part, Henrique Chaves experienced this year in WEC at the wheel of his Aston Martin a similar fate in the second chicane of the circuit for the same reasons. They have all been withdrawn, which the pilots, and in particular Checo Perez welcomed with satisfaction: “I still have the impression that there will have been too many incidents for us not to deign to remove themannoyed the Mexican. Already several years ago, we saw how dangerous they were. Here they are withdrawn, especially in turns 4 and 5 where they remained.
The dread was total when Alex Peroni took off on a banana in 2019. © Sebastiaan Rozendaal / DPPI
A different parabolic exit in Monza
Finally, the last modification will perhaps be the most “game changing” as the English like to say. It is the reduction of the asphalt clearance to only two meters at the exit of the parabolic (painted in green), with the implementation of a gravel pit beyond, whereas a large asphalt escape route was there before. This could obviously change everything for the drivers, who have been used for years to come out of the last corner very strong by playing with the limits of the track. Except that the speed of passing through a curve and the forces exerted are such that at the slightest deviation, the sanction will be direct and total. Moreover, we had to wait no later than Friday to see him in F3 and in F2with the crashes at this precise location of the two Red Bull Junior Team proteges 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 (@FIAFormula3) September 9, 2022
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