Monza, home of the Italian GP since 1950, has hosted more Formula 1 races than any other circuit, and last year’s was a classic.
You may remember that a team once only regarded as a footnote in the pages of Italian motorsport history became a winning team at last – Scuderia Toro Rosso achieved a maiden victory with a team still largely comprising staff from its days as minnows Minardi, and emotions ran high, as they tend to in Italy when F1 visits. It’s unlikely to be as wet as last year’s race – also Sebastian Vettel’s first victory – but just who will take advantage of the current conditions in F1 on September 13, where it seems a win is possible for practically anyone?
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) – Ferrari
Current position in standings: 14th, 8pts
Where else to start? An Italian with a long career in F1 has had a lifelong dream to drive for Ferrari, and, as a seat in a red car is suddenly up for grabs, he seals pole position and only just misses out on a win for a team that has never previously scored a point and by rights should be at the back of the field, where he has laboured tirelessly in the past with no reward… The Fisichella fairytale was confirmed shortly after his Belgian podium, and Fisi now replaces the hapless Luca Badoer, who finished dead last again in the Ardennes. The delicious prospect of a duel between GP Belgium winner Kimi Räikkönen and his Spa sparring partner and new team-mate at the Scuderia now awaits us – just how good can three-time GP winner Fisichella still prove himself to be?
Sebastian Vettel (GER) – RBR-Renault
Current position in standings: 3rd, 53pts
Rather like Fisichella’s pole and second place in Belgium, last year’s debut win for Vettel was based firmly on merit, not luck, but even so, the 22-year-old has moved up a level since, and a drivers’ title is still possible this season. Despite Red Bull Racing not quite living up to expectations as the team most likely to benefit from conditions at Spa – Force India and the continually resurgent Räikkönen kind of put paid to that – Vettel’s third-place finish, from what at one point in the race looked like being with a point for eighth, was a fair result. With even less downforce at Monza, Adrian Newey’s aero package should give Vettel another decent crack at eating into the lead of the two Brawns of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello ahead of him in the drivers’ standings.
Fernando Alonso (SPA) – Renault
Current position in standings: 12th, 16pts
All is not well at Renault. At the tail-end of the ’08 season, Alonso was the form driver, picking up two wins and a second place from the last four races, but now we hear that the first victory, in Singapore when Nelson Piquet’s crash caused a safety car period that helped Alonso’s strategy, might have been a fix, and the FIA is investigating, casting doubt on Renault’s future in the sport. And the presumption is that an announcement of Fernando’s move to Ferrari will be made at the Italian GP, and the drivers’ merry-go-round, on hold in the paddock until this open secret is finally confirmed, will then begin at last. Oh, and Alonso will be driving a Renault at Monza, hoping to better the 13th on the grid followed by another wheel problem – the first at the Hungaroring earlier this season almost led to a Renault ban in Valencia – that resulted in another retirement at Spa.
Jaime Alguersuari (SPA) – STR-Ferrari
Current position in standings: 22nd, 0pts
Jaime has put his first F1 retirement at Belgium out of his mind to set his sights on a top-10 finish at Monza. Already holding his own against his team-mate, the marginally more experienced Sébastien Buemi, and fellow mid-season Renault rookie Romain Grosjean, there are other reasons why Jaime can talk up his chances. The Newey-designed Toro Rosso chassis should be suited to the low downforce of Monza, and though the Ferrari engine in the back of the STR4 isn’t quite the revelation it proved to be in its predecessor last year, it’s still no slouch in a straight line. And as a seasoned racer in European formulae, Jaime is no stranger to success at Monza, with a second place there in Formula Renault 2.0 Italia on his way to second in the championship in 2007.
Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) – Force India-Mercedes
Current position in standings: n/a
After a degree of disappointment at the beginning of the season that most teams had stuck with the status quo for ’09 – Buemi was the only new boy, Vettel the only mover and David Coulthard’s the only exit – the ongoing season shake-up has more than made up for it, even if some of it has come at the expense of the unfortunate Felipe Massa. Tonio Liuzzi last raced an F1 car in 2007 for Toro Rosso, having been in at the start of the Red Bull Racing era in 2005 as tester and part-time racer (he shared the drive with Christian Klien), before moving to STR for 2006, and he has long coveted a race seat at Force India, where he has been tester since leaving Toro Rosso. Now he gets his chance, and what a time to do it – Force India might be one of the form packages again at Monza after their Belgium revelation. Can Tonio improve on his best result – sixth in China in 2007 – in front of a home crowd?
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