The Official 2016 Italian Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[stevesingo]

Well here goes a blatant and poor plagiarisation of Dr Z

UK Broadcast Timings (and local time)

All sessions are live on Sky F1 and Channel 4.

Session	Day	Sky F1	Channel 4	Session Start	Local Time
Practice 1	Fri	0845	0855	0900	1000
Practice 2	Fri	1245	1255	1300	1400
Practice 3	Sat	0945	0955	1000	1100
Qualifying	Sat	1200	1155	1300	1400
Race	Sun	1130	1200	1300	1400

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza


Live timing for all sessions available here:

http://www.formula1.com/en/f1-live.html

Info such as lap times, PU use, technical reports, stewards decisions etc for the weekend will appear here:

http://www.fia.com/events/fia-formula-one-world-ch...

Weather forecast:

http://www.myweather2.com/Motor-Racing/Italy/Monza...

The tyre choices requested by the teams:

Edited by stevesingo on Thursday 1st September 21:45

[norush]

Great job, thanks

[Jasandjules]

That's a cracking job, well done.

Now, will Lewis be able to crank the wick up even higher on his engines as he has a few to play with now I wonder...

[ellroy]

Picking up that baton was always going to be a brave thing to do, but not thankless!

Thank you and bloody good effort.

[Dr Z]

Fantastic! All the info I need for a race weekend there. Thank you!

[Hungrymc]

Good stuff OP. Thank you for stepping in. Great start to the thread.

[Rude-boy]

Hamilton will most likely win but Spa suggests that Ferrari and Red Bull are not just going to roll over, especially if one Merc or both, fluff the start.

Max will have the opportunity to prove if he is listening to the constructive criticism or if it's going to be a question not of if but when.

Would like to think Nico will bring his A game to Italy but right now Lewis would need to fall down the steps from his jet before even Nico could believe he'll beat an on form Hamilton over the rest of the season.

[Z3MCJez]

Thanks Stevesingo!

Start is critical at Monza as it's a *LONG* way to turn 1 and there's almost always some contact somewhere in the pack at that corner given the huge stop required. After that - well Monza hasn't produced the best races recently, with DRS making passing pretty straightforward on the main straight, but current aero making it pretty tough everywhere else. I expect Ferrari to be turned up to 11 and praying for it to be hot. I don't see Red Bull finding life as good in Italy as they did in Belgium, but expect Force India to be very competitive - possibly even in front of the Ferrari on merit, at least in qualifying.

With those 4 teams taking the top 8 places, the battle is on for the last two point scoring positions (plus any drop outs). McLaren and Williams will think they have the best shot, but the Haas looked better in Spa than it had recently and I think they may sneak ahead of the Williams.

At the bottom, I don't see Renault, Sauber or Manor doing anything notable here other than getting eliminated in Q1. I don't expect much from the Toro Rosso either and they need to be bending Ferrari's ear to get an updated power plant or the rest of this year is going to be miserable for them. I presume they're going back to Renault next year, but haven't seen that anywhere ...

Jez

[suffolk009]

Quali: HAM, ROS, RAI

Race: HAM, RIC, VET

I just can't see Rosberg getting all his ducks in line to manage a win - if HAM is on form.

[Derek Smith]

stevesingo said:

Well here goes a blatant and poor plagiarisation of Dr Z

I appreciate that. I've got too used to it. I am grateful.

I am in Italy for the GP, in Amalfi, some distance from the race, but I'll be sitting in with a group of foreigners which will include a few Italians. I'm really looking forward to the experience. I'm going to take my McLaren cap, after dusting it off of course. My wife, keen F1 supporter, wondered when team orders will come into play for Merc. I have no idea, other than I think that in certain circumstances they will.

Looking forward to this one. Despite the good result for LH in Spa, I think he still has a massive task ahead. NR might well think that being forceful is his best option, and we all know how well that has turned out in the past.

The RB/Ferrari battle should be good at Monza. The latter will, hopefully for the organisers, get a good grid position to encourage the crowds.

Will Vettel have been spoken to? Ferrari must have been a bit miffed, as we all were no doubt, to have three of the contenders pushed to the back of the chain.

Let's hope it is a clean(ish?) fight for the first chicane. A few years ago when I used to watch races with a crowd we had lottery on how many cars would take the short cut on the first lap. The rules were not defined and there was much argument about whether one wheel off track was sufficient.

Thanks again for the detail.

[lee_fr200]

1. Lewis
2. Ricciardo
3. Button

[suffolk009]

lee_fr200 said:

1. Lewis
2. Ricciardo
3. Button

I admire your optimism.

[geeks]

Looking forward to watching live, my personal racing exploits have prevented this most of 2016!

Hoping that the new Honda in the McLaren gets wound up nicely here. However I expect as per the norm, front row battle my the Mercs, RB and Ferrari to squabble over who comes next and from there the battle will be between McLaren, Williams and Force India (reckon we will probably have one of each in Q3). I would like to think Manor could squeeze a decent result here, the car is good in a straight line, Renault and Sauber at the back..

Unless it rains of course. I haven't checked but has anyone seen the forecast?

[Smollet]

Will Verstappen continue to drive in a reckless fashion and if so will the stewards have the balls to do something about it?

[Redlake27]

I expect a Force India podium.

They've always gone well here, have a low drag car and have chosen more mediums than any other team.

[Flooble]

Thanks for the great thread start OP.

It's going to be interesting as presumably Rosberg will be using his Spa engine (already quite worn, with Spa being a power circuit) while Hamilton can presumably take advantage of one of his "new out the box, delivery miles only" units.

[Norfolkit]

Derek Smith said:

NR might well think that being forceful is his best option, and we all know how well that has turned out in the past.

It's one thing being forceful when you're 40+ points in front, a double DNF suits you, bit different when you're behind in the points, even by a little.

[Derek Smith]

31 degrees, cloudy for both Sat and Sun..

[NM62]

Good thread start SteveSingo.

I'm going for 1.HAM 2.VES 3. RIC

The rest of Top 6 perm any from ROS, HUL, PER , RAI , VET

[Drive Blind]

Smollet said:

Will Verstappen continue to drive in a reckless fashion and if so will the stewards have the balls to do something about it?

Well, his behaviour that's annoying the other drivers is a late move in the braking area. With a big stop into turn 1 I would suggest he'll have plenty of opportunity to use it this weekend.

He doesn't think he's doing anything wrong so unless somebody with influence has had a quiet word with him then he'll continue. I'll also bet in private Max and all his supporters will love noising up 'old man' Raikkonen.

Then again, do it to a red car at Monza...
Horses head?