08/09/2021
NEWS STORY
Lance: "The Italian Grand Prix is one of my favourite races on the calendar. I qualified on the front row in 2017 and finished on the podium last year. There's no other circuit quite like Monza; it's incredibly fast, you must think about slipstreaming in qualifying, and the races can always be turned upside down in an instant. We know what it takes to perform here, and we'll be looking to pick up the fight again."
Sebastian: "Monza means a lot to me. The performance gaps between the teams tend to be smaller in Monza because the slipstreaming effect is so powerful, and overtaking is quite straightforward. This time, we're returning to the Sprint format - we learned a lot about it at Silverstone, so we'll be aiming to make the most of all opportunities in Monza."
Cognizant's Keys to the Race
The Italian Grand Prix has traditionally played out as a one-stop race thanks to a pitstop costing around 25 seconds to complete, compounded by the high-speed lap times on track. In 2020, the strategy was upended by both a Safety Car and a red flag, helping Lance to secure a podium, underlining how interruptions can decide a race. Tyre allocation for Monza is the C2, C3 and C4 compounds for the seventh time this year.
The run to Turn One can be make or break. It's a 610m sprint from pole to Turn One, the third-longest of the year. With a tight chicane immediately following, there's a significant opportunity to gain places, but a bold and risky overtake can also bite back.
While 2020 featured just 25 overtakes, it was largely due to the disrupted race. In 2019 and 2018, it was far more representative with 39 and 41 respectively. Interestingly, just 56% of overtakes in the last three years used DRS. Key overtaking spots are the long run to Turn One and under hard braking at Turn Four.