Italian GP Betting Tips
Take Pole Position At Monza with PLANETF1 And Betsafe
After a chaotic restart in Belgium, it was like the F1 season never went away following the summer break. All of the debris on track will have barely been cleared up before attention turns to another iconic circuit in Monza this weekend.
Round 14 in Italy is almost upon us, and Betsafe have joined forces with Planet F1 once again to bring you up to speed as just nine points now separate world championship leader Lewis Hamilton and his team-mate Nico Rosberg with eight races remaining on the calendar.
Rosberg Dominates, Hamilton Rescue
As expected, Mercedes and Hamilton decided to take their medicine all in one go after his disastrous start to the season saw him fly through his available engines parts before penalties had to be enforced. The Brit ended up taking a 55-place grid demotion, but it was far less serious than it sounds.
Mercedes essentially exploited a clear loophole, knowing that Hamilton would only ever have to start on the back row for one race whilst putting him in a strong position from a reliability point of view for the rest of the season.
“I envisage it will be hard to get into the top 10,” said Hamilton prior to starting second to last. “All I can do is to aim as high as possible. A podium feels unlikely but it’s not impossible.”
We will never know whether Hamilton was genuinely concerned or was just coolly keeping a lid on expectations, but what we do know is that his third-place finish was achieved largely because of the chaotic opening at Spa.
Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen all collided at the first corner, Carlos Sainz’s tyre exploded soon after, Pascal Wehrlein went into the back of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen felt the full force of the tyre wall as he flew off the track at 190mph at Eau Rouge.
The action-packed opening brought virtual safety cars and, eventually, the first red flag at Spa since 2001. This was all music to Hamilton’s ears as he quietly moved his way through the pack and found himself in fifth place when the race restarted before going on to finish on the podium in third. As damage limitation jobs go, this was almost perfect.
The red flag was nothing more than a minor annoyance for Rosberg, who took full advantage of his ‘free race’ with Hamilton out of the picture with a calm, controlled performance, finishing 14 seconds clear of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo after a superb middle stint when he was asked to squeeze every last drop out of his car.
After finishing second in 2014 and 2015, Rosberg won for the first time at Spa and for the sixth time this season. It was also his first victory since the European Grand Prix in Baku six races ago.
Away from the podium it was memorable day for Force India, who had two drivers finishing in the top five for the first time since Bahrain in 2014, while it was yet another race to forget for Ferrari with Vettel down in sixth and Raikkonen in a lowly ninth after spending most of the race in another foul-mouthed battle with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who finished out of the points in what was pretty much his home Grand Prix considering the amount of Dutch flags in the sell-out crowd.
Like Hamilton, Fernando Alonso racked up the penalties ahead of the race but finished in a remarkable seventh place after starting last on the grid in an unfancied McLaren car.
What To Expect At Monza
We will find out in Monza whether or not the world championship race is well and truly back on. We now have two Mercedes drivers full of confidence after Spa, and with Hamilton back fighting at the front of the grid again we should have another good, old-fashioned battle between the pair.
The Italian Grand Prix will not be a very warm homecoming for Ferrari, who continue to fall further behind Red Bull as the second-best constructor behind Mercedes. If there is going to be one place for the Prancing Horse to reignite their season then it has to be at Monza.
The continued decline of Toro Rosso looks set to continue as they struggle on with the Ferrari engine from last year.
With other teams like McLaren progressing well with their redevelopments, the rest of the season will be a long, arduous slog for Red Bull’s sister team.
About Monza The Circuit
The Italian Grand Prix and Monza are part of F1 royalty. The race is part of an elite group that featured in the inaugural F1 season back in 1950 and it has been a part of the calendar ever since. Originally built in 1922, Monza was the third permanent race track to ever be made and is referred to by the natives as ‘La Pista Magica’, the magic track. The drivers will hoping to create some of their own wizardry this Sunday..
The Monza circuit boasts one of the highest average lap speeds of the season at 242 km/h, helped by the fact that there are just 11 corners to navigate through on this 5.79km circuit – some of which (like Lesmo and Parabolica) are incredibly fast turns that feed into long straights.
Drivers are able to reach top speeds of 340 km/h, meaning the 53 laps ahead of them will absolutely fly by. There are also plenty of opportunities to get into the slipstream of others, so expect frequent overtaking at Monza, too.
Rubens Barrichello has held the fastest lap record for the past 12 years with a 1:21.046 in 2004, yet in more recent editions of the iconic race the faster laps have clocked in between the 1:24-1:28 range.
Past Winners And Track Suitability
Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have won the last five Italian Grands Prix between them, with the Brit emerging victorious in three of the last four years. In 2015 Hamilton, on his way to a third world championship, completed a second career Grand Slam in Monza by bagging pole position, setting the fastest lap and leading every lap of the race itself. Having won the last two races in a row in Italy, Hamilton certainly sets the standard this weekend.
With Hamilton and Vettel both three-time winners, only two other F1 greats can boast more: Nelson Piquet (1980, 1983, 1986 and 1987) and the grandmaster of them all Michael Schumacher (1996, 1998, 2000, 2003 and 2006).
The German’s five victories all came in Ferrari colours, and it will come as no surprise to see the Italian manufacturers top of the all-time winners’ list with 19 race wins in total.
The Prancing Horse’s last success at Monza came in 2010 when Fernando Alonso, who is incidentally the only other driver currently on the grid to stand at the top of the podium in Italy, lead from pole position to further intensify his thrilling title race with Vettel.
McLaren have 10 victories to their name, while back-to-back wins for Mercedes in 2014 and 2015 has seen them shoot up the leaderboard with six successes in total. A feat that is shared with Williams, who have not won here for 15 years since Juan Pablo Montoya picked up his first career victory in some style.
Focusing again on the current drivers, Rosberg will be hoping for a change in fortune after being classified 17th last year when forced to retire with an engine failure, while Raikkonen has been on the podium just three times in 13 attempts.
About Mark Scott
Mark Scott is a contributor for PlanetF1, the definitive site for Formula One news, features, galleries and live coverage.
