Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Italian Grand Prix

  • Albon out of Italian GP, De Vries in

    Williams driver, Alex Albon will be missing the rest of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix after being diagnosed with appendicitis, with former Formula 2 and Formula E champion Nyck de Vries standing in for him.

    In the free practice sessions yesterday, Albon finished a promising 10th in FP2 and 11th in FP1 as Williams’ straight-line speed appeared to put them in the fight for points in Monza.

    However, ahead of the final practice session today, Williams announced the Thai driver will not be taking part in the remainder of the weekend.

    De Vries ran for Williams in FP1 at the Spanish Grand Prix and was at the track in Italy this weekend to perform similar duties for Aston Martin. As a result, the 27 year old will be making his Grand Prix debut this weekend racing alongside Nicholas Latifi.

    Williams Racing can confirm that, after feeling unwell this morning and seeking medical advice from the FIA and local hospital, Alex Albon is now undergoing treatment for appendicitis. Following on from this, we can confirm that the team’s Reserve Driver Nyck de Vries will drive in place of Alex for the remainder of the Italian Grand Prix weekend. Alex is in good spirits and the team wishes him a speedy recovery.

    A statement from the team.

  • Italian Grand Prix

    Our third race in three weeks is here! And it’s one of the most prestigious races of the year! It’s the home Grand Prix of Ferrari, and I can’t wait to see the Tifosi in action once again!

    Last year, it was a McLaren 1-2, the year before Gasly won his first race, and the year before that Leclerc won at home for Ferrari. Can we expect a crazy race again this year, maybe a first win for someone? *cough Russell cough*

    Who needs a good weekend-

    I think Ferrari will be wanting a good weekend especially at home, but if Charles wants to win this weekend he will be wanting to close down the gap to Max, 8 races left and 109 points between the pair. Not only this Leclerc will be wanting to build a gap on Perez as they are sat on the same points.

    Bottas will be hoping to get some big points on the board, he is only 13 points behind Alonso in the Drivers standings so it isn’t that big of a gap if he scores every race weekend.

    The battle between 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th in the driver standings is heating up as they are separated by 4 points those being Kevin Magnussen, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 9th-

    • Free Practice F3- 08:15am – 09:00am (BST)
    • Free Practice F2- 09:25am – 10:10am
    • Free Practice 1 F1- 13:00pm – 14:00pm
    • Qualifying F3- 14:30pm – 15:00pm
    • Free Practice 2 F1- 16:00pm – 17:00pm
    • Qualifying F2- 17:30pm – 18:00pm

    Saturday 10th-

    • Sprint Race F3- 09:35am – 10:20am (BST)
    • Free Practice 3 F1- 12:00pm – 13:00pm
    • Qualifying F1- 15:00pm – 16:00pm
    • Sprint Race F2- 17:00pm – 17:45pm

    Sunday 12th-

    • Feature Race F3- 07:35am (BST)
    • Feature Race F2- 09:05am
    • F1 Race- 14:00pm

  • De Vries, FP1 run with AM

    Nyck de Vries will be taking part in FP1 for the third time this season with a third different team, he will be taking Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin in the first practice session for the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.

    The 27 year old, ran in FP1 for Williams in place of Alex Albon at the Spanish Grand Prix, as well as subbing in for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in France.

    As per the 2022 regulations, each team needs to allocate two practice sessions to field a driver that has not competed in two Grand Prix. Aston Martin are yet to announce who will be taking part in the remaining practice session.

    I am really looking forward to driving for AMF1, particularly at such a legendary circuit as Monza. It will be my third FP1 session of the season, and in the third different Formula 1 chassis, and these opportunities have given me a fantastic insight into how Formula 1 cars and teams function and operate. I hope I can bring a fresh perspective to the AMF1 team and can undertake a run-programme that proves beneficial to us both.

    Nyck de Vries on his FP1 session.

    We are delighted to welcome Nyck to our team, and we look forward to working with him at Monza. I have watched Nyck’s career with great interest – he drove brilliantly to win the Formula 2 title in 2019 and underlined his class by winning the Formula E World Championship in 2020/2021, so we are looking forward to gaining his perspectives and insights about our car. His achievements show that he clearly deserves a shot at Formula 1 – and, hopefully, this opportunity to get behind the wheel of the AMR22 will allow him to showcase his abilities to the wider world.

    Team Principal, Mike Krack.

  • Monza Tyre Allocation

    It’s a big weekend for both F1 and Pirelli as we are in Monza at the Temple of Speed. As well as Pirelli enjoy their 150 year anniversary at home.

    But, onto other matters, Pirelli have chosen the tyres for this weekend which are- C2 (Hard), C3 (Medium), C4 (Soft).

    Eliminating the natural understeer tendency of the current cars is a challenge at the slow corners in Monza, with a strong rear end needed to achieve a perfect balance through the fast sections.

    Traction is important to ensure a good drive into the flat out straights from the slower and more technical parts of the circuit: another well known characteristic of Monza.

    The low downforce settings with a specific low-drag package, means that the focus is more on mechanical grip from the tyres.

    t’s a big event for us as we enjoy our 150-year anniversary at home, where Monza also celebrates its first century! So we are looking forward to a big festival of motorsport in Italy, which we can rightly feel very proud of as we equip the most sophisticated and efficient cars in Formula 1 history with 18-inch tyres. Monza is well-known for its high speeds and some fast corners where it’s important to have a car with perfect balance. This year’s tyres should lead to less overheating at the rear on a track where the cars run low downforce and often use slipstreaming to gain a tow. With no sprint race in Monza this year, the teams will head into the grand prix with a bit less information than last time, which means that the strategic approach will be somewhat different.

    Mario Isla, Motorsport Director.

    Formula 2-

    The Medium and Soft tyres are nominated for Formula 2 this weekend. Each driver has five sets of slick tyres to use across the race weekend. The Sprint Race will be lasting 21 laps, and the Feature Race on Sunday is 30 laps.

    Formula 3-

    Drivers have three new sets of Soft tyres, plus another set of mediums carried over from the previous round. The Sprint Race is 18 laps and the Feature Race 22 laps.

  • Haas to run GIO

    Ferrari reserve, Antonio Giovinazzi will return to Formula 1 as he runs for Haas in FP1 at both the Italian and United States Grand Prix.

    The Italian driver lost his race seat at Alfa Romeo at the end of 2021 after three seasons with the team. He then embarked on a racing career in Formula E with Dragon Penske Racing whilst dovetailing the Ferrari F1 reserve role with Haas driver Mick Schumacher for this season.

    The team announced the news ahead of this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix – the first race after the summer break. Haas announced Giovinazzi would test the VF-22 at Monza and COTA, with Ferrari keen to give the Italian some time in the 2022 spec machinery.

    This isn’t the first time the 28 year old, has performed such duties with Haas before, having completed seven FP1 sessions in 2017.

    However, Haas will still be obliged to make their car available for two further Free Practice 1 sessions this year under rule 3.12.2 of the Sporting Regulations. Haas reserve driver Pietro Fittipaldi is eligible for this as he has only raced twice for the team in 2020.

    We’re happy to welcome Antonio Giovinazzi back to the team for the two FP1 outingsWe’re happy to welcome Antonio Giovinazzi back to the team for the two FP1 outings. Ferrari were keen to give Antonio some seat time in a current-spec Formula 1 car on a race weekend and we were naturally happy to assist. We enjoyed a similar situation back in 2017 with Antonio and Ferrari – the clear difference between then and now is the experience he’ll have gained competing for the previous three seasons in Formula 1 and the feedback he’ll be able to give us in Italy and America. I’m looking forward to seeing Antonio again and having him back in the paddock with us.

    Haas Team Principle, Guenther Steiner.

    I’m so glad to have the chance to drive again in official F1 sessions. Besides simulator driving, it is important to test a true car and I can’t wait to put my suit and helmet back on. It’ll be an opportunity to get confident with the new generation cars – it’s the best way to be ready if I were called as reserve driver. Driving on challenging and exciting tracks as Monza and COTA makes it even more thrilling. Thanks to Haas F1 Team and Scuderia Ferrari – I’m looking forward to giving my contribution to the team that counted on me already in 2017.

    Antonio Giovinazzi on his FP1 sessions.