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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
2002
Italian Grand Prix Race Preview |
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Formula 1 news, results and statistics when you need it |
2002
Italian Grand Prix Race Preview |
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Download the NewsOnF1.com |
Drivers Championship
Constructors
Championship
Will the power of the BMW be enough ?Given that Ferrari were superior to the the rest of the
teams in most of the races this season, it is hard to go against that trend
and predict that the Williams-BMW-Michelin package will be able to match the
Ferrari-Bridgestone package. However, the Monza track is the only track left
on the calendar were a minimum downforce configuration is used, couple that
with the BMW engine power and we could have a close fight between Ferrari and
Williams. Last year Williams had the edge over Ferrari although it was fairly close. Montoya got his first win and Barrichello managed a rare finish ahead of Michael who was distracted by the tragic event of New York and Washington as well as Zanardi's horrific crash in CART a day earlier. Last week all the teams (with the exception of Arrows) were testing at the Monza track. Weather conditions were mixed so it is hard to read much into the times however Pedro de la Rosa set the fastest time over the 4 day period, in fact his time was the fastest on this track this year. Ferrari, McLaren and Williams were also fast during the 4 day session. Ferrari: Once again dominated the Belgian GP
even though they were expected to have some tough competition from Williams,
they didn't!. It isn't expected that they will be dominant here but at their
home race, who would bet against them ? Drivers: Michael Schumacher was in a class
of his own at Spa, here at Monza Barrichello will be a lot closer. Although it
didn't happen in Belgium, if Michael is in front, he'll probably be told to
let Rubens through. Rubens Barrichello couldn't match his team-mate at Spa but managed to finish second thanks to the superior Ferrari package. He will be closer to Michael (if not ahead) here and he may even finish ahead of him on merit. 1st or 2nd place is likely for Rubens. Williams: They appear to be
content on finishing 3rd but no matter what they officially say, this track
suits their package and they should at least be able to stay in touch with the
Ferraris and if Michelin get it better than Bridgestone then expect a Williams
1-2 with McLaren close behind! Drivers: Juan Pablo Montoya returned to form at Spa but only managed 3rd. He is expecting 3rd here in Monza but he could still win it again!. Ralf Schumacher had a poor race at Spa and was lucky to finish in 5th following the retirements of Raikkonen and Trulli. He should do better here. A podium finish is possible. McLaren: They appear to be
recovering from their poor form and have appeared at some stages closer to
Ferrari than Williams. It is unlikely that they will be ahead of Williams here
though and in the race they are the most likely of the top 3 teams to blow an
engine or 2!. Drivers: David Coulthard once again shows that he delivers when it comes to finishing even though he was way behind Raikkonen in qualifying. He may not be superfast but he certainly knows how to bring his car home. If the McLaren can last the distance here, he'll finish in the points. Kimi Raikkonen could finish in the points ahead of David but the reliability of the McLaren hasn't been bullet proof lately and Kimi seems to be harder on the car than Coulthard so chances are that he won't finish this race! Renault: Had 2 engine failures at
Spa, not huge blowups though but still that robbed them of potential points as
Trulli was running in a superb 4th. Their problems will continue here, this
track is tougher on engines than Spa. Drivers: Jenson Button retired at Spa and will probably have the same fate here. Renault look good in qualifying and at the start of a race, then the cars starts having problems!. Jarno Trulli same as with Button, one
cannot blame the drivers if the car keeps failing. Renault are either in big
trouble or are just testing for next season. Sauber: Had a nightmare of a weekend at Spa
qualifying only ahead of Minardi and just one of their cars managing to finish
in 10th despite the high attrition rate. They should do better here and if
enough cars in front retire they could score points. Drivers: Nick Heidfeld was once again out-qualified by his team-mate and had an average race. Last year he qualified in 8th here at Monza but only managed to finish in 11th place after he had to start the race from the pit lane. A top 10 finish is possible. Felipe Massa will once again try to impress. He
drove well at Spa even though he managed to blow up the Ferrari engine at the
back of his Sauber but he was faster than Heidfeld in qualifying and the race.
We'll see if any team will take him on for next year. Jordan: The Honda engines seem to
have a 50% chance of blowing up. Well at Monza, that will be close to 100%. Drivers: Giancarlo Fisichella had a spectacular engine failure during the race however he was outside the points at that stage. A top 10 finish is possible but another retirement due to engine failure is more likely!. Takuma Sato was not much slower than Fisichella at Spa which is surprising as Fisichella is usually fast there. This could be due to Sato's attempts to get recognised to ensure a drive next season (even though Eddie Jordan verbally indicated that he'll retain both drivers) or that Fisichella is not to excited about the prospect of the Cosworth power next year and lost interest in the team. In any case, chances are that the Honda engine will blow!. BAR: They are having the same
problems as Jordan. Panis had 2 engine failures during the weekend at Spa,
they will continue having problems here at Monza unless of course they drop
their revs but if that happens, chances are that Minardi will overtake them! Drivers: Jacques Villeneuve somehow managed to finish the race at Spa but was in 8th outside the points. Even though he finished in 6th last year, it is unlikely that he'll manage to repeat that this year. Olivier Panis had yet another retirement and he had car problems all weekend at Spa. He'll hope that his weekend at Monza will be better but that isn't likely. Another retirement in expected. Jaguar: They appear to be moving
in the right direction. That must be a relief for the team. Testing last week
showed that they could be a threat here so they are an outside chance for a
points finish. Reliability is a big question though. Drivers: Eddie Irvine managed to finish in the points for the first time since the first race of the season in Australia. If the pace they have shown at Spa and during testing continues here, Irvine could finish again in the points. Pedro de la Rosa retired from the Belgian
GP with a suspension failure but even before then he had a poor race. There
must be question mark over his future at Jaguar. Minardi: As in Spa, on this type of track,
Minardi will reserve the last row of the gird. Unless someone gets relegated
to the back due to an infringement they don't have the power to match any
team. Drivers: Mark Webber will have a tough race at Monza in the Minardi. A finish outside the top 10 is likely. Alex Yoong is back after a 2-race break. He should
qualify on this track as it is a relatively easy track and he raced on this
track last year. If he doesn't then expect Davidson to be back. Toyota: Managed to finish in 7th and 9th at Spa.
They could even do better here at Monza. They have also improved their
reliability. Drivers: Mika Salo will be close to the front runners on this track if they get their car right. The Toyota has a powerful engine but lacks on the chassis side which isn't so important here. Salo has an outside chance of finishing in the points. Allan McNish is out of the team next year
and will need to do a spectacular job to grab the attention of another team to
sign him up. That is unlikely though. Arrows: They continue to be in a
deep financial crisis and the longer it takes, the more likely the team will
end up in liquidation. It will be another sad moment in the history for
Formula 1 if that happens. Join
6 'n' Pole and see how your predictions stack up against the others.
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