“There could be a record of overtaking, as if it were MotoGP”
Monza is the ‘Temple of Speed’, a mythical track full of straights where you can accelerate hard for 75% of the lap. The perfect place to see the F1 at full speed. Here, last year, Verstappen set the lap record with the fastest average speed of all time: 264.681 km/h for a 1’18”792. However, this year, Monza will be very different.
Current F1 engines have 50% electrical energy, which runs out very quickly. There are no curves in which to recover energy and it is expected that the F1 cars will lose that electrical power in the middle of the straights.having to recharge batteries and losing speed. Some predict times between 4 and 5 seconds slower and in qualifying, the key may be in the slipstream games between teammates.
But the situation is paradoxical: the pilots emphasize that the race could be full of uncertainty and be a festival of overtaking.
They will be artificial, yes. A pilot pressing a more power button to switch to another without battery. But with many constant position changes, lap after lap.
All this, because the car that attacks on a straight will run out of energy and will once again be vulnerable. Escaping from a car with similar pace seems difficult. “The game of overtaking and being overtaken will probably reach an all-time high here, as if it were MotoGP,” said Mike Krack.Aston Martin track manager.
The yo-yo game, to the maximum
After these statements, MD asked Carlos Sainz. “I think it will be difficult for the leader to escape, because he is the one who is breaking the air, but I think that groups will be formed and we will get into the group that corresponds to us by pace, and then, once there, it will be difficult to escape. It could be an interesting grand prize,” he explained.
“More overtaking? Yes, but I think if it happens, on the next lap they’ll overtake you again. So it depends on what you consider overtaking to be… It’s more like a yo-yo. It can be a good circuit for that,” he said.
It depends on what you consider overtaking to be… It’s more like a yo-yo. It could be a good circuit for that.
Williams driver
Whether that is better or worse than before depends on each person’s opinion. Some will prefer the Monza of the previous rules, with more speed and maximum attacks on the straights and strong braking with battles at the limit. Others, greater uncertainty. “I prefer the classic Monza with an engine that doesn’t cut you off halfway down the straight, but I’m sure that even if it has negative points, it will have other positive ones: the race is still fun,” said Sainz.
In response to this newspaper’s question, Max Verstappen I had more doubts about that ‘yo-yo’. What I was sure of was that it was “something painful” run like this “It is what it is. I have accepted it mentally. I have prepared myself for it. You can’t go at full speed and you have to be delicate with the accelerator, let’s put it that way,” he said. For Alonso, it’s all about the engine and he believes that Kimi Antonellistarting last due to an engine change, “will finish third.”
You can’t go at full speed and you have to be delicate with the accelerator, let’s put it that way
Max made magic in 2025 by having even less spoiler than his rivals and having to fight with his car to avoid losing it in a curve. This is how he achieved pole. This time, that won’t be possible. It will depend on the engine and the straight aerodynamic efficiency of each car in a weekend that is still very special.
Weekend of tributes and special events
Ferrari sports a decoration in honor of Schumacher and Hamilton arrived at the circuit yesterday with their brand new F40, the car of his dreams, with the goal of becoming the “first black driver to win with Ferrari in Italy.”
And Disney has brought a ‘Lightning McQueen’ in the form of a pace car. But above all, the stands will be packed to cheer on those from Maranello with the unique passion of the ‘tifosi’.
Maybe the fun will end the criticism. Or perhaps next week, in Madrid, everything will be forgotten, as happened with the loss of sensations on the part of the drivers in legendary corners of Silverstone, Suzuka, Albert Park or Spa-Framcorchampson routes where this regulation suffers the most.
In others that are less energetically demanding, such as Madrid, or as it was, for example Zandvoortthe pilot can once again make a difference. And there, the complaints will take a backseat, waiting for the adjustments that will be applied to the regulations for 2027 and 2028.
