Everything you need to know about the Italian Grand Prix

Set for the third race in as many weeks, Formula One travels to Monza this weekend for our final European outing this season.

‘The Temple of Speed’ has seen no shortage of memorable moments, especially in recent seasons, so strap yourselves in as we serve up everything you need to know about the 2022 Italian Grand Prix.

As with most old-school venues we visit, Monza has seen many different variations, with much of the former 10km layout that featured banked turns still prominent in this lush parkland setting.

Nowadays we battle it out on the 5.79km long circuit which sees drivers navigate just 11 corners, seven of which make up the three chicanes that break up the high-speed course.

The current design has been in use since the turn of the millennium, incorporating some of the most iconic corners anywhere on the F1 calendar such as Curva Grande, the Ascari chicane and Parabolica.

Monza remains the fastest track we visit in terms of average speed and has been so since 1991. Drivers will be at full throttle for nearly 80% of the lap, so engine wear can be high.

Alex Albon picked up a points finish on our last visit to a low downforce circuit and remains in good spirits ahead of the weekend.

“I’m excited for Monza,” our No23 shared, adding: “Especially after a good couple weeks where the team has made further progress, fine tuning the current package on the car.

“This circuit has similar characteristics to Spa so I think we can take some learnings from that weekend and hit the ground running.”

Across the other side of the garage, Nicholas Latifi is also looking forward to returning to Italy this weekend, an event he has finished P11 at in both his outings, saying: “I always look forward to going back to Monza as it’s a very cool and historic track to race at.

“It’s a great track for racing because of the long straights so it always makes for close and exciting wheel-to-wheel action.

“The new generation of cars will present a unique challenge as it will probably be the lowest downforce anyone will have ever run with them to try to optimise the straight-line speed, which has tended to suit our car better at similar tracks this season.

“Hopefully that’s the same this weekend and we can have a strong one.”

We caught up with Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance, who offered a technical breakdown of what to expect when cars hit the track on Friday.

“Monza marks the end of the European season and the end to a triple-header that has taken in Spa and Zandvoort.

“Whilst Monza shares some characteristics with Spa, it is still a very different track that requires a very different approach.

“Low drag is clearly important, but the corners cannot be underestimated and there is only so much downforce that can be removed to sensibly achieve a competitive drag level.

“We have a good baseline from Spa, and we’ll use Friday to experiment with some alternative rear wing options to see how far we can reasonably lower the drag level.

“The tyre compounds are the same as we raced in Spa, but the behaviour will be different with the left-hand tyres in particular exposed to high stress in Monza.

“All three compounds could be viable race tyres, and with overtaking a little easier in Monza than at Zandvoort, there could be a range of strategies at play on Sunday.”

The original circuit was built in 1922 by 3,500 workers who were financed by the Milan Automobile Club.

Both our racers are previous podium finishers at Monza in junior categories, with Nicholas Latifi finishing third in the 2017 Formula 2 feature race, a result matched by Alex Albon in the 2018 equivalent.

We started on the front row at Monza as recently as 2017, when Lance Stroll became the youngest front row starter in F1 history aged 18 years 309 days, a record that still stands.

Williams Racing have taken six P1 finishes at Monza, with our most recent victory courtesy of Juan Pablo Montoya in 2002.

The 1971 edition of the Italian Grand Prix saw the closest finish in F1 history as Peter Gethin led Ronnie Peterson by just 0.01 seconds as they crossed the line. In fact, the top five were only covered by 0.61 seconds.