F1 returns to the Temple of Speed — the Autodromo Nazionale Monza for the 2024 edition of the Italian Grand Prix. The 16th round of the championship will see the drivers return to dry-weather conditions throughout the weekend after a pretty windy and slippery outing at the Dutch Grand Prix, last week.
As per the weather predictions, Friday practice will see blue skies with a 0% chance of rain. Things are likely to get a bit cloudy come Saturday, however. That being said, the risk of rain is forecasted to be less than 20% and hence, all the teams should expect to be running in the dry.
This will give all the teams the chance to collect valuable data for qualifying and the Grand Prix on Sunday — which is also expected to remain dry. Throughout the weekend, the temperatures are expected to hit highs of around 34 degrees Celsius and lows in the region of 21 degrees Celsius.
A new trophy, a new Podium Cap, a new asphalt for the #ItalianGP You can read everything here: https://t.co/IxwiTZ93Gl pic.twitter.com/8VdXwgjbvQ
— Pirelli Motorsport (@pirellisport) August 27, 2024
In terms of strategy, the weather is not all that is going to influence the decisions on the pit walls. The track has been re-surfaced in certain areas and hence is expected to be less abrasive than usual. However, with newly laid asphalt also comes higher track temperature, as per Pirelli.
Given the clockwise layout of the circuit, it is also expected to be the harshest on the left-fronts of the cars., Just like last year, the three compounds for the weekend will be C3 (hard), C4 (medium), and C5 (soft) — the softest from Pirelli’s range. So, it will be a race of optimally managing the tires with chances of overheating as well due to higher temperatures.
Moreover, Monza also has one of the highest pit lane loss times at around 23.71 seconds. Thus, a one-stopper would be the quickest strategy on paper.
The last eight Grands Prix at Monza have produced a 50% chance of a Safety Car — which could very well factor into the strategies of some of the teams who would like to start on the softer compounds at the start. Track evolution is also expected to be high owing to the new tarmac and hence, some teams might prefer going on aggressive strategies for the entire weekend.
