2011 Italian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Vettel leads on 259 points, 92 ahead of Webber in second. Alonso is third on 157, followed by Button on 149 and Hamilton on 146.

Previous race

Vettel won the Belgian Grand Prix from pole ahead of Webber for Red Bull’s first one-two finish since Istanbul. Rosberg led the early stages but could not hold off Vettel once DRS was activated. Alonso struggled with his tyres after leading at one point and fell back behind Button, who recovered from 13th on the grid. Schumacher, starting from the back after losing a wheel on his qualifying out-lap, also recovered to fifth. Senna crashed into Alguersuari on the first lap and Hamilton made contact with Kobayashi at Les Combes — both drivers admitted responsibility for their incidents.

Between-race developments

Heidfeld and Renault have reached a legal settlement: his contract has been formally terminated and Senna will drive for the team for the remainder of the season. The appointment brought four new sponsors to Renault: Brazilian telecommunications company Embratel, oil and natural gas firm OGX, Gillette and pharmaceutical company Auden McKenzie.

Virgin Racing has introduced a major upgrade package after shelving it ahead of the British Grand Prix: a complete overhaul of the MVR-02 including a new engine cover, sidepods, exhaust and rear floor.

After tyre blistering affected several teams in qualifying in Belgium — with Pirelli pointing to Red Bull running camber settings outside their recommended parameters — the FIA has now made Pirelli’s camber limits mandatory. Any team failing to observe them faces referral to the stewards under Article 2.3 of the technical regulations for dangerous construction, with the risk of exclusion from the race.

Track changes

The FIA moved the kerbs at both corners of the della Roggia chicane back five metres, giving drivers more room to navigate without being forced over the kerbs.

Two independent DRS zones are in use at Monza for the first time, each with its own detection point. One zone covers the main straight; the second runs along the straight between the second Curva di Lesmo and the Variante Ascari chicane.

Tyre choices

Pirelli brings the white-banded medium as the prime and the yellow-banded soft as the option.

Practice

FP1 was quiet early — only two drivers set times in the first 30 minutes — before the field spread out. Hamilton ended the session fastest, a second clear of Button and a further half-second ahead of Vettel. Button reported the circuit had been resurfaced since 2010, causing the cars to slide. Several Lotus and Virgin entries were plagued with technical problems throughout.

Vettel returned to the top in FP2, just three hundredths faster than Hamilton. Hamilton encountered Alguersuari while on a fast lap; Alguersuari was then impeded by Sutil and forced onto the grass. Buemi crashed at the exit of Parabolica. Ricciardo was only able to set a time in the final three minutes after an electrical fault; Kobayashi stopped at the end of the session; Rosberg struggled with an undiagnosed Mercedes problem.

Telemetry from the speed trap revealed Vettel — despite fastest in FP2 — was the slowest car on the circuit through the speed trap, recording 327.9 km/h against Petrov’s benchmark of 347 km/h. Red Bull were running higher downforce settings, a consequence of the twin-DRS zone layout allowing the team to carry more wing and rely on DRS for straight-line speed.

Monza is the 60th running of the Italian Grand Prix at the circuit. A special trophy — the Coppa del 150° Anniversario dell’Unità d’Italia — is awarded to the winner in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italian unification.