This year Monza has been completely resurfaced, with some small changes to the track that could have a significant impact. The first chicane has seen some tweaks, especially for a widening of the road surface, but one of the most important changes will be the kerbs, which have been installed from scratch.
Although no F1 cars have yet driven on the modified track, several drivers, including Daniel Ricciardo, took to the track for a pre-weekend walk around, checking out Monza’s new look. However, few were impressed by the new kerbs, which are much lower, flatter and less technical than in the past, when it was important to be able to attack these areas but without breaking up the car too much at high speeds.
An aspect that the Racing Bulls driver also mentioned after seeing the new kerbs this morning, which didn’t thrill him, because it’s as if the track had lost that “old school” flavour and part of its character.
Circuit detail
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
“They changed the kerbs. I did a lap on the track this morning. I can’t say I’m very impressed because I think some elements have lost a bit of the character of the circuit,” Ricciardo said.
“Obviously, many of you have been following F1 even longer than me and maybe it’s just as a driver, because we drive it and we live it. So maybe for us it makes sense, I don’t know if it makes sense for the outside. But the kerbs make a circuit unique and when you put flat kerbs and the like, you lose something.”
Ricciardo stressed that, especially in the second chicane, having such low kerbs will now make it easier to find the limit, whereas in the past the risk was to end up in the gravel or against the wall after a bad set-up: “For example, in the second chicane, you went over the kerb and then there was a thin strip of concrete and then the gravel.”
“(In the past) it was always about sliding the tyres on that bit of concrete and using the whole track, but not too much. It’s quite bumpy as well, it’s part of Monza. I think it was, I don’t know, kind of an old school bit. We haven’t done it yet. But the resurfacing looks really good. The asphalt is really nice. But I’m a bit disappointed with the kerbs,” added the Australian.
Circuit detail
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
The changes to the kerbs include the Ascari, one of the most technical sections of the track, something that surprised and disappointed the drivers, who were not consulted about the changes: “Now it’s very flat. So in the end, because we can probably use a lot more kerb, it will be wider and easier to ride than in the past,” he said.
“So maybe, I don’t want to be negative, maybe this means we can follow more closely because it’s easier to ride. But I don’t know. I think we still underestimate the kerbs and what they give to a circuit, how they change the feeling, the character, the approach. We’ll see tomorrow. Obviously I’ll enjoy riding here. But it seems like it’s lost a bit of that old school character that it had.”
Ricciardo’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda echoed the Australian’s sentiments, but was unsure whether that would translate into an advantage for on-track duels. “It’s a smoother track, flatter, flatter kerbs. So it feels like Monza has lost a bit of character, I think. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know,” he said.
“I think that was a kind of Ascari, you know, the first part of a kerb that you can use aggressively. Some cars can’t do that because they don’t have as much downforce as the others and they have to compromise on the line… but I don’t know what it will be like on this track, but let’s see, I think.”
The kerbs in the Ascari area until last year: now they will be flat
Photo by: Erik Junius
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen also believes that even the smallest changes could take away from what the drivers love: “I love this track. It’s one of those races where you really feel like you’re in a Formula 1 race, even some of the new ones are great, but they feel new, almost like the new Formula 1 and you feel like you’re going back in time a bit and I like that,” he said.
“So it’s a very nice track and a very fun race and I just hope that the track is still like Monza, obviously I think it will be, but sometimes little changes are made to the tracks and they lose their characteristics.”
Alex Albon was on the same wavelength: “I’ve seen it, it seems to have lost a bit of its character. I think some of the kerbs that have been put in are a bit more generic and I think, in general, Monza had a specific style of track,” said the Williams driver.
“It’s always been bumpy, but that wasn’t a bad thing and the kerbs were quite unique. Let’s see how it goes, I think there’s a lot to explore in FP1 and FP2 with these kerbs, whether you can use them or not and how much you can use them will be a big question mark, but let’s see.”
Circuit detail
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, reserved judgment until he gets out on the track in his Mercedes on Friday morning. “I don’t want to judge it before I’ve driven it, maybe we’ll come in and it’ll be the greatest thing and the greatest changes ever, so I don’t want to judge too quickly.”
“Ultimately, we liked it a lot before. For years it was super bumpy in a lot of places and that was a huge part of the character of this track, even the kerbs have been pretty much the same for over 20 years, so it’s a big change, but ultimately it’s the same track.”
Leclerc instead welcomed the resurfacing, especially because with these cars it will be much easier to face the Brianza challenge compared to the last two years, given that the generation of ground effect cars tends to travel very low: “As for the asphalt, at a certain point you have to redo it, because you can’t keep the same asphalt forever. At a certain point it will have too many bumps and with the current F1 cars, which turn very low, the track had to be resurfaced, so I’m in favor”.
“On the kerbs, it’s true that some tracks have historic kerbs and, even if they have been changed, like in Canada for example, they have kept the exact same shape. But I haven’t tried the new kerbs in Monza yet, maybe they will be better than those that were there in the past,” added the Ferrari driver.
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