"Cato Batista" 04/09/2015 1:01:08 ID #805

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After Spa Francorchamps we are moving to the other great Cathedral of speed in Monza for the Italian GP this weekend, the 12th race of season.

Many relevant news came in the last 2 weeks, from the drivers’ concerns about the safety of Pirelli tyres, the publishing of the team's’ financial figures with Lotus near bankruptcy in the limelight, the drivers’ market, and most importantly for this weekend the list of drivers taking grid penalties for going over their engine allowance.

Both Red Bull drivers RIC and KVY as well as Toro Rosso’s SAI will take on their 6th Renault unit of the season incurring 10-grid penalties, a terrible setback after both teams were so competitive 2 weeks ago in a place where horsepower and top speed is just as demanding as Monza with 70% of the lap under full throttle. All of this leads to the most intriguing question of the F1 world at the moment: will Mercedes supply units to Red Bull (and Toro Rosso) next year?. Will the all-conquering Silver Arrows risk losing their supremacy to the always fantastic Adrian Newey’s creations? The answer is basically NO. With carefully chosen words by chief Toto Wolff to that effect the Germans are saying what we all know: they are afraid of Red Bull with the same powerplants.

Meanwhile Renault is moving closer to take over Lotus to make an official comeback as manufacturers. The Enstone team, fresh from their first podium in the hands of GRO has made public their finances and the numbers are a disaster: they had been struggling financially for at least 2 years and now they are $204 million in the red. Most of its engineering staff are the same since their championship 2005-06 winning years (Renault back then) and they still keep making some of the best F1s in the grid.  The next question is what is going to happen to Red Bull/Toro Rosso if Renault has its own works team?

In the driver's’ market the news are that HUL will remain with Force India but speculation is growing that PER will move to Lotus/Renault to partner GRO if the takeover takes effect. Williams confirmed they will retain BOT and MAS.

Pirelli will be under close scrutiny this weekend after ROS and VET suffered dangerous tyre failures in Spa. At first the italian manufacturer blamed Ferrari for taking a risky strategy when VET covered more than 60% of race distance on the same set contrary to their recommendations, but now they are retracting their first conclusion by saying the blowout on the Ferrari was caused  

by a cut to the tyre likely from a piece of debris or one of the circuit’s curbs and that excessive tyre wear was just one of the contributing factors. With speeds that can exceed 360 kph in the Monza straights and the teams using minimal wing resistance forcing drivers to brake more heavily there’s an ongoing concern of a repeat of the Spa events. Pirelli will bring the same compounds as in Belgium expecting a high degree of wear and degradation with the intent of pushing teams to at least 2 tyre stops on Sunday’s race.

Much to talk about as usual, but at least we’re up to speed to tackle the Italian GP starting tomorrow. Stay put!

Cheers