https://weather.com/en-GB/weather/5day/l/ITXX0049:1:IT Wet on Friday and Saturday. Dry on race day. One of the situations to follow - Force India. JV not a fan of Perez in Spa - https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/131515/perez-is-EUR%7Edirty-and-ridiculousEURTM-EUR-villeneuve 'Ridiculous' Perez's driving against Ocon was 'dirty' Villeneuve Sergio Perez's "aggressive" driving style that led to his collision with Force India Formula 1 team-mate Esteban Ocon in the Belgian Grand Prix was "ridiculous", says Jacques Villeneuve. Perez squeezed Ocon against the support race pitwall on the run to Eau Rouge, causing contact that gave Ocon front wing damage and Perez a puncture. It was the second time the two collided on the run to Eau Rouge, with the duo escaping the first contact without damage. The stewards decided not to take action after investigation the incident, but 1997 world champion Villeneuve told Autosport Perez "was to blame 100%". "It doesn't matter that it's his team-mate," he said. "Team-mate, no team-mate, it should not have happened between two drivers. "You're not so supposed to put anyone in danger. "You can brake too late, make a mistake, fine, but down the straight you don't weave and squish, you just don't do that. It's ridiculous. "A piece of carbon went outside of the track. You can hurt someone from the public. This has to be stopped. "That kind of move from Perez is not racing, it's pure blocking. "You don't do that. It's aggressive. It's dirty."
Monza's safety barriers given a boost | PlanetF1 : PlanetF1 Many of Monzas safety barriers have been reinforced ahead of this weekends Italian GP, the first time that the circuit will experience the new 2017 cars. New TecPro wall blocks have been installed at Turns 4,8 and 11 while additional tyres, conveyor belts and tube inserts have been fitted to the existing barriers at Turns 6, 7, 9 and 10. Added to that TecPro barriers have been added to the tyre barriers at Turns 9 and 10. There has also been some resurfacing ahead of the grand prix along the main pit straight. This season there will once again be two DRS zones in Italy with the first detection point 95m before Turn Seven with the activation point 210m after Turn Seven. The second is 20m before Turn 11 with the activation point 115s after the finish line.
Qualifying will be Mercedes all 1-2 with ease. We'll be far behind but that shouldn't discourage us. IMO even winning the race will be a challenge and a half, I don't have high hopes. If/when it becomes clear we don't have a chance, or don't have a good enough start, safest thing to do is reduce engine mode and go for 3rd and 4th. That said if there's rain or even better an engine failure for Elton, that'll change everything. However I think Lewis will lead championship after Sunday. Singapore is where we'll strike back, and with hot weather in Malaysia, that should help us too.
+1 - happy to see rain mix things up for practice and qualy and with a dry race could make for interesting set up for the race!
I can't wait to see the next episode of the Alonso-McLaren-Honda saga. Being a fast circuit, the Honda engine will be stretched to its limits, just like Alonso's temper. If the engine doesn't blow up outright, I expect a litany of radio complains from the Spaniard, until he parks the car in disgust around the track, maybe causing a safety car period. Post race interviews should be interesting. To be honest, I am more exited by that than the race itself. Will Hagawaga commit hari-kiri at last?
Agreed - Hot temperatures suit the Ferraris. Sunday's predicted 23/24°C air temperature does not bode well for maximum performance.
11:51 Force India will be implementing a "new team policy" at the Italian GP after Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon twice made contact at the Belgian GP, team principal Vijay Mallya has confirmed. The pair had previously clashed in Canada and Azerbaijan and Ocon said Perez had twice tried to 'kill' him on the run down to Eau Rouge in Sunday's race. "We have made both drivers aware of the new team policy designed to prevent incidents like the ones in Spa from reoccurring," Mallya said. "It’s hard to look back on the race at Spa, knowing we had the pace to score a lot of points, and came away with only two. "As a team, we have a responsibility to defend our position and I am sure we will finish the season without any further issues."
McLaren are edging closer to a divorce from engine partners Honda and there are set to be crunch talks this weekend at the Italian GP, Autosport report. The Woking-based team appear to have lost patience with the ability of the Japanese manufacturer to make short-term progress following another disappointing performance at the Belgian GP. With Fernando Alonso having given the clearest indication yet that he will leave the team at the end of the season if they stick with Honda, McLaren are now focused on making the switch from Honda to Renault's power unit. Toro Rosso have been linked with a switch to Honda power in 2018, which would free up a Renault engine for McLaren, and it is claimed the Italian team have set a deadline of this weekend's race in Monza for a decision to be reached. (Full story - external site)
11:26 Niki Lauda has hinted Mercedes will now treat Lewis Hamilton as their 'No 1' driver after Valtteri Bottas fell 41 points behind championship leader Sebastian Vettel with his fifth-place finish at the Belgian GP. "This giving away of points must stop now," he told RTL. "I was champion by half a point, so I know exactly how important every single point is when you count them in the end. "I know exactly what we need to do. Bottas did not have a strong weekend at Spa so it is already clear that Lewis has a better chance for the championship. "If Lewis had not given away those three points in Budapest, he would now be only four points behind Vettel."
He came off looking badly this weekend. Id be happy to leave Perez where he is or out of F1. Poor decision matrix that guy employs. He is fast becoming old news. Id take Ocon over Perez. Perez has money and I think that gives him a nice false sense of entitlement.
I may be bias here, but I think there is nothing wrong with Perez. He may have slightly less potential then Ocon, for sure, but he is usually a steady driver who has scored regularly for Force India. In my opinion, Ocon was responsible for the 2 clashes at Spa; there was just no room where he decided to attack Perez. You don't aim at a narrowing gap between a moving car and the wall to pass an opponent. He tried that TWICE, and was lucky to get away with it, IMO. Stephan Bellof paid with his life when he tried that move against Jacky Ickx at the same spot. Ocon is a fast driver with probably a good future, but hare-brained moves like that don't do him any favour.
Perez was blamed live on SKY by the team principle from the pitwall for the second incident. Perez was very very stupid. In the future he should think of the team first and then his career. He's not about to join a major team. That's not going to happen.
I see a lot of 2011 Perez in him this season. Not what he needs. Not making wise decisions on who to fight. Ocon isn't innocent in all this. The problem is they both have a thing to prove: Ocon wants to show the world his talent, Perez doesn't want to be beaten by a rookie. Ocon was furious on the radio after he thought he got shafted by the team at Spa. He could've backed off a little and go for a proper run on the kemmel straight. Instead he went for first opportunity. With DRS Perez would've repassed him at Kemmel anyhow. I can actually forgive the first corner clash, Perez had I think Hulk on the left of him, Ocon was being opportunistic. They both had enough warning and it cost them plenty this season. It's a good thing for them that Williams upgrades have failed and they're now horrendous in qualifying, so their 4th spot isn't directly under threat.
+1 Ferrari will have Leclerc. Red Bull never going to happen. Mercedes? They're happy with Bottas, only thing I can see happening there is Verstappen, and that's a BIG if. Even if Lewis had a shock retirement, that'll be Verstappens seat immediately, so Bottas will still have that seat. Force India is about as good a team he'll find himself in in the foreseeable future. I like his consistency but there's a good bunch of drivers in F1 and coming into F1, so he'll best do what you say: Prove loyalty to his team now and make sure stays in F1 rather than thinking of advancing his career to big teams, since none will ahve him.
His failure at Mclaren is still fresh and his time at Force India this year only emphasizes his weakness and ability he lacks to compete above the Force India level.
Yep. On other news: Ferrari could introduce their new engine with 3d pistons in Monza at earliest. (though at .9 oil burn...of course)
Exactly. In contrast Perez and Hulk raced hard against each other but rarely clashed, they were peers and there was a level of mutual respect. Ocon is fast and ambitious, Perez feels threatened by him.
Pirelli suspect strange tyre vibrations seen at the Belgian Grand Prix will continue in Italy this weekend, but the supplier is still looking for an explanation as to why. (Motorsport)
Italian GP - Expect heavy & thundery showers, some prolonged, on Friday & Saturday, but it looks mostly dry on Sunday for the race.
