[Official] Italian Grand Prix 2024

[Born Racer]

One of the biggest points of interest this weekend will be witnessing the progress of Franco Colapinto in the Williams. Albon is a really good yardstick nowadays, I guess.

[S griffin]

I don't envy Colapinto. He's been thrown in at the deep end and a lot of the media attention won't help. Especially as Williams need to justify their replacing of Logan with him.

Another thing to watch will be how Antonelli gets on in his first practice session

Seems the drivers aren't happy with the changes to the kerbs here

[Sandgroper]

OH MY Red Flag already for a youngster !

[veeten]

... and there it is. This is what you get from "kids", no matter where they come from. Better learn some patience, Toto...

[bjohnsonsmith]

Super Max has won the Italian GP for the last two years, however this year he hasn't won a GP since Spain. The difference with Norris is 70 and there are 8 races left. I think the pressure will be very much on him.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by veeten

... and there it is. This is what you get from "kids", no matter where they come from. Better learn some patience, Toto...

Webber to Mercedes?

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by Sandgroper

OH MY Red Flag already for a youngster !

Let's hope the car can be repaired for Russell in FP2. Not a lot of time to do it.

[Sandgroper]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

Let's hope the car can be repaired for Russell in FP2. Not a lot of time to do it.

Yep looked like a HARD Hit.

Nice to see Toto wrap his arms around him TBH

[S griffin]

Feel for Kimi there. There was always going to be a lot of attention on him, no matter what he did and then this happens. At least Merc aren’t kicking him when he’s down

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by veeten

... and there it is. This is what you get from "kids", no matter where they come from. Better learn some patience, Toto...

"You can't win anything with kids?"

[v8supes]

See that nonsense in the F3 qualifying with almost the entire group of runners stopped between the two Lesmo corners to avoid giving anyone a tow? Pile up at the back.... When are the FIA going to act on this stupidity?

[E.B]

Four laps into his F1 experience, and only on his 2nd ever timed flyer..... Hopefully the damage incurred and any rare upgrade parts damaged do not impact on Russell's weekend.

[S griffin]

Sounds like Kimi needs a bit more time before he gets his big shot with Merc

[EastonNeston]

Kimi is currently P1 in F2 qualifying.

He's a very talented driver, given time and opportunity he'll come good.

[S griffin]

Of course he’s talented, we just need to be a bit more patient with him. And he probably needs to be a bit more patient too

[veeten]

Then, there's Colapinto... did everything the right way, didn't try to overimpress but made good laps and returned useful data. If he repeats this kind of performance the rest of the weekend, folks will commend Vowles for making the correct decision, and possibly saving the season for Williams.

[Guthrie]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Super Max has won the Italian GP for the last two years, however this year he hasn't won a GP since Spain. The difference with Norris is 70 and there are 8 races left. I think the pressure will be very much on him.

I expect a great battle between McLaren, Red Bull, and Ferrari throughout the weekend. Mercedes also looked decent in practice as we saw Lewis Hamilton top FP2. All these four teams have come into the Italian GP with upgrades to their car with Ferrari leading the way with 9 updates. They look to be doing everything they can to get the best possible result in their home GP.

[Teretonga]

Initially it looked like Little Kimi had made a horrendous error but then some reality dropped in.
Who else lost the back end but saved themselves? Colapinto, Sainz, Leclerc, and one or two others had minor squiggles.
Then Magnussen went off with a similar situation.
The track is actually creating an issue because the new surface isn't helping drivers create enough heat in the rear tyres resulting in sudden snaps when entering the apex of the high speed corners. The tyres load up but if not hot enough snap or maybe even snap back even if they are hot enough.

We;ll know more tomorrow after Q3 and qualifying but if that is the issue then little Kimi is not to toally blame
Maybe he expected too much of the tyrew too soon but it was a qualifying type situation, a build lap then a fast one

At the time of the accident his first sector a was a personal best (so faster than his first one) then the second sector was purple (on his second ever timed lap in a GP practice session and beating is teammate (Lewis who had just set fast of the morning....

If anyone wondered why Toto was so accommodating, then that was one of the reasons why.

Colapinto was steady, smooth, competent, and created no problems for Williams.

So two debuts at Monza and both made an impacrt of one sort or another....

[bathurst77]

I felt for Kimmi. THere was a lot of hype, a lot of "next super star" going on and of course italian in Italy.
The pressure to perform was huge and he is still young, inexperienced and wouldnt be ready for this focus.

He did a couple of very good laps then he pushed a little too hard and got bitten.
A few other drivers had similar loses but got away with it If it had of not made contact he would have been able to strap on new boots, but thats the luck of the draw.

As Toto said, you got to expect this from a young learner. And its easier to teach him to pace himself than speed up.

I do remember a number of years ago, a young driver was nicknamed Crashstappen. I wonder what became of him?


Any how we cant have modern F1 without a driver named Kimmi.

[EastonNeston]

Kimi is now confirmed for 2025.
If Mercedes sign Verstappen for 2026, I'd expect George Russell to be looking for a new drive.

[cameronpoe]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

Kimi is now confirmed for 2025.
If Mercedes sign Verstappen for 2026, I'd expect George Russell to be looking for a new drive.

Another possibility Toto has bet his reputation on an 18 year old , on the basis of some guys with large brains who can read data , but can’t get inside the drivers personality , I will be certain that at Ineos and Mercedes board level it will be okay Toto your call , but quid pro quo will be Toto will be resigning if it doesn’t work .. going to be a massively interesting 2025 F1 season . If I had to bet I would say George will outlast Toto !

[bjohnsonsmith]

Norris on back to back poles and a McLaren front row lock out. Only 7th for Super Max.

[antnee]

Less than 2 tenths covering the top 6 - are we in for a very tight race?

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

Kimi is now confirmed for 2025.
If Mercedes sign Verstappen for 2026, I'd expect George Russell to be looking for a new drive.

Either Ferrari replacing a retiring Hamilton or Audi would be my bet so nothing to worry about - unless off course the new wonder boy doesn’t work out

[chillibowl]

Have to say I enjoyed that grid walk..simple with more old faces over celebs du jour. love/hate BE!