POSTED ON September 09th, 2011
Monza is unique. It’s the fastest track on the F1 calendar, with the cars exceeding 200mph (320kph) on four occasions around the lap, and Mark heads to Italy this weekend knowing he’ll have a fight on his hands.
“We’re expecting Ferrari and McLaren to be very quick at this track,” he says. “Both teams have good records at Monza – Fernando [Alonso] won last year – and there’s no reason to think they’re not going to be strong in 2011.
“Having said that, our one-two in Belgium two weeks ago has given us a bit of confidence going into this weekend. We were quick in sectors one and three at Spa, which is where you reach the highest straight-line speeds, and I think we can be in the mix here. We’re certainly more confident than if Monza had taken place before Spa.”
All of the teams produce special low downforce aerodynamic packages for Monza, but the presence of two DRS zones in Sunday’s race has complicated strategies and set-ups.
“I think you’ll see teams trying different things,” says Mark. “You’ve only got to walk down the pitlane to see that the size of the rear wings varies a lot from team-to-team and that’s going to affect straight-line speeds a lot.”
So far in 2011 there’s been no such thing as a straightforward race. Surprises have been thrown up at every track, and Mark thinks Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix will be no different.
“We’ve been beaten at tracks where we should have been strong,” he says. “Fernando dominated at Silverstone, which is a track that we’ve owned for the past couple of years, yet we were strong at Spa. It’s a bit different this year and this is going to be another difficult race to call.”
Mark, however, is in no doubt about his objective.
“I’ve been strong and consistent all year,” he says, “and I’m sure I’ll get my first win of 2011 before long. Like at the Nurburgring in 2009, it’ll probably come when I least expect it and it would be fantastic to open my account here at Monza.”
Credit: Mark Webber (www.markwebber.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment