The Grand Prix weekend in the Netherlands has only just ended and the next race weekend is already upon us. The Formula 1 circus travels to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. At the Haas team, they are certainly looking forward to the 'unique' weekend in Italy.
Steiner: 'Monza one of our home races'
The Haas team is American, but, because of the engine supplier, Guenther Steiner also sees the Grand Prix in Italy as a home race. "Monza is one of our home circuits, I think we have quite a few now. Monza is always a place with such history and fans, it’s just a special place when you drive into the park and circuit, it’s always good to go there. We have a lot of team members in Italy at our Maranello base and for them, it’s a good chance to see a race and see the team. It’s one of the good races throughout the year," Steiner said ahead of the weekend.
Magnussen looks forward to Monza
Haas driver is looking forward to the unique Monza. "I like Monza, it’s one of the iconic races of the year. It’s a historic track, an old track, it has a lot of character. It’s unique with the long straights and the low downforce that we run there, it’s a real slipstream race. It’s unique in every way – the way of your driving style, the way you race other people, and it has a fantastic atmosphere as well. With all the Italian team members at Haas, it’s also one of the races where we want to do a little bit extra as it’s a semi-home race in some ways"
Monza will also once again use the new, sustainable qualifying format. This requires driving on hard tyres in Q1, medium tyres in Q2 and soft tyres in Q3. Magnussen does know a better way to hold a sustainable qualifying session.
"I don’t think it made a big difference in Hungary, other than a little bit less running in practice. I think a good way of reducing the number of tires we use is probably to look at the qualifying format and look at doing a shoot-out, just one lap per driver, like back in the day. That would save four sets at least."
Hulkenberg expects difficult weekend
Haas' other driver, Nico Hulkenberg, does not think the Monza circuit suits the characteristics of the Haas car. "It’s a fun, very fast track and one that’s steeped in history – you can’t escape it and the Tifosi are super passionate. It’s a low downforce circuit though so I don’t expect an easy ride this weekend, but we’ll go out there and collect more data which hopefully can help us for the rest of the season," Hulkenberg said ahead of the Italian Grand Prix weekend.
