F1 Possibly to Race on the Monza Bankings in 2022

[Andrew Harper]

I think from my point of view it's just cool that it's still there, would be nice if they re-installed the sections that were knocked down to make it complete again.

I've visited Brooklands about half a dozen times and it always saddens me that so much of it was lost at least in Monza's case the majority of it is still around

If you want to see racing around there, rent, YouTube or buy Grand Prix. That film is probably one of the best "documentaries" of old Grand Prix circuits, the Monza sequence makes me wince slightly whenever I see it, the bumps and speed they must of reached was incredible.

 

[Andrew Harper]

i'd rather see them fix up the banking and hold a nascar race

Restrictor Plate free of course!

 

[Kevin Bradley]

Monza isn't used just for the F1. Would have been already closed by years in that case.
The circuit hosts several series and events. The banking has its sense and it has to be restored anyway to preserve it. I think in the end they will try to kill two birds with one stone and spend the money to make it suitable for modern racing.
You guys are thinking at cars running at full speed in the exterior side of the turn, but that won't happen anyway. Modern cars will use the inside of the banking, like in Daytona road course. If between the track course and the trees there is enough space, they can enlarge the asphalt stripe and build a wall, making the inside of the turn even less steep

Yeah, fair points @gianlucaP. It would be very interesting to see how the old section could be incorporated back into the modern circuit using a 'Daytona style' infield approach. My comments were more directly aimed at Leon's opening article where it suggests quite clearly that the ACI's idea is to reuse the banking in its original form using the old layout. That just isn't going to happen in modern f1, not without some huge modifications anyway (and even then I can't see it happening, personally).

...Oh yeah and I'm well aware Monza has a rich history in sportscar racing, touring car racing, other open wheel formulas etc as well as F1

 

[jonelsorel]

Maybe mister Angelo Sticchi Damiani, chairman of the ACI (Automobile Club d'Italia), will be glad to remember the 2005 US Grand Prix. F1 tires aren't designed to cope with the forces generated on banked tracks (Monza's oval has 30 degrees; Indy had 9). That is unless ACI sponsors Pirelli to make a new, tougher, tire set specifically for the Italian Grand Prix.

 

[bgil66]

is this fake news again?

 

[Reik Major]

Let's imagine they leave the layout untouched, make it all save, make the surface smooth and so on... What would racing there look like then?

F1 has so much downforce, which would mean a very, very long and boring full throttle section. It would look cool for a moment but create big gaps, because of even slightly differences in engine power.

 

[fastfab]

The formula one is deep enough into crisis than I'm pretty sure that those kind of crazy idea could actually happen.

 

[2112]

it...

Let's have a little competition to see what a Tilke-designed banked track would look like.

It would look like two bobby pins end-to-end. Then they would add a chicane in the middle of the banking to slow the cars down and make for better passing opportunities.

 

[2112]

Monza isn't used just for the F1. Would have been already closed by years in that case.
The circuit hosts several series and events. The banking has its sense and it has to be restored anyway to preserve it. I think in the end they will try to kill two birds with one stone and spend the money to make it suitable for modern racing.
You guys are thinking at cars running at full speed in the exterior side of the turn, but that won't happen anyway. Modern cars will use the inside of the banking, like in Daytona road course. If between the track course and the trees there is enough space, they can enlarge the asphalt stripe and build a wall, making the inside of the turn even less steep.

At Daytona half of turn one banking is used and all of the turn 2 banking is used. The only places where they run inside of the banking is the entry onto the turn one banking from the infield course.

 

[AvGas]

They wouldn't just use the old track, they'd have to rebuild the hole thing. There's no way it's going to pass any F1 safety regulations.

They would need to rebuild to take more weight (because of down force), and figure out a way to catch cars crashing out at the top of the curve.

Overall I don't think it would make much difference to an F1 car, down force would mean it would be no different to taking any other long corner. Modern building would mean a smooth surface. It would be a lot of money for nothing really.

What I want to see is an upside down corner to see if these cars really have enough down force to drive upside down, banked curves are so last century.

Yes, and let's have the track surface in orange, so it will finally, literally be a Hot Wheels track.

 

[Matthew327]

Nope.
Not gonna happen.

 

[TomcatMF]

I think it would be great to run on the oval section again. That is one of my favorite parts of the movie Grand Prix to see the cars running that part of the track.

I swear the way some of you guys talk about the potential safety issues, you might as well wrap the cars in bubble wrap and make the bodies out of nerf material. Racing is inherently dangerous, but Oval racing in the U.S. has made big strides in improving safety as much as possible. The best development is the use of the SAFER barrier which helps to dissipate the kinetic energy when a car hits the wall. They could add this to the banked sections of Monza.

As for the bumps, I think it would make a terrific challenge for the teams. That is where great racing comes from, when the setup has to be compromised to deal with very different sections of a circuit. This will put more of the racing into the drivers hands as well. Plus it will slow down the cars a bit, therefore making it safer to go through the banking. You could also have a chicane at the entry point to the banking to slow the cars down (and create braking points and overtake opportunities). I really hope this happens.

 

[Turk]

Racing is inherently dangerous, but Oval racing in the U.S. has made big strides in improving safety as much as possible. The best development is the use of the SAFER barrier which helps to dissipate the kinetic energy when a car hits the wall. They could add this to the banked sections of Monza.

I don't think the banking that oval tracks in America have would be a problem, F1 cars have raced on them haven't they?

The Monza banking is a lot steeper. Currently if you make a mistake you can potentially be flung off the top of the banking because there's very little to stop that happening.

 

[TomcatMF]

I don't think the banking that oval tracks in America have would be a problem, F1 cars have raced on them haven't they?

The Monza banking is a lot steeper. Currently if you make a mistake you can potentially be flung off the top of the banking because there's very little to stop that happening.

Daytona has a banking angle of 31 degress (where NASCAR and IMSA run), vs Monza's 30 degrees. I believe Talledega is the same as Daytona in this area too.
IndyCars highest banked track is Texas Motor Speedway which has 24 degrees. IndyCar requires the teams to run a very low downforce package at this track to make the drivers lift through the turns and keep the speeds down. Interestingly the first time they were going to race at this track they had to cancel the race because the g-forces were to high for the drivers to deal with over a race distance due to the speed of the cars at that time (some were near blackout).

It's all about keeping the speeds down on the high banking. As I said above, if you make the cars slow down before entering the banked sections they won't be able to carry as much speed. Plus the nature of Monza being a low downforce type circuit will also keep the speeds down. The bumps even more so as the ride height will have to compensate for this, and therefore reduce the downforce even more. Also by 2022 the rules package may roll back the downforce levels to something much lower than what we see now, since that will produce much better wheel to wheel racing as the cars will be able to follow each other.

 

[Sim Strata]

I could see a few current F1 drivers calling in sick for Monza 2022.

 

[gianlucaP]

ì

 

[T'PAU]

Would be great for anything but F1 races. I doubt that modern F1 cars really could handle that steep banking with it's relatively small radius, even if the pavement is buttersmooth.
Would be nice but won't happen 99%!

They really should concentrate in the plans to get rid of that ridiculous first chicane by making it straight and leaving out parts of curva grande using another old part of the track, leaving into a more smooth chicane at the end of curva grande.
That was already planned for 2017 but somehow cancelled (financial reasons?).
http://img.speedweek.com/i/5/51b649fd5f9b44b19e09c91dd54bdf01.jpg?preset=i750

 

[Jan Larsen]

Will never happen for F1, or any single seater using the Halo, drivers cant see out on bankings. For anything else, sure go ahead, think about the historical value of racing something like GT's.
But whoever is going to pay for it is going to pay a lot. As in a complete restoration from ground up.

 

[Icky427]

put em all in kia rios and let em loose.

 

[M-Bimmer]

The medical center would be very packed while the Marshalls probably picking up bits and pieces (& maybe body parts for those who did not make it) from all over the place....or will we have closed cockpits by then?