2021 Italian Grand Prix - Monza, Sep 10 - 12

[El Scorchio]

I'm not convinced.

[PlatinumZealot]

Give up seven points here, and get 10 points later? Are three points worth it?

[basti313]

Wow, Mercedes are considering taking engine penalties in Monza! They really have issues with degradation... That looming engine penalty for Max is not that bad hindrance after all!

https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/69484 ... penalties/

Well...first we need to consider rule Nr.1: Never believe what Toto says.

Then...I mentioned it in the RB team thread when we discussed the engine penalty there. Merc is marginal with loosing the FP1 and 2 engine and just two engines left. My clear suspicion is, that RB can take a "cheap" penalty if they are anyway well behind Merc and maybe even behind McLaren. Just some few point loss for the 10 place penalty.
The new engine would put them immediately on a better position than Merc, as the milage in sum on the two engines would be way less than what Merc needs to do.

Now if we see this from the Merc perspective...why not cover this move?
If they are well ahead of RB in Q and maybe even well ahead of the rest of the field...why not go back to P10 with Ham and see where they end up with him. There is only Lando to keep him from P1 if my prediction is correct. The rest is either underpowered or a "friend" like Russel. As long as Ver is going back to P13, no harm is anyways done and he has less traffic to clear. This would give a good engine situation compared to Ver in the end and not put them on the back foot.

In this regard I expect no one to announce the engine swap before the last minute before the race.

[Wouter]

[RZS10]

Happy for him

[GOAT]

Would be nice if Verstappen and Hamilton both take their PU penalty here in Monza.

It will give others a shot at the win + definitely it will cause for great racing through the field by Max and Lewis.. while at the same time they are battling each other.

[Unf]

Yep. Max definitely should cover Hamilton in terms of new engine implementation. Especially on such track like Monza, where overtaking is quite easy.

[BlueCheetah66]

Yep. Max definitely should cover Hamilton in terms of new engine implementation. Especially on such track like Monza, where overtaking is quite easy.

Don't think its a great idea for them to take it here at Monza, given how easy it can be to get involved in contact at Turn 1 and 4. If the US GP is expected to take place, it would make much more sense to take the penalties there.

[fritticaldi]

Alfa Romeo will have a new livery for Monza to celebrate Nino Farina"s WC in 1950. Check the photos out at Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen on Facebook.

[NL_Fer]

Redbull can run till Saudi Arabia with current two engines. long enough to try to get admission to repair the broken one.

[Mogster]

Yep. Max definitely should cover Hamilton in terms of new engine implementation. Especially on such track like Monza, where overtaking is quite easy.

Is overtaking easy though without being able to switch engine modes?

Last year we saw both Max and Bottas stuck behind much slower cars for quite some time. With the skinny wings DRS is quite ineffective. Outside of the couple of laps after the re-starts there was hardly any overtaking last year.

Wouldn’t somewhere where DRS is effective be better, Sochi, COTA?

[NL_Fer]

They could choose to run a higher engine mode this race for better overtaking. Shouldn’t be big impact on engine life if the unit is still fresh.

[Just_a_fan]

Yep. Max definitely should cover Hamilton in terms of new engine implementation. Especially on such track like Monza, where overtaking is quite easy.

Why is Monza easy to overtake? Overtaking requires a tow. A low drag circuit has, almost by definition, a small amount of tow. DRS is similarly less effective.

[Jolle]

They could choose to run a higher engine mode this race for better overtaking. Shouldn’t be big impact on engine life if the unit is still fresh.

It will all be a game of chance. If the field is close together, they will go for a mode that will push the engine more. If from free practice, it's obvious they will fight for second, they will tune it down a bit (and the same applies if they are clear number one).

[codetower]

Yep. Max definitely should cover Hamilton in terms of new engine implementation. Especially on such track like Monza, where overtaking is quite easy.

I don't think anyone will/should bring in a new PU this week unless absolutely necessary. There are still 9 races to go. If they've already burned through 2-3 engines in just 13 races, expecting 1 PU to go the final 9 (plus twp more sprint races) is a lot to expect.