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Italian Grand Prix Facts & Figures
 

 

  
Italian GP Facts & Figures
 
* Including last year's win by Juan Pablo Montoya, WilliamsF1 has six victories to its credit at the Monza circuit. For BMW, the 2001 victory was the second success as Nelson Piquet won in 1983 during his Championship winning year in the BMW powered Brabham.

* The Monza circuit has hosted more Grand Prix events than any other circuit. The track opened in 1922 and celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. The 2002 race will be the 53rd Italian Grand Prix held at Monza with only the 1980 race being held at Imola.

* The Monza circuit is situated in a Royal Park at the edge of the town, which itself is a suburb of Milan. Over the years numerous changes have been made to the circuit and in 2001, the first chicane was dramatically re-profiled, while minor changes were made to the chicane after Curva Grande. Originally the circuit had very steep banking and some of this can still be witnessed only a few hundred yards from the pits. For this year the Paddock and the podium have undergone renovations during the winter. The paddock has been broadened and the podium is now suspended over the start/finish straight.

* The circuit is 3.600 miles (5.793 km) long and the 53 lap race will be 190.614 miles (306.764 km) long.

* The lap record was set last year by Ralf Schumacher in an FW23 with a time of 1m 25.073s (245.140 km/h). Juan Pablo's 2001 pole time was 1m 22.216s (253.658 km/h).

* At Monza, single stop strategies with a pit stop between lap 26 and 38 are common. Tyre degradation is classified as low to medium.

* Juan Pablo Montoya and Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) shared front row on last year's grid, newly crowned World Champion Michael Schumacher, and his brother Ralf lined up in second row.

* Ralf Schumacher has an excellent record on the Monza circuit as he was fifth in his first Grand Prix in 1997, and has been on the podium for the past four years. Juan Pablo is contesting his second Grand Prix at Monza.

* The 2001 Italian Grand Prix was not an altogether a happy event. Taking place just a few days after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the Formula One community remained in shock, in common with the rest of the world. BMW WilliamsF1 Team wore black arm bands in condolence. Under the circumstances, there was a debate about not staging the event or even changing the grid to a rolling start. However no agreement was reached among the drivers and the race went ahead as usual. The podium ceremony was not a traditional celebration as a mark of respect to those who had suffered in the terrible events of September 11th.

* The 2002 race will start at 14.00 local time (12.00 GMT) on Sunday, 15th September.
 
 
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