Since Imola, Shell has introduced two new fuels to the team. The fuels powered Ferrari to 133 World Championship points and nine race wins in the ten races that followed.

Ferrari’s fans, the tifosi are notoriously passionate in their support of the racing team. In the light of Ferrari’s exploits since their last home race, the reception the World Champions can expect is liable to be loud and colourful.

Monza is one of the fastest tracks in the world. When Peter Gethin edged ahead of Ronnie Peterson to win by 0.01sec at Monza in 1971 he set the average race speed at 150.754 mph, it was, and still is, a world record. It is unlikely that the record will ever be broken either for that matter as it was set at Monza before chicanes were brought in. As the speeds grew, so did the accidents and Monza was becoming dangerous. Chicanes around the circuit slowed the entry speeds into the fast long Curva Grande and the first Lesmo corner and safely improved as a result.

Regardless of the chicanes however, Monza is still one of the fastest tracks on the planet. Cars will top 220 mph three times each lap. That is 159 times during the race. Such stress on the engine asks a great deal of the engine. With Shell protection, Ferrari has won at Monza 3 times since the two reformed their partnership in 1996. A lot of this success is due to the engine protection Shell has provided the Italian marque in that time.

“The circuit is very fast and the cars don’t run much downforce,” explains Shell’s Global Business Manager, David Barnes. “What this does mean is that the radiators have a good supply of cool air running through them. This cools the oil that is working hard in the fast engine, keeping the engine cool and protected.”