Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Monza

Image source, Pirelli Motorsport

The Italian Grand Prix has been a one-stop race ever since pit stops returned to F1 in the 1990s, but this year there is uncertainty on strategy. The new track surface has significantly increased tyre wear, and both a one-stop and a two-stop are viable strategies. Choices will depend on how the tyres behave in the race.

The medium tyre - the likely start choice - has been suffering from graining, where the surface tears and reduces grip, particularly on the front left but sometimes also on the rear left. Once this starts to happen, pace suffers, and lock-ups become more likely. And once a tyre has a flat-spot, it really needs changing because it can enter into a vicious circle of more and more lock-ups and deteriorating pace.

Pace management can reduce the onset of graining, but with the long straights and zones for the DRS overtaking aid, that’s not so easy to do. Some may even choose the hard tyre at the start to try to avoid this - but no team has done any running on it yet, other than three laps by RB’s Yuki Tsunoda on Friday.

The high tyre wear also means a safety car could have a major impact on the race, and swing it more towards a two-stop, because of the likely high offset in performance between fresher tyres and older ones. Pit-stop loss time is high at about 25 seconds under green flag conditions, or 13 under a safety car. At the start, there is expected to be more grip on the racing line, where pole position is. And tyre ‘marbles’ - bits of torn rubber - could be a factor off line as the race goes on.

As well as the superstar drivers there are plenty of icons from other sports at Monza.

Four-time grand slam winner Carlos Alcaraz is clearly making the most of some unexpected free time after being knocked out of the US Open, while legendary Italian striker Alessandro Del Piero and Tokyo Olympic 100m champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs are also smiling.

Unsurprisingly, the Ferrari garage seems most popular today...

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc starts in P4, he said before the race: "Tyre management is going to be a big thing for sure and we've got to do our job on that but we've done our homework now, it's all up to the pace of the car. We will give it our best and as I said we will do everything we can to try and do a one-two.

"It will be very difficult, the competition is there but together I'm sure we can do something magic and especially for the birthday of Carlos [Sainz], that would be the best gift."

Image source, Getty Images

Charles Leclerc, and his dog, Leo, have been mobbed at every turn during the Italian Grand Prix race week, such is the passion the tifosi have for their Monegasque driver.

The 26-year-old stood on the top step of the podium in front of the adoring home crowd in 2019 but he starts just outside the top three in fourth place today.

While he's closer to the podium spots than his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz, Leclerc was disappointed not to be in the battle for pole, adding: "P4 was the best we could do, but it is frustrating".

Zandvoort gave Leclerc a welcome gift of a third-placed finish from sixth on the grid last weekend, with those extra points moving him to within 33 points of title-chaser Lando Norris.

Image source, Getty Images

Carlos Sainz is celebrating his 30th birthday today - but will he have something else to celebrate by the end of today's Italian Grand Prix?

The Spaniard was on pole position this time last year and he held off the Red Bull of Max Verstappen for 14 laps before a lock-up into the first chicane handed the Dutchman the opportunity to pass. Sainz eventually finished Ferrari's home race in third place behind Verstappen and second-placed Sergio Perez.

He starts fifth on the grid but said "tomorrow is a completely different day" when it comes to landing a podium on Sunday.

"Graining is going to be the order of the day, everyone’s been struggling a lot with [tyre] degradation since yesterday so I think it’s going to be a very different Monza," said Sainz.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Monza

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton has been struggling in qualifying all season - his style of braking late and attacking corners does not sit well with the current generation of cars, whose under-floor aerodynamics demand a less aggressive approach.

"I’ve got to find myself for qualifying somehow," said Hamilton, who has taken victories in the British and Belgian Grands Prix. "My racing pace is great. I’ve just got to figure out how to get back to my old self.”

But Hamilton said he did not expect to be able to fight through the field to contest victory, saying his target was to get past the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who qualified fourth and fifth, and contest for the podium.

Time for the Italian national anthem. No oddball shenanigans for this one, just a man singing, accompanied by some fine musicians. Fantastico.

Image source, Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton will be swapping his dark race suit for a vibrant shade of red next year when he becomes a Ferrari driver in 2025, but the seven-time world champion's final qualifying outing for Mercedes at Monza is one he wishes to forget.

The 39-year-old was quickest in second and third practice and looked strong heading into the top-10 shootout. But any thoughts of claiming an 105th pole at his soon-to-be new home were dashed when he ended the session in sixth place.

"It was just absolutely ridiculous from my side. Completely unacceptable. And it’s totally me. Nothing else. Nobody else," he said on Saturday.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Hamilton, who has won five times at Monza, said he could have been on pole or the front row and added: "Qualifying has been my weakness for a while now, and I can’t figure it out. I’ll keep trying."

Image source, Getty Images

George Russell starts in P3 and has spoken to Sky Sports: "It's very hot, a lot of unknowns, it seems to me like a lot of the tyres were graining on Friday, and I think if you push them too hard you will be falling off a cliff. Nobody has ran the hard tyres so that's the big unknown, you may have a lot of degradation on the medium, but if you put the hard on you just keep on driving."

On the long straight at the start, he added: "It will help [if we can get past the cars ahead] but Lando Norris is so quick at the moment, the McLaren is without a doubt the quickest car and they are doing a really great job, but there's a chance and we will be going for it.

"If we don't get ahead of the McLarens I think the fight for the podium is well and truly there, Max Verstappen is also a bit of an unknown, it's been pretty strange to see their lack of performance in the last few races. You never wish anyone bad but it's nice to be in this fight, and a few of us being able to compete with Red Bull now."

Image source, Getty Images

McLaren have locked-out the front row for the Italian Grand Prix but Lando Norris hasn't experienced the best starts from his front-row spots so far, losing his P1 position on the opening lap three times.

The 24-year-old was back in control of the Dutch Grand Prix by lap 18 but is he worried about another shaky getaway off the line in Monza?

"You of course review things, and I feel like we have made progress so far with our practice launches - just crack on and do our best," said Norris.

George Russell, who launched his Mercedes up to P3 on his final run in qualifying, thinks if both Norris and Oscar Piastri make a good start "it will be difficult [to beat them]."

Andrew Priestley: Team orders to finally come into play at McLaren today to prioritise Norris’ ability to close the points gap to Verstappen in the title race?

Richard Browne: Fairly sure Red Bull know very well why their dominance has disappeared. Can they readapt the car is the issue.

Image source, Getty Images

It's a McLaren one-two with Lando Norris leading the pack, and his team-mate Oscar Piastri in second. On the team orders chat, he told Sky Sports: "It was normal conversations like we have every week, we are happy and excited as a team. Obviously, we also want to do well in the Constructors and it's just as much of an opportunity to score a one-two today, we will have to work well.

"We are relaxed, obviously, I know which way round order wise I would love it to be, we are both out here and racing and we're both racers and we want to go there and do our best. We also know we have to work together as a team if we want to beat the others because I'm sure the others are going to be quick today.

"We're allowed to race with the background knowledge that we don't want to screw each other over, we don't want to lose time especially again with the knowledge on if the tyres make it to lap 10, 15, 20, we don't know yet. In the interest of the race we still need to help each other out and not waste time and cause more pain that what's needed."

Image source, Getty Images

The sun is shining above the crowds in Monza, with temperatures reaching a high of 34 degrees today and a very low risk of any rain hitting the circuit.

Sunglasses, a big hat, factor 50 and stay hydrated.

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Lando Norris pointed to Max Verstappen’s strong pace on the race-simulation runs in Friday practice, and said the Dutchman's car also looked good on tyre wear.

All teams have been suffering from a phenomenon known as 'graining', where the tyre surface tears and reduces grip, on the newly resurfaced Monza track.

If Norris is to have a hope of beating Verstappen to the championship, he needs to gain an average of just over seven points a race - the difference between first and second places.

As he is unlikely to be able to win all the remaining races, it effectively means Norris needs other teams and drivers to push Verstappen down the order in as many races as possible.

Norris said: "Their race pace looked very strong and [they are] on the good side of the graining.

"For some reason, [Verstappen] didn't take the same steps in qualifying. In Q2 he was quick, quicker than me even on the used tyre, and even his gap to [team-mate Sergio] Perez was not as big as it normally is. I'll try and make the most of that."

Image source, Getty Images

Is Oscar Piastri taking a few pointers from grid godfather Fernando Alonso?

McLaren could be above Red Bull in the constructors' championship tonight if things go their way, but reaching that goal will require clean teamwork from both their drivers.

Piastri took his maiden win at the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break but the celebrations were slightly muted after a team-orders controversy unfolded at the Hungaroring.

Lando Norris was told he would need to call on Piastri later in the season and eventually let the Australian through, so what will McLaren's strategy be in Monza?

If you were Piastri and you ended up leading the race with Norris behind in P2, would you let your team-mate through, or take the win for yourself?

Thumb us your thoughts below.

Image source, F1

In previous seasons, Max Verstappen starting seventh on the grid would not ring any alarm bells in the Red Bull camp. But, with the Dutchman and his team left scratching their heads as to why the car's dominance has dropped, Verstappen faces a tough day at the office to try to claw his way back to the podium places.

Lewis Hamilton in sixth and Charles Leclerc in fourth may be lining up ahead of the reigning world champion, but both drivers were equally as downcast about their own performances, with seven-time world champion Hamilton going as far as saying "I’m not very good" after his Q3 showing.

There were smiles, however, over at Williams and Haas, as Alex Albon qualified in ninth and Nico Hulkenberg took P10.

Image source, Getty Images

Can Lando Norris put together another weekend like the Dutch Grand Prix and convert his pole position into a race victory?

The McLaren driver says Monza offers him a "a good opportunity" to make up further ground on championship leader Max Verstappen but he added: "I expect him to come through and be behind us probably quite quickly."

Norris won by 22 seconds at Zandvoort last Sunday but the Briton is less confident the team can repeat the same achievement on Italian soil.

"Honestly, when you look back to Zandvoort, you could say, yes, there is enough evidence to say we would have a very strong race - here less so," he said.

"First and second normally translates into a quick race car, but there are more question marks about [tyre] graining and degradation, and [I'm] a little bit more nervous about what could happen. But [I'm] in the best position for it."

Over in the constructors' championship, the gap between leaders Red Bull - who are aiming for a third consecutive crown - and second-placed McLaren has been cut to just 30 points.

Ferrari are sitting in third spot, 94 points clear of Mercedes in fourth and only 34 points off title-chasers McLaren, while Aston Martin in fifth and eighth-placed Alpine both added a few points to their tally after last weekend's racing at Zandvoort.

Image source, Getty Images

This is how the title race looks before we go racing in Italy.

Max Verstappen's lead at the top of the drivers' championship has decreased slightly following Lando Norris' victory by 22 seconds at Zandvoort, but the Dutchman still holds a healthy 70-point advantage over the McLaren driver with nine races to go.

Oscar Piastri may not have made the podium at last weekend's Dutch Grand Prix but the Australian has moved up to fourth in the standings, seven points ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz in fifth.

Image source, Getty Images

Jennie Gow and Harry Benjamin are joined by F1 Academy championship leader, Abbi Pulling, to reflect on yesterday's qualifying.

The team discuss Lando Norris’ pole position, whether Max Verstappen can recover from seventh and hear from Andrea Kimi Antonelli, after the 18-year-old Italian was confirmed as a Mercedes driver for 2025.

Listen on BBC Sounds as we go along here