Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza

Image source, Getty Images

Off-track this weekend, there has been a tasty little spat between Max Verstappen and Nico Rosberg, and in which Lewis Hamilton also got involved. It started when Rosberg criticised Verstappen’s driving at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix, when his Red Bull collided with Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo. Rosberg said on his video blog that Verstappen was “back to his old self”.

Verstappen responded: “he’s the new Jacques Villeneuve in that way with his contrary opinions. Maybe he wants viewers or something, because he does it so often. At the beginning of the year he called me a narcissist, which is very extreme. Part of his problem is that he has no charisma. Maybe he wants to make money with YouTube but he could have earned much more by continuing to drive.” Ouch.

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Hamilton then said on his Instagram: “This has me in stitches.” He expanded on that in the post-qualifying news conference: “I think Max is generally a really funny guy so I was cracking up when I saw it.

“It’s interesting because obviously all the drivers have all been here and know what it’s like being criticised from the public and when [they are] in the sport moan about being criticised by people from the outside. And then when drivers retire they become those critics, so it’s an interesting dynamic. Unfortunately drivers become irrelevant when they retire and ultimate have to hang on to utilise other people’s light to keep them in the light. But that’s the way of sport, I guess.”

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Time for the national anthem - Il Canto degli Italiani - accompanied by a dramatic fly past, featuring planes trailing plumes of green, white and red smoke. A stunning sight.

The 1980 Italian Grand Prix was the only one in the race's history to be held away from Monza, which was undergoing improvements. Instead, it went to Imola, which then earned its place on the calendar as the San Marino Grand Prix until 2006.

It was Nelson Piquet who won the race, by almost half a minute, while Gilles Villeneuve crashed heavily enough in his Ferrari to rename Turn Seven after him.

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Today's race takes place at one of F1's iconic circuits. Italy has been on the calendar every year since F1's inception in 1950, with all but one race at Monza.

Italy's Nino Farina won the first Italian Grand Prix, and the drivers' championship in the same year - in a calendar that consisted of only seven races back then.

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Juan Manuel Correa, the Formula 2 driver injured in the crash that killed Hubert, remains in a critical condition. His parents, Juan Carlos and Maria, issued a statement on their son's condition yesterday.

Above all else today, the one hope is that everyone stays safe. This has been a difficult few days for the motorsport family: The tragedy of Anthoine Hubert's death in Belgium eight days ago was a sombre reminder of just how dangerous motorsport can be.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza

Image source, Reuters

On the other hand, Toto Wolff pointed out that it was not all bad. “I liked the whole thing,” he said. “We are having a discussion. We have lost, for the fans that were present, a climax of the last qualifying lap - but at the end of the day none of us have ever seen such an absurdity. Monza and Spa are very specific with the tow and motor racing has always been about tows, I can see the interesting aspect of it and the various discussions taking place have some positives.”

As for whether the 2019 rule changes were a mistake in this context, Wolff said: “We have seen some spectacular racing. The last five races were great and very entertaining in a way that the tow is something that makes it even more spectacular in my opinion, as long as you avoid the mess we had today. So I think it works, cars are easier to follow. Overall it is not so bad.”

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza

Image source, Getty Images

F1 teams and drivers realised they had embarrassed themselves somewhat with the slipstream shenanigans that prevented anyone but McLaren’s Carlos Sainz getting a final lap in qualifying, as they all tripped over themselves trying not to give each other a tow. They had known it was coming, many said, had discussed it, but they had not expected it to be quite so extreme, or to end up in such a farce - and they expressed sympathy for the fans who had missed out on the dramatic denouement.

The ‘games’ are a result of the increased importance of a slipstream this year because of the increased drag of the cars following the rule changes over the winter, and the fact that a good tow is worth as much as 0.3-0.4secs a lap. “The consequence today was a shame for F1,” Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff said, “and doesn’t do any of the teams or drivers any good.”

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If anyone can carve a way through from the back of the grid, it's Max Verstappen. So what does he think are his chances?

"It’s a long race but you don’t have a lot of time to get through the field because the fastest cars are pulling away," he tells Sky Sports. "We have a good race car so we can definitely move forward. I’m aiming for fifth, so let’s see."

Here's the starting grid - which has taken a bit of working out because of all the applied penalties. But here goes...

McLaren's Lando Norris and Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly have drop back for exceeding their quota for power unit components. Sergio Perez has a new engine, so he drops to 18th.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen has to start RIGHT at the back for failing to set a qualifying time within 107% of the fastest time - he races at the stewards' discretion.

Kimi Raikkonen, as we discussed earlier, starts in the pit lane because of the number of new components he has had fitted to his Alfa Romeo.

Image source, BBC Sport

Andy Richards: Vettel should lead. Not because of contracts but simply is the older and hopefully more mature driver. Leclerc is too young yet for that responsibility.

Matt J Madden: Ferrari's problem isn't the driver line up. Both Charles and Seb are more than capable of winning the championship. Just give them a good enough car to do that!

Kayleigh: Obviously Pastor Maldonado. He did say they had a chat in 2013!

The Sunday Telegraph, meanwhile, focuses on Lewis Hamilton's concerns about safety - a prevalent theme at the moment.

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Yesterday's Q3 fun and games dominated the F1 sections of this morning's papers.

"Monza Madness" is the headline on Mark Hughes' piece in the Sunday Times. There's also a piece by Kevin Eason focusing on Sebastian Vettel's conundrum at Ferrari.

Image source, .

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza

Image source, Getty Images

This has not been Kimi Raikkonen’s weekend.

The veteran Finn - 40 next month - has had two crashes at Parabolica on successive days, and the one at the start of final qualifying - a place in which he pipped Alfa Romeo team-mate to by just 0.002secs - has resulted in him starting from the pit lane.

Alfa have fitted a new engine, of a different spec, to the car for the race, which is a breach of parc ferme regulations so is an automatic pit-lane start.

A five-place penalty for a new gearbox, to replace the one smashed in the crash, is academic in the circumstances.

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A bit of news from this morning: Kimi Raikkonen is going to have to start the race from the pit lane because of the changes that have been made to his Alfa Romeo.

I'll let Mr Benson explain the specifics in the next post - but it's fair to say that it's made working out the starting grid even more complicated.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer at Monza

It’s nine years since a Ferrari won the Italian Grand Prix, when Fernando Alonso beat McLaren’s Jenson Button in a flat-out duel in 2010, and some sense of the eruption that would take place if it happened again on Sunday was apparent from the outpouring of raucous joy from the crowd that greeted Charles Leclerc’s pole position.

While many fans around the world grumbled about being denied the final showdown after the slipstream chess match gone wrong into which the final minutes of qualifying descended, the tifosi seemed not to care very much about that.

A red car was fastest around the famous temple of speed, and all was right with the world. But Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes was close, and Leclerc, team-mate Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari are going to have to work hard to continue the celebrations into this afternoon.

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Andrew Benson's piece on Alonso touches on an intriguing situation at Ferrari - where Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel are in a working relationship that is, shall we say, competitive.

Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said on Friday at Monza: "I have said it and I am confirming it again - for next year, Sebastian and Charles are our drivers and there's no doubt at all about this."

But what would you do if you were Binotto? Who would you have leading Ferrari next season - and why? Let us know via the medium of Twitter, using the hashtag #bbcf1. And remember: Give us a reason for your thinking, and we'll be much more likely to use your tweet. Ta.

A reminder that everyone's* favourite F1 driver Fernando Alonso is in town this weekend in his role as a McLaren ambassador - his first visit to a grand prix since he came to Bahrain in March.

Might he be making a more active return to the sport? Andrew Benson has been asking the question to the man himself this week in an attempt to find an answer.

*Only joking. Kimi Raikkonen is everyone's favourite, obviously.

Image source, AFP

It was all about the slipstreaming in qualifying yesterday - and there was the problem. A slipstream - where one car gains an advantage by closely following another - can be worth about 0.3secs a lap at Monza, invaluable when the times are so close around a circuit with only six effective corners.

The thing is, pursuing such an advantage in qualifying is no use if you don't set a lap time. And everyone was waiting for everyone else to make the first move. Result: Farce.

Image source, BBC Sport

At least there was something for the tifosi to be happy about: Charles Leclerc secured pole for Ferrari at their home grand prix. The circumstances in which it came about, though, gave the F1 family plenty to discuss over pasta last night.