We head to Monza aiming for a more consistent and straightforward weekend than at Zandvoort. At times, we looked to have decent pace that would enable us to fight for the podium. Despite starting P11, Kimi progressed through the field well and, were it not for the contact with Leclerc, would likely have been challenging those ahead in the closing stages. For George, his race was also compromised by an incident with the Ferrari. He did a good job to bring solid points home in P4 despite carrying significant floor damage.
The Italian Grand Prix is a special weekend with a great atmosphere. For Kimi it is a second home race of the season. Whilst that will be exciting for him, we know his focus will be 100 per cent on doing the job on track. The competitive order behind McLaren is close and we will have to be at our best if we are to continue closing the gap to second in the Constructors'.
Fact File: Italian Grand Prix
- Monza is nicknamed ‘Temple of Speed’ and for good reason. Recorded top speeds through the speed trap during the Grand Prix typically top 350 km/h.
- Due to the long straights and large portion of lap spent in eighth gear, Monza is one of the lowest tracks for gear changes per lap, with only 29.
- No circuit on the 2025 calendar sees the driver spend a higher percentage of the lap at full throttle than Monza. This equates to 76% of lap time, and 82% of lap distance.
- The run to the first corner from pole is one of the longest on the calendar at 476m. Only Spain, Silverstone, and Mexico are longer.
- The high-speed nature means the Italian Grand Prix is often one of the shortest races of the year. If run uninterrupted, it usually takes around one hour and 15 minutes from lights out to the chequered flag.
- Monza can also prove to be one of the hottest races of the season for air temperature, with averages highs of 28.2C, and 31.3C max.
- The circuit contains just 11 corners, four to the left and seven to the right. That is the second fewest of the year, behind only Austria which has 10.
- The Italian Grand Prix is the only Grand Prix to have appeared on every single F1 calendar since 1950.
- No circuit in F1 history has held more Grands Prix than Monza, which will host its 75thrace in 2025.
- Mercedes has recorded seven wins at the Italian Grand Prix. Two with Juan Manuel Fangio in 1954 and 1955, four with Lewis Hamilton and one with Nico Rosberg.
- In 2021, Monza hosted the F1 Sprint format, which was won by Valtteri.
- George won races at Monza at both GP3 (2017) and Formula 2 (2018) levels.
- 2025 will be Kimi Antonelli’s first-ever Italian Grand Prix in F1. It comes at the circuit where he made his first FP1 rookie debut in 2024.
- Kimi won races at Monza in Italian F4 in 2022 and FRECA in 2023.
