Alexander Albon is anxious modifications to Monza for this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix have spoiled the character of the championship’s oldest venue.
The 5.7-kilometre monitor has been resurfaced forward of this yr’s race. The kerbs in a number of of its chicanes have been altered and gravel traps added on the Rettifilo and Roggia chicanes.
Albon wasn’t impressed with what he noticed of the alterations when he examined the monitor on Thursday.
“I really feel prefer it’s perhaps misplaced a little bit of its character,” mentioned the Williams driver. “I really feel like among the kerbs they’ve put in are just a little bit extra generic.
“Monza had fairly a particular type of monitor. It was fairly bumpy, however that’s not a foul factor, and the kerbs have been fairly distinctive.
“Let’s see the way it goes. I feel there’s going to be a number of exploring in FP1 and FP2, with these kerbs, if you should use them or not, and the way a lot you should use them, will probably be an enormous query mark.”
Nonetheless Lewis Hamilton mentioned drivers received’t know if the modifications have been successful till after apply tomorrow. “I don’t need to decide it earlier than I’ve pushed it,” he mentioned.
Advert | Grow to be a RaceFans supporter and
“Possibly we’ll get in and it’ll be the best factor and best modifications ever. So I don’t need to shoot myself within the foot with that.
“In the end, we liked it earlier than. For years, it’s been super-bumpy in so many locations and that’s been an enormous a part of the character of what this monitor is. The kerbs as effectively have been just about the identical for positively over 20 years, I’d think about.
“So it’s a huge, huge change. However in the end, it’s nonetheless the identical monitor. However we received’t know till tomorrow. It’s going to be lots smoother, it seems to be, and doubtless fairly a bit faster.”
Charles Leclerc agreed the monitor’s floor wanted to be refreshed. “It’s tough to guage for now,” he mentioned. “The Tarmac, in the end, you get at one level the place you’ve acquired to resume the Tarmac.
“It’s not like there’s the selection of simply conserving the identical Tarmac for years and years and years as a result of at one level, you simply get too bumpy. And particularly with our System 1 vehicles and the way in which they’re run so low, the tracks need to renew that. So on that, I’m nice.
“On the kerbs, it’s true that some tracks have the historic kerbs. And even when they renew it, I feel in Canada it was finished this yr the place they maintain precisely the identical form, which is good. However I haven’t tried but the brand new kerbs, perhaps they really feel even higher in comparison with the outdated ones.”
Advert | Grow to be a RaceFans supporter and
Miss nothing from RaceFans
Get a day by day e-mail with all our newest tales – and nothing else. No advertising, no advertisements. Enroll right here:
2024 Italian Grand Prix
Browse all 2024 Italian Grand Prix articles
