Red Bull took their race-winning high-speed package to Monza to deliver a strong performance to wrap up the European season and extend their lead at the head of both championships. After dominating qualifying at the famous circuit to lock out the front row, the Red Bull cars held off a strong challenge from Ferrari to take two steps on the podium on their way to another intimidating victory. Vettel once again lead from the front to fairly cruise to his 32nd career victory.
Into the Weekend
Two weeks after the mighty Spa-Francorchamps, Formula 1 headed to Monza, the oldest track on the calendar to bring the European season to a close. Another high-speed, low drag circuit, focused on engine power and top speed; it is another wonderfully passionate, emotive circuit that rarely fails to deliver a great weekend. After dominating at Spa, Red Bull were looking strong as they arrived in Italy, confident after their Belgian performance. Ferrari were seeking a strong performance in front of a capacity home crowd and to try and turn over Red Bull for the victory to steal some much needed points. Mercedes wanted to reverse the disappointment they found in Spa with a good result that one might expect from their strong engine, whilst Lotus were hoping to get back to successful points finishes after they only brought one car home in Belgian. McLaren were intending to get another good result from their car, which seemed to perform better in low drag conditions, taking them to points and fifth in the constructors last time out. Force India had a disappointing race in Spa and slipped behind McLaren, so they were looking to reverse their fortunes in Italy to capitalise on a key characteristic of their car that has often been so good; their clean aerodynamics and engine power. Torro Rosso were seeking to get both their cars into the points after the promise of Spa failed to pan out for them. Sauber struggled in their last outing so were seeking to improvement they could find, targeting points. Williams poor form continued in Belgium, with no sign of any increase in their raw pace and were just hoping to get forward and mix it with those chasing the points. Caterham held their position over Marussia in Belgium but had mixed fortunes due to a retirement, and were intending to convert their competitive edge into a result in Italy. Marussia were aiming to close the gap back to Caterham once more and reverse their fortunes of recent races.