All To Play For In Monza

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Ferrari won't be featuring in the battle for the win this weekend and have loads of work to do still. McLaren on the other hand could be the surprise package. The best strategy should win and lets see who has their thinking caps on.

Over the last two days at the Monza circuit in Italy we have seen how important the tyre selection is going to be for Sundays main race. The sprint race today highlighted this yet again as track position is crucial to finishing higher up the leaderboard.

The teams had 2 practice sessions and one qualifier before the sprint race this afternoon which ultimately has the drivers racing over 18 laps for grid position for the main race. The teams have a free choice of tyre selection for the Sprint race and the Main race so it is up to the team how they manage what they use when.

Mercedes concentrated on the Medium tyres in practice session 2 which told us they were using that for the Sprint race and possibly the main race. Other teams managed to test all 3 compounds within that 60 minute session gathering extra data.

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During the Sprint race this afternoon the teams that opted for the soft compound benefitted more as it gave them roughly a 4m advantage at the start as it offers extra grip due to it's softer stickier compound. Mercedes and Red Bull opted for the Mediums and it paid off for the ones in the left front of the grid namely Bottas and Verstappen as that is where the racing line is and there is extra rubber down on the track. Hamilton on the front far right lost 3 places at the start as the other cars around him on the soft tyres swamped him sending him backwards.

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Everyone moves up 1 position because Bottas will drop to the back of the field due to having a new engine.

The Mercedes strategists got things horribly wrong as Bottas being in the top spot and Hamilton second he should have been able to get a tow around the circuit from his team mate. Bottas was starting the main race from the back of the grid no matter what happened in the Sprint race as he has taken his fourth engine for tomorrows race. This is something Verstappen will have to do as well at some point before the season ends. Monza was the best bet for Mercedes as the track should suit their car the best as they have the fastest straight line speed.

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Hamilton has to start on soft tyres tomorrow and move onto the mediums to have a clear shot at the win.

Hamilton now starting on the second row of the grid in 4th place changes things as now the only way he can get ahead is by using the soft compound tyres replicating what happened today. Bottas at the rear of the grid needs to somehow carve through the field and pick up some much needed championship points for the constructors title.

Monza has not been a great track for Red Bull in the past and their success goes back to 2012 when Sebastien Vettel won and Mark Webber was third. Somehow if Red Bull can land a podium here it will be seen as a bonus and McLaren could wreck that party with Riccardo starting in second spot along with Norris in third.

This is a must win for Mercedes and Hamilton and are already on the back foot after todays Sprint Race. This was a banker for them in the championship race and now they have to select the correct strategy to see them cross the finish line first. I still think Hamilton will win if he starts on the soft compound tyres and can make them last longer than expected. This should be interesting as I am not ruling out a McLaren victory either as the Aussie Riccardo is long overdue for a podium finish