Italy preview quotes - Pirelli and Sauber on Monza

From one of Formula One's racing's most historic venues, the paddock quickly moves to another, as the teams and drivers head from Spa to Monza. With its origins dating back to 1922, it remains a supreme, high-speed challenge. No wonder it's known as the 'magical track'. Those involved in the Formula 1 Gran Premio Santander d'Italia 2012 discuss their prospects…

Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director
"Monza is probably the most important race of the year for us, as it is our chance to come home and showcase our tyres and specialised technology in front of so many of our people and the passionate Italian fans. There is a really special atmosphere to this race that is unique to Italy. Not only that, but Monza is one of the most demanding circuits that we visit all year due to the high speed and significant lateral loads on the tyres. After Spa, it is the second-highest set of forces that our tyres will experience all year. Coming to Monza directly from Spa for the first time means that the teams will be fully up to speed with the hard and medium tyres, while there is a huge amount of momentum behind the championship now, which is shaping up to become the most thrilling finale since we returned to Formula One. Ambient temperatures can be very high in Italy, which places further demands on the tyres, so we would normally expect two pit stops. Strategy turned out to be a key ingredient to success last year, with the podium places only decided on the final lap, and we would expect the same again this year. With the cars at full throttle for so long, it's hard for anybody to gain a big lead unless they use strategy to their advantage."

Jaime Alguersuari, Pirelli test driver
"Monza is like nowhere else: the exact opposite of Monaco, for example. It's a great circuit and the fastest place we go to all year, which is really exciting. It's quite difficult to drive as the cars run with such low downforce that they are not always easy to control. So it's all about the right compromise between downforce and handling. You have to be assertive under braking but all the straights and corners also mean that there are lots of good opportunities to overtake. It's important to look after the tyres in terms of traction, as the traction areas put a lot of stress on them and if you don't get a good drive out of the corners onto the straights then it really affects your lap time. Monza isn't one of those circuits that takes a lot out of the tyres everywhere but instead there are one or two specific places that really put a lot of energy through them: Parabolica in particular, which is why you have to look after them. Another important place is the chicane: you have to really attack the kerbs because you can make a lot of time this way. We tested at Monza last year, and the hard and medium tyres work very well under these conditions. I'm sure we'll be in for another great race."

Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber
2011 Qualifying - 17th, 2011 Race - DNF
"In Monza we shall have very low downforce and high speed, so it will be very important to have mechanical grip as well. There will be a lot of kerb riding, and this means good mechanical grip compensating the downforce level will be key. My early racing career started in Italy. Monza is one of my favourite circuits. I have a really good feeling for it so want a good result there. I speak a little bit of Italian and I really like the Italian people as they are a lot of fun."

Sergio Perez, Sauber
2011 Qualifying - 15th, 2011 Race - DNF
"The track in Monza is another favourite of mine, and I have had some very good races there. In Formula Three I qualified 14th and then went on to win both races. I always enjoy the atmosphere in Italy, and the Tifosi are just great. The circuit is obviously a true high-speed track and I have a lot of faith in our low-downforce package which we have in place. Also when I look at our performance in Spa, which is also a fast track, the C31 should be strong at the Italian Grand Prix."

Giampaolo Dall'Ara, Sauber head of track engineering
"Monza is definitely a stand-alone track in the season due to its very long straights and a limited amount of corners. They are interesting corners as two of them are low speed chicanes requiring very good braking stability and then traction out of them. The rest, basically Lesmo and Parabolica, are very interesting high-speed bends that become even more challenging with the low downforce levels we run there, which is also stand-alone in the season. Then we have the Variante Ascari, a medium-speed chicane which is a double corner that also gives us an engineering challenge to balance out the drag requirements, which are very low with a reasonable amount of downforce and definitely a very good mechanical grip. The track is an old fashioned one with bumps, a regular surface and high kerbs, especially in the chicanes. The tyres will be challenging and Pirelli will supply the same as in Spa - medium and hard - but Monza is not hard on the tyres so they will be consistent and getting them to perform in qualifying will possibly be challenging. The car will be updated with a low-downforce package which, like in Spa, is not a real development step. We will have different wings on the front and rear plus some normal tuning. The expectation is to have a good weekend."