Why Renault’s rapid F1 pace should scare Red Bull at Monza

Renault's best showing of 2019 was at Monza and it returns to Italy after its highest finish of 2020 at Spa. It kept that form in Italian GP practice, which could be a problem for Red Bull, while the Mercedes squad looks unruffled by the engine mode saga.

Alex Kalinauckas Sep 4, 2020, 8:04 PM

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“Monza was an even stronger circuit for us and if we are stronger there's only a podium in front of us,” Daniel Ricciardo said after last weekend’s Belgium Grand Prix, heaping the pressure onto his tattoo bet with Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

Judging by the times set in the opening practice sessions for Formula 1’s 2020 Italian Grand Prix, that podium could well be in sight for Renault. It has kept its low-downforce promise a week after Spa, and, because Red Bull struggled at Monza on Friday, there’s every chance the team could pick up its first silverware since it returned to F1 in 2016.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.