The Monza circuit in Italy is one of the most historic and unique road courses in the world.
At 3.6 miles in length, it is by no means small, yet it has a relatively low number of corners -- 11 -- many of which are grouped together as chicanes.
Consequently, most of the circuit is made up of straights.
Long straights.
So long, in fact, that even in the V6 era, Daniel Ricciardo was able to hit 360 kph (220 mph) during the Formula One Italian Grand Prix last year and, as wtf1.co.uk points out, speeds are predicted to be higher this year, so it will be interesting to see if Juan Pablo Montoya’s top-speed record of 231.5 mph from 2005 will be broken.
What all these straights result in -- especially for minor series -- is excessive drafting. And, as those who have watched a NASCAR race at Talladega or Daytona will know, one of the best tricks in the book when it comes to excessive drafting is bumpdrafting, in which the trailing car transfers its momentum to the car in front by bumping it from behind, allowing both vehicles to catch up with the cars in front.
The problems with bumpdrafting are that:
We have never seen bump drafting take place in an F1 race and -- while Pastor Maldonado is still around -- we don’t recommend it.
However, at Monza it is entirely possible to see bumpdrafting take place successfully, even in open-wheeled cars!
But don’t take our word from it: Here are two videos of bumpdrafting taking place at Monza in a GP3 race and in an F3 race:
