© Getty ImagesThe Highs and Lows of MonzaThe Team’s greatest – and not so great – moments from the Italian Grand Prix
TheItalianGrandPrixisalwaysagreatwatch.It’sthefastestcircuit,packedwithfansandisastalwartonthecalendar,onlymissingoneseasonsincetheinceptionofFormulaOnein1950.
It creates great racing, with amazing overtakes and heart-in-mouth action throughout its 53 laps. The Team has always enjoyed competing at Monza, even if the Orange Army is outnumbered by the Red Tifosi. In our 20 years within the sport, we’ve had some good times, and some not so good times! Here they are…
The Team didn’t get off to the best start in Italy. It took four years before the Bulls scored a single point, with Mark Webber’s P8 in 2008. The 2007 Italian Grand Prix saw David Coulthard go from P20 to P15 on the opening lap, but on the second lap he crashed at Curva Grande ending his race early. 2009 was even worse as Mark Webber was spun by Robert Kubica on the opening lap and forced to retire. And then in 2011 Mark collided with Felipe Massa on the fourth lap damaging his wing. He limped back to the pits but was again forced to retire – it was the Team’s first retirement (of only two) of the 2011 campaign.
The early lap curse was exorcised in 2011 as Sebastian Vettel was able to turn his pole position into a win. The win saw him extend his lead in the championship to 112 points between him and Fernando Alonso in P2, and eventually go on to win the Drivers’ Championship that year.
2012 was a tough one to take for the Team. Seb started the race in P5 with Mark in P11 and it was looking good. However, on lap 47, whilst running in sixth place, Seb had to retire with a failed alternator. Then four laps later, Mark clipped the curb on the exit of the Ascari chicane and spun. He fell out of the point-scoring positions and retired due to severely flat-spotted tires. Due to completing more than 90% of the race, Sebastian was classified P22 with Mark P20.
For the 2013 Italian Grand Prix, Seb qualified on pole with Mark in P2. Seb got away cleanly, but by lap three, had dropped to P4 after being overtaken by Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. Mark was able to fight his way back to P3 after all the pitstops, and from lap 27 was able to keep his podium position, whilst Seb claimed his second Italian Grand Prix win, making it a great points haul and overall result for the team.
The 2021 season-long battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton seemed to have reached its peak at Silverstone, where the pair collided, and Max was sent hurtling into the barrier. However, there was another sting in the tail of this fight. On lap 22 of the Italian Grand Prix, Max, leading the race, was called into the pits, but a problem with his front right wheel saw him stationary for 11 seconds. This saw him emerge P9 onto the circuit. A few laps later Hamilton made his first pit stop but when he emerged from the pit lane it was into the path of Max.
The pair went into the first chicane side by side and neither one was going to back out. Max was forced wide, hit the kerb and hit the rear wheels of Hamilton’s car. The RB16B was launched into the air and landed on top of the Mercedes, and both cars ended up in the gravel and out of the race. Both drivers were summoned to the Stewards’ office and it was deemed that Max was to blame and as a result he was given a three-place grid penalty for the next race as well as two penalty points to his Super Licence.
Max took his first Italian Grand Prix win in 2022, but in 2023 it was an epic race where it couldn’t have gone better for the Team. Max started in P2 with Checo in P5. Max was able to take polesitter Carlos Sainz on lap 15. When he pitted on lap 21, he came out in P5, but as others changed their tyres, he was back in the lead by lap 24 where he stayed until the chequered flag, claiming his 10th win in a row – breaking Sebastian Vettel’s previous record of 9.
Checo pitted from P1 on lap 22 and emerged in P7. He was back to P4 by lap 31, but by then everyone had completed their planned pitstops. Between him and Max were the Ferrari’s of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. Checo was able to pass Leclerc on lap 33 and began his chase down of Sainz. He collected the Spaniard on lap 45 to claim P2 rounding out the teams sixth 1-2 finish of the season.
The Bulls will be back in Monza this weekend for round 16 of the season. They hit the track on Friday at 13:30 track time (11:30UTC) for Free Practice One. You’ll be able to keep up-to-date with all the action right here with exclusive phots, videos and interviews.
