Russell intrigued by “unique” racing line resurfacing at Monza · RaceFans

In brief

Russell intrigued by “unique” racing line resurfacing at Monza

George Russell says he is not sure what to expect of a unique resurfacing job to the Monza circuit where only the racing line has been repaved.

The track has been extensively repaved at the Rettifilo Chicane, Roggia Chicane and Ascari. However, only the asphalt that forms the traditional racing line has been repaved, rather than the entire width of the circuit.

“It’s very unique,” said Russell after completing his track walk on Thursday. “They’ve actually only resurfaced the racing line.

“They’ve not resurfaced the whole circuit… they’ve not resurfaced it fully from left to right, but actually it’s about probably four metres wide. So I don’t really know what it’s going to do for racing if there’s two different types of tarmac – one if you’re on the racing line and if you’re outside or inside of that, there’s less or more grip. So we’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.”

Harder to hold off cars in Monza than Spa – Albon

Alexander Albon believes he will have a more difficult time keeping cars behind him during the Italian Grand Prix than at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps two weeks ago.

Albon secured the final point in tenth in Spa after holding off a train of cars for the second half of the race thanks to a superior straight line speed advantage. Despite Monza being another low downforce circuit, Albon is less confident of repeating the feat this weekend.

“The pace deficit from Spa compared to Monza – in terms of the pace you need to overtake – they’re not too far away from each other,” Albon said.

“I think what made Spa so good was because we were very strong in turn one. So we we tended to always get off, had decent traction out of one and could always pull out a gap before the car behind could overtake into turn five. I think this circuit’s a bit harder because you basically have a quick corner leading onto a longer street, so that advantage is less. So you are a bit more vulnerable.”

Gill leaves Mahindra after eight Formula E seasons

Mahindra team principal Dilbagh Gill has announced his departure from the Mahindra Formula E team after leading the Indian manufacturer since the season’s first ever EPrix back in 2014.

In a statement released online, the team confirmed that Gill would leave the team…