Get ready for Round 14 of the 2019 season with our official race preview – think of it as your McLaren encyclopaedia for each race weekend.

Hear from McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, get insight from Team Principal Andreas Seidl, and learn more about the wider team with our Spotlight series.

Round 14

Where Autodromo Nazionale Monza When 6 - 8 September Start time 15:10 local, 14:10 BST Laps 53

Carlos Sainz #55

“After a difficult weekend in Spa in all senses, I’m looking forward to heading to the next race, which fortunately is only a few days away. We know that we have areas to work on and we are focussed on maximising our performance throughout the weekend. Spa was a clear example that the midfield battle is going to be tough until the end of the season so we need to keep pushing.

“Monza is an incredible and historic track and the Italian fans are some of the most passionate in the world, so the atmosphere at the track is always very special. I’m looking forward to getting back on track and giving it 100%.”

Lando Norris #4

“Despite the disappointment of the last race, there were a number of positives that we could take from our performance on Sunday. We had stronger pace than expected during the race and I was on course for my career-best result. I’m aiming to take that performance into the next weekend and challenge for points in Monza.

“It’s a track I know quite well having taken part in FP1 and Formula 2 last year and I’ve also raced there a few times before in the junior formulae. It’s a very quick track, the quickest of the year, which means it’s also one of the most exciting circuits on the calendar.”

Italian Grand Prix SECTORS ON OFF DRS ON OFF

Andreas Seidl, Team Principal

“We head to Monza for the final European race of the calendar before heading into the final fly-aways. There were plenty of lessons to learn from Belgium and we head there with a better understanding of the areas we need to improve. As ever we must continue to ensure our reliability is as strong as it possibly can be, as well as continuously working on our trackside operations. The Monza circuit is a uniquely quick track which requires a very specific set-up in order to maximise performance. We must ensure that our work on Friday and Saturday sets us up for the strongest possible race on Sunday and we get the most out of every session.

“Finally, as we leave the European leg of the 2019 season behind us, I want to thank and congratulate our hospitality colleagues in the McLaren Brand Centre. Their efforts to provide us with a home away from home at each European track are greatly appreciated by both the team and our guests alike.”

Tech heads

Race distance 306.720km / 190.586 miles Distance to Turn One 380m / 0.236 miles Corners 11 (seven right, four left) Tyre choice Hard C2, Medium C3, Soft C4

Spotlight: Chris Cousall

The spotlight is rarely shone on the team outside of the garage – but the contribution is no more and no less important. While a rapid pit-stop, bold overtaking move or decisive strategy call earn the plaudits, successes are just as dependent on engineering an upgrade in record time, manufacturing high-quality components, and carrying out stringent analysis and simulation. Every part of the operation needs to work in harmony to see progress on a race weekend. This is the ultimate team sport.

We are a team together. And these are some of our employee, partner, and fan stories.

When did you start working at McLaren?

I started at McLaren as part of the trainee scheme in 2016. I rotated around multiple departments including Car Build, Gearbox, Car Systems, Vehicle Technologies and Heritage for about a year and a half, before joining the Heritage team full time in May last year.

Please can you tell us a summary of your job description?

Primarily I am involved with all the restoration, upkeep and running of the Heritage cars - anything from Bruce's first car (the 1954 Austin 7), all the way through to more modern cars such as the last V8 runner (the MP4-28). We get to run these cars at anything from demo events like the Festival of Speed and Car Fest, to running a small selection of customer cars around the world.

In addition to this, I often get involved with the current race car turnarounds when it all comes back to the factory during the year, as well as in-season testing and new car builds over the winter.

What do you love about your job?

I always enjoy going out to demo events. Getting to chat and meet such a wide variety of people all with different stories and backgrounds is great. And then looking over and seeing a 40-year-old car you've just spent the last few weeks rebuilding doing donuts, with our team manager looking on in despair, is always quite amusing.

What are you doing when the lights go out?

Probably settling down on the sofa with a beer getting ready to watch it on the TV!

Last thing a driver said to you?

I think it was Lando giving out boxes of doughnuts to all of us just before shutdown. I don't remember exactly what he said but I’m sure it was along the lines of "don't eat them all at once..." …we did.

What’s the highlight of your McLaren career so far?

Tough one, but probably the Fernando Alonso and Jimmie Johnson car swap in Bahrain last year. It was awesome hanging out with the NASCAR boys to get an insight into how they work and how the car performs. Having both cars going around the track at the same time was really cool.

Apart from that, I would say the first car build and launch I was involved in. Seeing many months of late nights and weekends culminate in the finished product, and then all the reactions online and on TV was a pretty special moment.

What is your earliest McLaren memory?

It was probably my dad getting me up early to watch the first race of the 2007 season and seeing Lewis make his debut and finishing on the podium. Being that I was only 10, I probably didn't realise the significance of it, or the rollercoaster of a season I was about to witness. But it's one of the earliest F1 memories that I have.

#FearlesslyForward

1 0 / 3 1 1 / 3 Are you more Carlos or Lando?



Put your affinity with our drivers to the test Read More



2 1 / 3 2 1 / 3 Belgian GP: team reaction



"We have to put this behind us and look forward to Monza" Read More



3 2 / 3 3 2 / 3 The mistake we'd make again



Why the wrong outcome doesn’t always mean you’ve made the wrong decision Read More



