Monza (Italy) (AFP)

Formula 1 will have to do for the first time this weekend at Monza without "party mode", this additional power given to the engines for qualifying and which seemed above all to benefit the Mercedes, dominating this season.

For this 8th round of the world championship on the legendary Italian circuit, the cards could well be redistributed, at least on Saturday, the power of the overpowered V6 hybrids not changing for the race.

"It's not a surprise. They are always trying to slow us down," said Lewis Hamilton, the six-time world champion, title holder and current championship leader after the announcement by the International Automobile Federation (FIA ) of this measure three weeks ago.

His boss at Mercedes, Toto Wolff, prefers to see him with the glass half-full: "this + party mode + causes damage to the engine and if we could avoid using it, we weren't doing it," he said. indicated, adding that Mercedes had not always used it this season during the qualifications which they however dominated most often.

On the very fast Milan circuit, the cars of Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas could therefore continue their business of demolishing the competition, as last week in Belgium.

The most serious threat is that of Max Verstappen driving his Red Bull.

Currently 47 points behind Hamilton in the championship, and 3 points ahead of Bottas, the Dutchman is the only one so far to have managed to steal a victory from the Mercedes this year.

- Ferrari no longer laughs -

Who says Monza, says Ferrari.

The Scuderia is at home here, although exceptionally it will be even more so this year next week at Mugello, not far from its stronghold of Maranello, a circuit that has never been used in F1 before.

She will celebrate her 1000th Grand Prix there.

There won't be the usual crowd of fans waving yellow and scarlet flags at Monza as the stands will be empty due to coronavirus.

For the first time since the start of the season, however, there will be some 250 spectators, doctors and nurses invited by Ferrari.

And that may be better.

Ferrari is currently at the bottom of the hole.

Its drivers Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc could not do better than 13th and 14th at Spa and in the constructors' championship the Italian brand is only 5th at ... 203 points behind Mercedes.

A 20th victory for the red cars at Monza after that of Charles Leclerc last year therefore seems chimerical even if Vettel announces "a new aerodynamic package" for Monza which should "make more competitive" the Ferraris.

Behind Mercedes and Red Bull, and ahead of Ferrari, the fight is close between McLaren and Racing Point which are only separated by two points while Renault, thanks to its good performance in Belgium (4th and 5th), came closer to two Ferrari points, these four teams being held in 9 points.

As for the drivers, they are six to stand in 15 points, but far behind the leading trio while there are ten events to run in a season cut by the pandemic.

The recent signing of the Concorde agreements between the promoter of F1 and the ten teams has lifted the doubt on the medium-term presence of some of them whose financial situation is weakened by the pandemic such as the American Haas, Williams or, to a lesser extent, Alfa-Romeo.

Suddenly, the transfer waltz could take over several drivers who do not yet have a contract for next year.

The French Romain Grosjean and the Danish Kevin Magnussen at Haas must therefore defend their bucket seats, just like the veteran Finnish Kimi Räikkönen and the young Italian Antonio Giovinazzi at Alfa.

Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel has also been on the market since knowing he will no longer race for Ferrari next year but remains very discreet about his future for now.

Monza will also mark the last race for Claire Williams at the head of the eponymous team.

The daughter of Frank Williams announced Thursday that she will hand over after the takeover of this legendary team by an American investment fund.

© 2020 AFP