Preview - Italian Grand Prix 2005.

Having stepped into the blissful unknown last time out in Turkey, the Formula One circus returns to a track with its roots firmly embedded in the World Championship this weekend for the Italian Grand Prix.

Monza is the oldest serving circuit on the calendar and although safety concerns and imperative updating means it is a shadow of what it used to be, that classic silhouette remains as evident as ever.

Home to the ever vocal Tifosi , motor racings 'red army' may not have much to shout about this year, but there is little doubting that the championship looks set for a nail-biting climax, albeit with silver and blue proving the colours of choice, rather than the obligatory Ferrari red. Indeed, Formula One's 'Silver Arrows' look almost unstoppable now with Kimi Raikkonen exerting a Schumacher-style stranglehold in recent races, even if reliability from his Mclaren-Mercedes is not quite up to the high standards set by the Maranello boys - this year excluded of course.

Indeed, while Renault are still holding their own, they look at sea compared to their rivals who have been arguably untouchable since the Spanish Grand Prix. Mechanical woes for the Finn mean Fernando Alonso continues to lead the way, but there is little doubt to the fastest driver-car combination out there. This is a trend Raikkonen is looking to continue in Italy, with the circuit's long straights and challenging chicanes set to prove the seemingly perfect habitat for his cars sheer speed and agility.

Nonetheless, it is the French team who continue to lead the way courtesy of their early season domination, with a mixture of good and bad luck affecting their race in Turkey. Restricted by his early running in qualifying, Alonso's low fuel was arguably too extreme considering he could have forgone a few places in the search for a better race set-up. As a result his early pit stops placed him out of order with both McLarens and even with less fuel, the Spaniard was never in a position to take on his rival.

Thankfully for the Spaniard's title challenge, Juan Pablo Montoya's late off-track excursion has kept his margin to Raikkonen relatively stagnant, but it is this apparent struggle to even get close to their rivals that worries most of the top brass, with the only advantage over McLaren appearing to be reliability. Still, the team do appear to have two drivers who can take the fight to McLaren following an encouraging performance from Giancarlo Fisichella in Turkey, who secured fourth despite another fuel rig problem just adding to the Italians lengthy list of bad luck. He even led early on, only for a mistake to hand the advantage back to Raikkonen and rather controversially his team mate following some administered team 'suggestions' rather than 'orders'.

Still, Renault have gone well in Monza before despite the lack of outright power that has blighted their challenge in previous years. Plus, Fisichella will be on home ground and eager to perform, while team boss Flavio Briatorie will also no doubt be looking for home advantage. Either way they need to find an answer to the question McLaren have posed quickly because one false move for Alonso may prove pivotal in these crucial late stages.

McLaren on the other hand continue to set the pace and would have claimed that elusive one-two in Turkey were it not for Montoya's mistake on the penultimate lap. Still, save for a risky moment whilst passing a back marker ? la Nurburgring, Raikkonen was in charge from the end of the first lap in Turkey and another win in Monza is expected. Indeed, there is quiet confidence in McLaren despite the deficit to Alonso with a sense that the title is Renaults to lose and while the gap is closing in drips rather than waterfalls, Raikkonen is applying immense pressure onto his fellow youngster.

Still, if Raikkonen seems less likely to face a strong challenge from Alonso, his team mate Montoya could be there to spoil his day. With team orders forbidden and the Colombian possessing an undeniable competitive nature, Raikkonen could find himself with a battle against the man who secured his first F1 win at Monza in 2002. Nonetheless, McLaren are very much in charge of the pace at the moment and are closing Renault down in the constructor's championship. A one-two may have eluded them in Turkey, but on both current and past form, there would be little surprise should both Raikkonen and Montoya dictate the race from start to finish.

Slipping back into a lonely third, Ferrari are gradually being chipped away by Toyota after a disastrous Turkish Grand Prix which saw the team looking more like also-rans rather than champions. Having struggled from the Friday, Michael Schumacher was constantly in the wars, spinning in qualifying ahead of a lacklustre race before being punted out by a rather over ambitious Mark Webber.

The weekend was no better for newly announced BAR driver Rubens Barichello, who did not look once to be in the fight for points, limbering some way behind the Red Bull cars for most of the race. Still, if Ferrari need a boost for a better showing there is no more appropriate place than in their own back garden of Monza, lined by thousands of fans and accompanied by riotous cheering. While home advantage may not see them challenging for a win, if passion was the fuel that could determine the result of a race, then Ferrari would be in charge. Unfortunately for Ferrari they are in no position to be looking ahead to challenge for win, as they are having to constantly check over their shoulder for Toyota who continued their run of points in Istanbul that has stretched from the second race in Malaysia.

Although not one of their strongest races to date, Toyota had a solid if unspectacular Turkish Grand Prix with a sixth place for Jarno Trulli allowing the team to close the gap slightly to Ferrari and the Italian to pull into fourth place in the drivers standings. Still, their race could have been more fruitful had Ralf Schumacher has not been involved in a first corner clash that dropped him down the field and out of the running.

Heralding his home race, Jarno Trulli will be determined to give his fans reason to cheer, while Schumacher too will be looking for an impressive showing on a circuit he did not race on last year following his US Grand Prix smash. Indeed, the Italian Grand Prix has often proved a race of attrition in the past and with Toyota currently boasting an enviable reliability record this year, some good luck for the team and a touch of bad luck for their rivals could aid their plight at the weekend.

After their much improved showing in Hungary, BMW-Williams were once again proving far more competitive in Turkey although any hope for points were dashed by a curious tyre problem that affected both vehicles and eventually placed them into retirement. With a severe deflation of the tyres afflicting both cars twice, Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber found themselves in the pit lane too many times, with the Australian eventually ending his race on the track following another puncture induced spin.

With the season is drawing to a close, Heidfeld continues to lead Webber in the points standings and the team are expecting to go well at Monza. Indeed, with its powerful nature Williams were once in charge on the fast straights courtesy of their formidable BMW engine. That advantage has been eroded in time though and while their V10 is still one of the quickest, it is no longer the dominant force in a straight line. Indeed, while a win this weekend may be out of the question, particularly as the retirement of both of their drivers means they will be out in qualifying early in Italy, more points will certainly do no harm to the confidence of a team that has taken a battering in recent weeks.

Earning a stay of execution in sixth place in the constructor's standings, Red Bull Racing proved very impressive in Turkey, defying the attentions of Ferrari and Williams to secure superb double-points finish for David Coulthard and Christian Klein. Having had the disadvantage to qualify first on the Saturday, both drivers did more than limit the damage caused by their Hungary problems and come race day their fuel load turned out to be one of the healthiest. Although a racy Jenson Button found his way past, seventh for Coulthard continues to build on his impressive points tally while Klein has done his bid for a third year with the team no harm by shadowing his team mate across the finish line.

Italy heralds a far tougher challenge for the team though for their underpowered Cosworth engine is expected to struggle on the fast sections of the circuit, although the agile chassis should prove quick through the myriad of Monza's tight chicanes. While they are unlikely to keep BAR-Honda behind them beyond Italy, Turkey showed that Red Bull can compete with the best, while Coulthard is a past winner on this circuit too so should an experienced head be required, the Scot could be up there when the points are handed out.

Having shown plenty of speed in the practice sessions, qualifying proved to be the undoing of BAR-Honda in Turkey with both drivers succumbing to errors that cost them a better result come Sunday afternoon. A brief off-track excursion stymied Jenson Button's challenge for pole and from there on he was playing catch-up. Nonetheless, a fighting drive from twelfth place saw the Brit finish the race in fifth place, although he knows a better starting position would have enabled him to challenge McLaren and Renault up front.

Takuma Sato on the other hand was punished for his indiscretion on his warming-down lap in qualifying when he baulked Mark Webber, consigning him to the back of the grid. Benefiting from BAR's improved pace, the Japanese driver was able to scythe through the field to ninth but points were instantly out of the question from that moment. Still, with the powerful Honda engine, BAR are expecting to be up front in Italy, with Button in particular after a good result - not least because he is rapidly closing in on the fight for fourth in the driver's standings. Button also has good memories to call upon after finishing third in last years changeable conditions, although that time it was just Ferrari in front of him - this year the battle for a podium is a more competitive affair.

Sauber's first and last Turkish Grand Prix was certainly one to forget after a terrible race that saw no points come the way of the Swiss team. A promising qualifying session for Felipe Massa, which placed him eighth, was ruined by a clash on the first corner that forced him into the pit lane, only for mechanical problems to force him into retirement later on. Jacques Villeneuve also struggled to feature highly, finishing down the order in eleventh place after being held up by slower traffic in the crucial early part of the race.

Monza should signal an improvement though as Sauber desperately try and haul back the point's deficit to nearest rival Red Bull. Felipe Massa in particular is after a good result on a circuit that will become his adopted home when he moves to Ferrari next year, while Villeneuve will be determined to call use his experience on a circuit he has performed well on in the past. Time is running out for Sauber though if they have any chance of overhauling their rivals from neighbouring Austria by the end of the year.

Jordan meanwhile experienced a tricky weekend at Istanbul and only received significant airtime when Tiago Montiero collided with Montoya late in the race placing both into a spin. Nonetheless, the development work continues at Jordan even at this late stage in the season with Montiero himself set to debut the much delayed EJ15b, after winning the toss over Narain Karthikeyan.

Originally penciled in to appear back in June at the British Grand Prix, strenuous testing to iron out constant niggles means the heavily revised vehicle will make it debut in Italy albeit only in the hands of the Portuguese driver - a second car is expected to be driven by the Indian in Belgium in two weeks time. In the meantime, Monza presents a strong challenge for the Jordan team but with both the revised and the existing car on track together there will be a clear comparison as to whether the improvements have gone far enough to push them up the grid.

Arch-rivals Minardi go to Monza having just completed a rare but valuable test at the same circuit, with both Christjian Albers and Robert Doornbos attempting to fine tune their cars in the hope of maintaining their recent place ahead of the Jordan team.

There is plenty of quiet optimism too that Minardi, who have proved largely reliable this year, can perhaps be in the hunt for a decent result should Monza's renowned high attrition rate come into effect. While any hope for points will come about through luck rather than pace, a double finish ahead of the Jordans would certainly do no harm for a team rumoured to be looking for a new buyer either next year or beyond.

While the circuit's unique characteristics of fast straights and slow corners are expected to pose questions for the tyre manufacturers there appears to be no fears of excessive wear. Although the rear tyres are expected to take a battering through some of the longer corners, both Michelin and Bridgestone are confident that Monza will pose no more issues that with the majority of tracks this year.

Nonetheless, Michelin will be determined not to repeat the problems faced by Williams and there curious tyre failures, although this seems to be an isolated problem concerning the team rather than the tyre manufacturer themselves. Bridgestone meanwhile will be competing on a circuit that has served them well in the past courtesy of Ferrari although whether or not they will be celebrating again this year remains to be seen. Still in a week of testing at Monza from all three of their teams, the Japanese firm will be hoping to establish an advantage come race day.

With its coveted history and legendary aura, Monza is certainly one of the most valuable jewels in Formula One's crown and while it will not serve as the final European round of the championship - that honour goes to that other magical circuit, Spa - there is certainly plenty riding on many of the drivers.

While the fight for glory will be occupying much of the attention, there are issues to be resolved further down both in the drivers and constructors championships, making the Italian Grand Prix a vital weekend for many. Indeed, if Sunday's race even comes close to repeating some of the action shown in previous years, then Monza promises to serve up yet another vintage spectacle.