After a very tough weekend at Spa which saw the team suffer a record-breaking 105-place grid penalty split between the two cars, poor pace and eventually finishing ahead of only the Manor Marussia cars. Given that the historic Monza circuit is the fastest on the calendar, a strong result is highly unlikely for McLaren. Whilst they have quite a way to go to surpass the 105-place worth of penalties from Spa, McLaren already have 15 places worth to their names.
2015 Italian Grand Prix McLaren Preview
No. 14 Fernando Alonso
Form: R/R/10/5/13
2014: Grid: P7; Race: Retired
Fernando Alonso has won this race for McLaren in the past – back in 2007 on what turned out to be his most recent win for the team. He will no longer have the full backing of the fans here, as he is no longer driving something (fully) red. He suffered his first retirement due to a technical problem in over four years at the race last year, which came not long before the announcement that he would return to McLaren.
No. 22 Jenson Button
Form: R/R/R/9/14
2014: Grid: P6; Race: P8
Monza has been one of Button’s stronger circuits in the past. He has notched up a fair few podiums in his time at the famous circuit, and seems to be able to get the setup right. Button ‘only’ has a five-place grid penalty as opposed to Alonso’s ten-place penalty, so it is likely that Button will start ahead of Alonso, with the Manors and the similarly penalised Renault-powered machines towards the back too.
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